Oct 19, 2009
CV plagirism
Today, was just one of those days where I wish I wasn’t even born.
While I was reviewing some of the students’ resumes I found out that 3 of them identically cloned their resumes from each other, yes exact clones except their names.
When I confronted them they told me that they had no clue on what to write in a resume so they did it together as a group work to come up with one awesome CV & cover letter.
However I find it hard to believe that they have no clue as I gave clear instructions, guides and samples on resumes as well as I wrote a whole post on the topic last week.
I told them that it is extremely disrespectful & that they should be so ashamed of themselves but I did not have the time to explain to them what did they exactly do or even what is it called.
so here we go
First of all what is Plagiarism?
Many people think of plagiarism as copying another’s work, or borrowing someone else’s original ideas. But terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense:
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means
- to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
- to use (another’s production) without crediting the source
- to commit literary theft
- to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud.It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.
But can words and ideas really be stolen?
According to law in most countries (if not all), the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).
Source: Plagiarism.Org (I don’t steal others work as you see I used most of article & refereed to the source).
Finally, the other ugly side of this incident is the shocking absence self esteem in spite the friendly environment that is available among their fellow students.
