Should we reach out to this guy? :)

[rebel100]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-s...23996.html

Story tells of a guy denied a senior VP job at Wal-Mart (where he was employed for 8 years) after it was discovered he never finished his "art degree" from the University of Delaware.

" Following four years at the University of Delaware, Tovar said, he walked in the school's graduation ceremony, moved to New York and landed a job. Several months later, he said, he learned he was a few credits short of earnings his degree following a mix-up.

"I got a job and never looked back. I really didn't think an art degree would matter in communications, which was the field I went into," he said.

Fast forward nearly two decades, and the mix-up halted his climb up the ladder at the retail giant. "

[SteveFoerster]

My only question is whether he still kept saying he had a degree after he found out he didn't.

[Devanna]

"Tovar is far from the first person to get tripped up by similar oversights."

Saying you have a degree (or two) when you don't isn't an oversight, it's called lying.

[rebel100]

"Tovar is far from the first person to get tripped up by similar oversights."

Saying you have a degree (or two) when you don't isn't an oversight, it's called lying.

Agreed, just find it sad that this otherwise career successful guy could have likely earned the degree from one of the Big 3 in a few months for a few thousand dollars (or could a few CLEP exams been applied at his school to finish that degree...he was so close they let him walk graduation).

[soliloquy]

It's still not too late for him to do it. I wonder if they'd let him keep his job if he could complete it before December 31, 2014. I don't think he lied...(did he?)

Well anyway, if you're going to let him know...you can contact him here: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id...%3Aprimary

LOL

[sanantone]

The article was not clear on whether or not he knew beforehand that he didn't complete the degree. It made it sound like he knew soon after graduation that he didn't finish, but didn't bother to complete the remaining credits. If he knew all of these years that he had more credits to complete and consciously decided not to complete them, then he knew better than to list that he had a degree.

[mrs.b]

This article makes it look like he did make the claim of a completed degree until a background search discovered the lie:

Wal-Mart Spokesman Said to Resign Over Resume Falsehood - Bloomberg



Also, the math shows he likely fibbed. He walked in the 1996 graduation ceremony, then learned a few months later that he was missing credits. He started with Walmart in 2006, ten years later. He had to have known he was not done when he originally started working there.

If he knowingly provided false information, I do not have much (any) pity or drive to help. All the people on this forum are here specifically not to be "that guy."

[LaterBloomer]

Well, I've lied on applications before. My employer allows you to say you have a degree if you'll have it within a year. For two applications, I've said I had it. I was fully intending to finish Col. Alg., stats, and Strategic Mgmt. Then, I didn't complete those final nine credits. It was retroactiving lying, I suppose. Or prospectively lying. Well, lying.

[mrs.b]

Well, I've lied on applications before. My employer allows you to say you have a degree if you'll have it within a year. For two applications, I've said I had it. I was fully intending to finish Col. Alg., stats, and Strategic Mgmt. Then, I didn't complete those final nine credits. It was retroactiving lying, I suppose. Or prospectively lying. Well, lying.

Difference 1: While it is taking longer than planned, you are still working on finishing those requirements to earn the credential you claimed (and you will finish! You will ). He, however, knew ten years prior that he did not meet the requirements, was making no effort to correct that, and said he had it anyway.

Difference 2: Your employer has a policy that states a grace period, so you did so within policy. Judging by the "separation," Walmart does not have such a policy but he did it anyway.

You are actively working to make your fib become truth. That guy, on the other hand, felt he was above such things. He was only honest when caught, and said he did not finish because he did not see the value of an art degree in the communications field...yet, he listed the credential to "check the box," knowing that is the value, all without having earned it and knowing it was a false statement.

[SteveFoerster]

Well, I've lied on applications before. My employer allows you to say you have a degree if you'll have it within a year. For two applications, I've said I had it. I was fully intending to finish Col. Alg., stats, and Strategic Mgmt. Then, I didn't complete those final nine credits. It was retroactiving lying, I suppose. Or prospectively lying. Well, lying.

If you mean applications specifically to your employer who explicitly allows a year's leeway, then those weren't lies, they were forward looking statements made in good faith. But if you mean applications to anyone else, yeah, those were lies.