Don't Blame The Help

There's nothing I dislike more than when someone blames the staff for their own wrongdoing.

From the Herald:

National list MP Aaron Gilmore says the Parliamentary Service is responsible for an error that credited him with a high-level finance-sector qualification he does not have in a CV posted on his Parliament web page.

Until yesterday, Mr Gilmore was listed as a member of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute.

Last week, however, the institute told the Herald that was incorrect.

Mr Gilmore said the error was introduced when someone at the Parliamentary Service wrote the biographical material for the page.

"I've never been a member of the CFA institute. I've been studying towards membership and that's what I've always said and that's what my CV says."

He described the error, which he had corrected yesterday, as "a cock-up by somebody else".

An unlikely story. I can't see why or how Parliamentary Service would have created a membership of the organisation when one didn't exist.

A spokesman said the Parliamentary Service did not discuss matters affecting individual MPs but biographical information about MPs published on its website was supplied by them and approved by them as correct.

So in other words, it seems likely that Mr Gilmore approved the CV that was posted online. Not the fault of Parliamentary Service at all then. It could just be carelessness on the part of Gilmore (though surely he should know which organisations he belongs to), or it could be something else.

Mr Gilmore's online CV still makes the current claim about one of his supposed qualifications:

Postgraduate Diploma (Accounting), Massey University (75% complete)

How can you claim to have even part of a diploma when you haven't completed it? You don't get any part of the diploma until you complete the course. If you pull out half-way through they don't get a certificate out, cut it in half with a pair of scissors and then say "oh well, at least we can give you this bit."

This ludicrous CV entry does taint his claim that that the CV error was unintentional.

If I had time I'd like to look at all of the MPs' CVs to see if anyone else is making statements about having part-finished qualifications. I suspect Gilmore may not be the only one.