Hi Fellow BGM!!! I have a situation. Someone applied to my company and claimed to have graduated from an HBCU. In doing the background check it was revealed she did attend however she didn’t graduate. She’s an amazing talent and has great references. I followed up with her and she admitted she didn’t graduate but was desperate to get the job. I feel stuck. I could hire her and see how it goes but am I now setting a precedent for allowing this foolishness? What if she’s good? Need some advice.

#Thingsthatwhitemengetawaywith

If she stood out as an ideal candidate and had capable and reliable recommendations and experience, hire her.

While concealing information is less than ideal, what are the odds that you would’ve passed up on the chance at your ideal candidate, because your initial screening was nitpicks on what is mandatory (ie a bachelors degree). I know some people will groan at this, but we’ve already have so many biases that work against when it comes to job hiring, that it’s understandable that people would need to stack the decks in order to be given an opportunity.

Honestly, I was in this same situation and so were a few of my friends.

I love HBCUs, glad I attended, but a lot of students get screwed. Between incompetence and fraud in the financial aid office (you’ve seen the headlines) to a handful of academic advisors for thousands of students, so many great people fall through the cracks.

It took me years to go back to get my degree, and it even got to the point that I had to secretly record conversations in financial aid because the story kept changing. I had to literally stalk professors and admins to be able to graduate.

After getting my B.A., I went on to get an Ivy League degree and move abroad for work, but I still remember the pain and struggle of trying to find work without my degree.

If you didn’t attend an HBCU, you probably don’t understand what it’s like for advisors to not answer phone calls, emails, and never be at their desk. For financial aid to lie to your face repeatedly. My HBCU experience vs. my Ivy experience were night and day. I couldn’t believe that admins actually did their job and kept their facts straight.

I say all that to say: please don’t give up on this girl. She’s probably living with a lot of fear, pain and shame. Meanwhile, her lack of degree could just be a matter of not receiving financial aid or being told the wrong thing by graduation advisors.

Idk it’s one thing to overstate your ppt or excel skills but to lie about a degree is a bit much imo. What else will they lie about when they’re “desperate”

Could you hire her on the condition that she completes her degree by xx date? Not a fan of the concealing information part but if you think shes a good fit for the position I say go ahead. Companies make exceptions all the time, just let her know not to publicize it.

I say hire her. But I could be bias because I was in the same predicament. However, I never got caught. If she writes well, has previous experience, references love her, and you believe she can do the job, what’s the problem? And I realize concealing information is frowned upon butttttt it’s hard when you don’t have a degree and you know you can do the job. And especially when you started but didn’t finish for whatever reason.

Girl? Hell to the mf no. Ethics aside, this could blow back on you if it comes out. Protect yourself.

Here's a recruiting joke for you: How can you tell a candidate is lying? Their mouth is moving.

EVERYONE lies/embellishes. This is a whopper, but unless the degree is really needed for the job I would give them a chance. In my opinion, too often degrees are listed as a job requirement and it's an unnecessary barrier. Some of the best people I've hired only had a HS diploma.

It’s a no for me. What else will she lie about if she can lie about something like this? Too messy and could potentially put your reputation at risk. What if more people find out and she LIES again and says you said it was okay?? Would you be okay with that? If you really want to hire her, tell your team what you know with the recommendation to move forward despite her not meeting that qualification then let the chips fall where they fall.

It came out on the background check report that she lied… how would HR allow you to move forward with her? How would you look if you tried?

Is having the degree a requirement? Is this a secret between the two of you or is it public knowledge on the hiring team at this point?

Absolutely not!
When a person shows you who they are, believe them. She lied to get something she wanted by any means necessary.

Hey BGMs… I do agree with not hiring but let’s not pretend other races have not done this. I can understand being desperate to get you food in the door

Consult your legal department to inquire about any risks to the company. Also if it is a company mandated requirement there could be a policy violation in hiring her. How has HR handled this in the past?

I'm just someone who thinks about the worse. Lets say something controversial comes up, do you trust she'll keep this secret that you hired her knowing this?

Every time I have felt sorry for someone and extended myself … it has turned out ugly I mean lil Wayne ugly. My back has deep knife wounds proceed with caution is all I can say

Could you put her on a probation period? Hire her and see how she does for 5 months?

Please don’t do this. She lacks integrity.

I wouldn’t hire her, but I’d also make very sure to tell her that the reason she’s been removed from consideration is because she lied on the resume. That way it’s a learning opportunity.

If she was desperate for the job, but is a great talent that speaks volumes about how passionate she is about the opening. It sucks she lied, but I wouldn’t reject her.