back to article Yahoo! board! probes! CEO's! CompSci! CV! blunder!

Yahoo! has decided to take the revelation that its CEO Scott Thompson padded his CV a tad more seriously, The Register understands, promising that the board would look into the situation. The web firm's initial response to accusations yesterday from activist investor Third Point that Thompson did not in fact possess a degree …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Storm! In! A! Teacup!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Maybe for those who are padding their own CV's into an unrecognisable superhuman form. For me the biggest turnoff in a candidate is seeing he's a guru in 20 programming languages, product manager, product designer, senior team lead, etc. I'm thinking why the heck isn't this guy hiring me? That's you AM 12:04.

    2. Ilgaz

      It is not

      Just watch, guy may even end up prison for this. Publicly traded company is the key. You just don't mess with market authority. They are never "understanding" or forgiving.

  2. mark 63 Silver badge
    Flame

    well , you have to be a habitual bulshitter to get into these kinds of jobs , so its no surprise they started early.

    Its just a shame that the ones with the big bucks are the ones who studied beancounting and "business administration" rather than those doing the work.

    but thats capitalism i guess

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    grade inflation has made all qualifications are worthless today. Except that without the meaningless paper no one will employ you. They only question worth asking is are they capable of do the job they are doing today.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    'bachelor of *science* degree in business administration' .... a tad of a stretch of science isn't it?

  5. Mr Young
    Happy

    Is lying on your CV pathetic?

    I'd say so and I prefer jobs I can do - bullshit is much more difficult to remember than reality!

  6. chris lively
    Megaphone

    The only reason this matters is because the fund wants the guys head.

    This is why when hiring someone I couldn't care less what college they went to, what they graduated in or even if they went at all.

    Does the person have a track record doing the job or can they demonstrate an aptitude for it during an interview? Yes? Then they are hired.

    Quite frankly I've found that most people coming out of university with an IT related degree start off having difficulty just logging in. Waste of time.

    1. John H Woods Silver badge

      Completely agree ...

      ... you might even hire me (BSc Genetics, PhD Biochem) to do an IT job, given I've been doing one for 20 years. But there's a difference between "not having an IT degree" and "being prepared to lie on one's CV".

      Bit like MPs with sleeze. We don't care what shenanigans they get up to in their personal life. But we do care if they are liars.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Completely agree ...

        That will work, I suppose, but if you want to move up into management you will need to be an accountant with a computer science degree that you printed on your ink jet.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "I'm a wicked smaaat engineeeer" *Boston accent*

    This removes any doubt as to whether or not he was aware that people were promoting him as a "freggen computa sciaantist" *Boston accent*

    http://allthingsd.com/20120503/in-2009-interview-yahoo-ceo-does-not-deny-he-has-a-cs-degree-and-calls-himself-an-engineer/

  8. Alan Esworthy
    Meh

    semi-meh

    Lying's bad, mkay? But other than that, so what? A computer "science" degree is utterly irrelevant when it comes to running a company, even a high-tech company.

    I agree that this is just a bogus excuse for Thompson bashing. He may or may not deserve bashing - I really don't care - but Third Point should properly focus on his performance as chief Yahoo! suit.

    1. Mr Lion

      Re: semi-meh

      OR...they should focus on the fact that he may have lied, potentially in a submission to the SEC, and that in itself would, if shown to be true, show a weakness of character (and indeed lack of judgment) which would bring his fitness for his position into question.

      Having a Physics degree myself, I would never stoop so low as to claim an education in Computer Science - but if I did so on my CV, and you caught me, I'd expect a proper drubbing...

  9. Vanir
    Facepalm

    Hypocrisy?

    Yes, but all we get from people at the top like Thompson is the same 'don't lie on your CV' - it is all in the HR policies! And ethical policies too! I remember doing an inhouse ethical test for a company I worked for. Your not supposed to lie!

    http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/05/trust-me-im-lying.html

    Greed is good, lying is good. If you get away with it. It's the art of being a politician.

  10. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    Hey, Third Point !

    I have an accounting diploma AND a computer science diploma !

    So, when do I start ?

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