Graduated magna cum latte?

Ann Spoor //May 10, 2011//

Graduated magna cum latte?

Ann Spoor //May 10, 2011//

Your LinkedIn brand represents a significant part of your professional brand. What do you want the world to know about you? What do you represent?

My friend David sent me a profile that had this – “Graduated Magna cum Latte” under Education. We were both in total disbelief. We laughed and wondered if this person had graduated from the University of Starbucks. So I did a search on LinkedIn for the exact phrase and found several other profiles with the same representation. Seriously, could someone have graduated magna cum laude never having learned how to spell?

Are these people embellishing their profile? Probably.

Are they also embellishing their resume? Again, probably.

Another friend of mine says “how you do something is how you do everything.” In other words, if you cheat on one aspect of your life, you are a cheater in other aspects, too.

Several years ago, when I worked for a Fortune 500 company, I found with unfortunate frequency that people lied about having a Masters Degree. The jobs I was recruiting for at the time didn’t require a Masters. The candidates I was trying to hire would have gotten the job anyway. When we found out by a simple background check that the candidate had lied, we rescinded the offer. A lie is a lie.

If you graduated magna cum latte, there are only three possibilities:

1. You’re lying
2. You’re not the brightest bulb.
3. Both

{pagebreak:Page 1}