Fake University degrees: is a real one worth the money?

[Suffragette1]

If they get found out, they're likely to lose their job and any chance of a good reference. That's quite a lot to lose, I think.

 

Absolutely - no reference - it would be extremely hard to get around that, although I'm sure there are ways of getting a mate who works at such and such a place to provide one. However, I personally would want to weave a tangled web in order to get a job I wasn't qualified for.

[Darbees]

If they get found out, they're likely to lose their job and any chance of a good reference. That's quite a lot to lose, I think.

No it isn't because they simply wouldn't put it on CV. If employer sacked them when they were doing a good job they would be cutting off their own noses. Having said that I do know someone who that happened to who worked in a city institution, he's a millionaire now.

[Darbees]

I agree the degree subject may be totally irrelevant, however, it's not just about the subject matter though. Going away to university (rather than living and home and going to the local one which is becoming more the norm) is about so much more than the qualification and most degree programmes facilitate independent learning and assess skills which will be of use in the workplace.

Yes they do but not all employers set graduates on for that reason, they simply stipulate a graduate in order to reduce the number of applicants. Some people who are smarter than the graduates get a phoney degree and get the job, if the employer can't spot that at the interview, his interview techniques aren't good enough or the job doesn't warrant a graduate.

[Jessica23]

No it isn't because they simply wouldn't put it on CV. If employer sacked them when they were doing a good job they would be cutting off their own noses. Having said that I do know someone who that happened to who worked in a city institution, he's a millionaire now.

 

Gaps in a CV still need some kind of explanation. It's as Suffy says, you just end up lying and getting yourself further and further in.

 

If you think lying to get a job is okay, fine. We'll agree to disagree. I just think it's not worth it. There are plenty of ways to make yourself super-employable without getting a degree, and nobody is silly enough to think these days that a degree is an automatic passport to a decent job (least of all me ).

[Suffragette1]

No it isn't because they simply wouldn't put it on CV. If employer sacked them when they were doing a good job they would be cutting off their own noses. Having said that I do know someone who that happened to who worked in a city institution, he's a millionaire now.

 

And then how do they explain a career break, which could be quite a significant one if it had taken some years for the fraudulent claim to come to light? I had a 2 year career break whilst my kids were much younger and it is phenomenally difficult, even with a bunch of letters after your name and substantial experience to get back in. And why would any employer want to hang onto someone who'd lied? How could you ever trust them?

[Darbees]

And then how do they explain a career break, which could be quite a significant one if it had taken some years for the fraudulent claim to come to light? I had a 2 year career break whilst my kids were much younger and it is phenomenally difficult, even with a bunch of letters after your name and substantial experience to get back in. And why would any employer want to hang onto someone who'd lied? How could you ever trust them?

They just do it again, simple.

[Suffragette1]

Yes they do but not all employers set graduates on for that reason, they simply stipulate a graduate in order to reduce the number of applicants. Some people who are smarter than the graduates get a phoney degree and get the job, if the employer can't spot that at the interview, his interview techniques aren't good enough or the job doesn't warrant a graduate.

 

Granted, some may, however they are also working on the assumption that most graduates will have some level of intelligence (which I know can be questionable). Having been involved in selection processes it is understandable, given the volume of applicants one has to wade through and who are immediately discarded on the basis of appalling application forms and not having paid any attention to the pre-requisites in the job and/or person spec.

[Becky B]

I don't know if my degree certificates have watermarks, I'm going to check! I know one of them will certainly be checked before I'm employed (and has already been!) - the university send the results to the governing body of the profession, and I had to get health and character references to register with them.

So some degrees have checks on them.

[Suffragette1]

They just do it again, simple.

 

Lie about where they've been working you mean? Or get a mate at their previous place of work to provide a reference?

 

Well, if people want to conduct their lives in this manner, then that's up to them. I would feel like a complete fraud and worry about being discovered. Most decent jobs these days require 2 if not 3 referees and have quite rigorous selection procedures at interview, after all it is in the employers' best interests to appoint the best person for the job.

[Darbees]

The comments I'm making obviously don't apply to all jobs and all graduates but there are plenty of jobs where they are asking for over qualified people. If someone is sufficiently resourceful I can't think of any reason to not have them, they may well be an asset to company instead of some woolly brained inexperienced graduate with a degree in nothing of relevance.

 

I personally haven't been in jobs market for over 30 years and I haven't got any qualifications other than a few irrelevant GCEs but I have a bit more knowledge of some subjects than someone straight out of Uni but I wouldn't get the job.