Live As If You’ll Be Found Out Because You Will! Don’t Lie About Your Career!

My dad has a saying: "Live as if you'll be found out because you will!" In this post, I will cover a story that plays right into that statement.

While I was browsing "updates" from friends on Facebook the other day, I noticed one of them had joined a "Fan Page" entitled, "Tim Martins is My Hero!"

I was a little perplexed; I hadn't heard of anyone by that name doing something heroic on the news. So, I clicked through to find out what all the fuss was about.

What I found was a page dedicated to someone, who, in the pursuit of his 15-minutes of fame, had made grievous errors in judgment. These errors will now follow him for the rest of his life.

The Beginning of End

It all started innocently enough. Tim Martins is a First Officer (co-pilot) for American Eagle Airlines (the regional carrier for American Airlines). He is also a member of the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), which is the union representing thousands of professional pilots at several airlines.

In the wake of recent bad press surrounding the airline industry, ALPA decided to write articles in their member magazine featuring pilots who typified their Code of Ethics and set them up as "role models." Two of the tenents in the Code of Ethics include 'representing their airline with the utmost professionalism in both appearance and conduct ' and 'being a good citizen of the community'.

To be featured in an article, a pilot is nominated by a peer and then approved by top members of ALPA. Tim Martins was nominated, approved, and then interviewed by Jan Steenblik, a long-time technical editor for ALPA's magazine.

The article, entitled, "Mature Beyond His Years," was the cover story for the April 2010 issue. In the magazine, Tim Martins, who is approximately 25 years old, told the story of his "rise" through the aviation ranks.

Tim Martins claimed he had graduated from a flight school at 19, stated that he had worked at and was furloughed by Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA - now defunct), started flying F-16s and was an active member of the NJ Air National Guard, and then was subsequently hired by American Eagle.

Further, in the article he claimed to be a FDNY firefighter / paramedic in his off time (quoted as saying he is carrying on a family tradition) as a member of Ladder Company 2 located in midtown Manhattan. He also stated he works in the food pantry at a church near his home and builds houses for Habitat for Humanity as part of his "community service."

Pretty impressive, right? The only problem is, about 90% of what he told the Steenblik wasn't true (a journalist not fact-checking a story is incomprehensible and unprofessional - but, that's another story).

"Outed" By His Peers

As thousands of ALPA members received the newest issue and began reading the article, there was no way to predict that this story would become a "runaway train" without any signs of stopping it.

First, you must understand that the aviation industry (both civilian and military) is a very tight-knit group, and pilots, like other true professionals, don't like individuals putting their chosen career in a bad light.

And, in my opinion, after working in the airline industry for many years, believe they have the right to expect that "one of their own" would not do something to put a "black eye" on an already struggling industry.

I belong to several aviation-related message boards where pilots discuss different aspects of the industry. One member started a thread about this article and Tim Martins, questioning the validity of the information.

What started as an innocent thread, giving Martins the benefit of the doubt (and questioning that perhaps he had been misquoted), turned into a real "fact-checking" mission.

After the thread was posted, several other pilots started to "chime in" with information to disprove what had been written about Martins regarding his airline career. He had never worked at ACA (verified through the seniority list from pilots who had worked there). He also never graduated from the aviation college he claimed in the article.

Then, other members questioned and found out from their military pilot counterparts that Martins had never been a member of the NJ Air National Guard. The military personnel were so incensed (they have every right to be) that Martins was purporting himself to be a military pilot that they called ALPA's national headquarters to bring this issue to light.

Further checking revealed that Martins also was not a member of FDNY Ladder Company 2 - not even as a volunteer.

But, it didn't end there. These pilots were now very upset. They Googled Tim Martins and found his Facebook page and LinkedIn profile.

On those pages, he claimed to be a pilot for Southwest Airlines, a Captain in the US Air Force, a Rescue Diver, and a US Air Force Academy graduate. His Facebook photo page showed pictures of him supposedly working at FDNY and in the cockpit of an F-16 (where he had given himself the name, "Timmy 'The Milkman' Martins").

The only fact that could be verified was that Martins was indeed a First Officer for American Eagle.

Opportunity to "Save Face"

In the true spirit of compassion, the aviation community gave every opportunity for Tim Martins to "come clean" and admit his mistakes.

However, Martins, even with all the facts staring him in the face, continued to deny that he had lied. He even made up "screen names" on these message boards to try to save his reputation by posing as "friends" who knew him and could verify his military background. It didn't work, and he finally "half-way" admitted he had stretched the truth a bit (that was putting it lightly).

But, by this time, it was too late. From there, the information went viral. Even the NY Post jumped on the bandwagon, as a freelance journalist, Christine Negroni, broke the story.

And now, Martins has the auspicious honor of having a "Facebook Fan Page" that doesn't shine a very pleasant light on him.

The Aftermath

Now, allegedly, Martins has been suspended from his job at American Eagle. If he gets fired, it will be unlikely that Martins will ever be hired into another job in aviation. He has shown that he cannot be honest, and trust is everything between flight crew members.

In addition, there may even be repercussions from Martins claiming to be a military service member under the "Stolen Valor Act." Further, I am certain that FDNY is not very happy with him either.

What Lessons Can Be Gleaned From This Story?

So, what can professionals and job seekers learn from this story?

First, live your life with integrity. Don't claim to be someone you're not. Be happy with who you are and what you have accomplished.

Second, don't post bogus information about yourself online or provide false information to a journalist.

Remember, every time you post something online, you leave a Digital Footprint that can be uncovered and used against you. Further, any comments you make to a journalist for an article will likely end up in print, and that information will never go away.

Third, know that if you do lie about your career, it WILL catch up to you. No one likes a "poser" and people will "out you;" it's just human nature.

Finally, if you do make a mistake, own up to it. Your co-workers will be more likely to forgive a mistake if you admit it and apologize.