The PhD and the non-academic job

[seaweed]

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I am not ‘misleading’ anyone on this forum. I am simply expressing my opinion that leaving things off your resume is a perfectly valid tactic. Why not? After all, like I said, what company out there tells you (either as a customer or an employee) the whole truth? Hence, why are people ethically obligated to return the favor? </p>

<p>As far as the examples provided, I would argue that each and every one of those fired scientists has grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit. After all, you can’t legally fire somebody for leaving a qualification off their resume. It’s not a lie, and they can’t legally say that it is a lie. Unless they specifically asked you whether you have a PhD and you say no when in fact the answer is yes, then I believe that you are on safe legal ground. </p>

<p>Now, I will agree that I am not an employment lawyer, so perhaps we can check with one of them. But I personally don’t see what the problem is. Omitting a qualification is not a lie. You are under no obligation to provide more information than the employer requests.

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<p>Yes, you are misleading others, because your opinions might cause people to believe that leaving PhD credentials off your resume is okay for employers, but in fact it’s not. And hey, I am not saying it’s a lie too. In fact, I originally thought it’s alright, but apparently employers don’t accept that, period.</p>

<p>Whether the employees have legal ground or not, I don’t think anyone is willing to risk his/her career because someone on a college discussion forum thinks it’s logically justified.</p>