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Why would you lie about studying at Thames Valley University?


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Old 04-06-2008, 21:32
one-trick-pony
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Why would you lie about staying at TVU for a qualification? It is one of the worst universities in the UK!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle2131563.ece

Lee might as well said he was at Oxford!
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Old 04-06-2008, 21:34
funkycub
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Nah Thames Valley has not got any R's in it. It was easier for him to say that Oxfawd!

Bless him!
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Old 04-06-2008, 21:37
Miss Poppy
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No! I wouldn't lie about anything on the apprentice (and I've been 'creative' about cvs in the past)
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Old 04-06-2008, 21:40
PeterB
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Maybe that's not a problem for this job, a requirement?
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Old 04-06-2008, 21:58
PeterB
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Now we know, not a problem.
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Old 04-06-2008, 22:41
Nlogax
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I went there, have never lied about it, certainly haven't done badly by telling the truth on my CV / resume. Sure, TVU doesn't have the finest of reputations - and indeed if you were going to lie about it, at least say you went to Oxbridge..lie like a man!
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Old 04-06-2008, 22:42
neomilan
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Michael Macintyre: "He went to thames valley for 4 months, if he waws going to lie, why not write he went to cambridge"

brilliant!
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Old 04-06-2008, 22:43
GoodMikey
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Didn't you listen at all, Lee explained about 10 times it was because he felt personally that people would look down on him if he didn't say he went to university and misjudge him to be a stupid man.
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Old 04-06-2008, 22:47
Cake_Nibbler
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Didn't you listen at all, Lee explained about 10 times it was because he felt personally that people would look down on him if he didn't say he went to university and misjudge him to be a stupid man.
Oh that's alright then. When I apply to be a surgeon I'll just lie about my medical degree because I don't want the other doctors to think I'm bad at surgery.
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Old 04-06-2008, 22:49
ewoodie
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Didn't you listen at all, Lee explained about 10 times it was because he felt personally that people would look down on him if he didn't say he went to university and misjudge him to be a stupid man.
But he did go to university. The question is why did he leave after 4 months?
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Old 04-06-2008, 22:54
GoodMikey
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Oh that's alright then. When I apply to be a surgeon I'll just lie about my medical degree because I don't want the other doctors to think I'm bad at surgery.
wow you are a cake. The whole point of the apprentice is that you get tested for 10+ weeks on your ability. Lee has never been in the boardroom in the final 3 to get fired, which shows that he is one of the best candidates on the show.
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Old 04-06-2008, 23:12
*Laura*
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But he did go to university. The question is why did he leave after 4 months?
After watching the programme last night I'm guessing it was around the time his parents broke up and it did affect him badly. University can be tough even when everything is going well in your personal life so I'm guessing it all got too much for him.
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Old 04-06-2008, 23:22
Summat2Say
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I went there, have never lied about it, certainly haven't done badly by telling the truth on my CV / resume. Sure, TVU doesn't have the finest of reputations - and indeed if you were going to lie about it, at least say you went to Oxbridge..lie like a man!
Michael Macintyre: "He went to thames valley for 4 months, if he waws going to lie, why not write he went to cambridge"

brilliant!
Because he did actually go to that University. To me it sounds like he quit his course, then got stuck doing bits and pieces, perhaps even signing on for a bit. For some employers, CVs with gaps are a turn-off so Lee just stretched the time-line to cover-up deficiencies.
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Old 04-06-2008, 23:43
SapphicGrrl
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You would only lie about anything on your CV in a programme like The Apprentice if you were a complete thoughtless idiot. I bet every single fact on all of those CVs was checked out - did Lee not think this would come out? And to keep lying in the interview (pretending not to remember etc.) - he must be barking.

This isn't a Saturday job in Woolworths, it's a £100K pa career - and everybody in Britain is either watching or will read about it in the papers tomorrow. Lee might be a nice bloke, but he'll be lucky if he's got a job at all tomorrow, let alone a job with SAS!

(SAS says he's not taken in by sob stories - let's see if this one sways him. I will watch with interest.....)

Last edited by SapphicGrrl : 04-06-2008 at 23:43. Reason: typo
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Old 05-06-2008, 00:04
Safa1
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You guys are real sh*ts, you know that? Lee is obviously uncomfortable with his academic background (or lack of it) and he made a silly mistake. Fine, it was irresponsible and irrational but it's a real problem that people who didn't do well academically have and some people, no matter how hard they try won't do well academically. Good on him though, he's done well for himself given the skills he has and picked himself up and is working much harder than anyone else would have done in his situation.

That's coming from someone who's probably going to LSE in September.
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Old 05-06-2008, 00:23
tropical
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I get that its wrong to lie and kinda stupid to do so on an application form for a tv show but i can completely see where Lee is coming from. For those who dont come from a particularly academic background, trying to write a cv can be sooo difficult. Lets be honest, a 2 page CV can sometimes have just a page dedicated to qualifications and academic background.

This is coming from someone who has a lot of qualifications herself, but i have always been a huge advocate of the 'grafter'. I guess it comes from watching my dad work his whole life from the age of 15 in monotonous jobs just so he could provide us with a life where we wouldnt have to. Ive been blessed to be able to go to university but i always feel that people can see a list of qualifications and appreciate it, but will look down on someone who has worked long hours their whole lives as a builder or in a supermarket.

Thats not to say that those of us who have worked to get into uni's (me included) have had an easy ride but IMO they dont have the same judgmental experiences that others do.

Plus for the candidates I think it would be so easy to be able to showcase your academic success in a CV, all you have to do is give a list of the degrees, gcses, alevels. But how do you show in a CV that you have slaved away in a job for god knows how many years, worked late hours, got paid a piss poor wage and still managed to stand your own against university graduates with 2 degrees.

I still have a lot of respect for Lee despite what he did, he can honestly stand up and say that he has got as far as he has in life through his own effort and hard work.

Last edited by tropical : 05-06-2008 at 00:25. Reason: ...
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Old 05-06-2008, 00:55
hippiali
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Yeah I agree, I can imagine it would be hard to fill a 2 page cv if you can't take up space with qualifications, uni degrees etc...it means you have to have lots of skills and experience etc to put in to compensate. It involves far more hard work, which is probably more valuable for this. A degree at Ediburgh in classics didn't do Michael any favours...even if Edinburgh isn't what it's supposed to be!

I did think it was a bit stupid because Lee works in recruitment and I don't see how he was going to have any chance of getting away with it. Lol although its less blatant than saying he went to Oxbridge..! But as he said it shows how much he wants the job, it just could have been a risk that could have backfired. I still think he is the only one he wants the job for the long run so good luck to him!
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Old 05-06-2008, 01:00
bbfan2323
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What's being embarrassed about lack of education and filling up CVs got to do with lying. You can feel sorry for him concerning the former but it doesn't excuse the latter.
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Old 05-06-2008, 01:18
troyston
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Thames Valley Lol pretty much the worst uni the UK. I find Lee to be very thick as evidenced by his spelling and the way he expresses himself. Would hate to work with someone like that but fortunately all my colleagues (at uni) are very very clever people.

But maybe I'm an academic snob, just about to finish my 1st year studying Engineering at Imperial College Life is good.
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Old 05-06-2008, 01:21
CloughOfFife
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What's being embarrassed about lack of education and filling up CVs got to do with lying. You can feel sorry for him concerning the former but it doesn't excuse the latter.
I actually did feel a bit sorry for him when I heard him say that he is embarrassed about his level of education etc, but I consider it a very stupid thing to do - this isn't the 1870s or whatever, and people without formal further education aren't looked down on; indeed, many people I work with (and for) consider it strange that I have a university education, as most of them started working straight out of school, or with maybe a year or so at college (although perhaps this says more for my lowly station in life than it does for the attitude of society in general ). Actually, I should think that most people are more impressed by someone who has done well in life and doesn't have a degree, rather than regarding its' absence as an impediment.

In this way, I think that Lee has shot himself in both feet!
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Old 05-06-2008, 01:25
apprentice_fan
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If he said that he had a university degree then it would have been a problem and I would have questioned his integrity. He just said that he went there for 2 years instead of 4 months. I wouldn't have expected that they would take the trouble investigate such a rediculous claim!!!

He is uncomfortable about his academic background. He probably thought that extending his time at university might help him through the initial stages and let's face it, it was not a big lie. I am happy that he got through to the finals because he deserves his place there more than Helene and Alex.
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Old 05-06-2008, 01:26
troyston
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I have nothing against those without a university education. To be honest I only really respect top unis anyway i.e. Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE, UCL and a few others. HOWEVER Lee is thick. I'm sure there will be tasks that Sir Allan might want to assign to him that he would be incapable of doing because he's just not clever enough.
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Old 05-06-2008, 01:40
Alrightmate
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What may work against him more is that Alan Sugar may question why he only did four months and why he didn't stick it out.
I think many employers would be concerned that he might not stick the job out, and Alan Sugar may wonder if he's going to stick this job out.

...and that's on top of the lying.
After all one of his catchphrases is that he doesn't like liars or bullshitters.
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Old 05-06-2008, 02:51
InigoMontoya
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I'll declare up front that I like Lee and may tend to be an apologist for him but from what I understood of his very first reaction was that it was a vocational course he was doing in the job he was in. It's often the case that there's not a great deal of university attendance but it's all wrapped up in the job. If he was in the job two years, I can sort of understand how he'd make the mistake.

Still, an object lesson in checking your cv carefully.
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Old 05-06-2008, 03:10
The Spoon
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Didn't you listen at all, Lee explained about 10 times it was because he felt personally that people would look down on him if he didn't say he went to university and misjudge him to be a stupid man.

which makes him a ********.

SAS doesn't like pseuds.
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