Myer's 'star hire' sacked after Zara reveals he's a fake

Australian retail chain Myer announced a slew of new hires last week, including the appointment of Andrew Flanagan as its group general manager of strategy and business development.

Myer reported it had snagged Flanagan from rival - the fashion giant Zara - where he had supposedly served as its managing director and vice-president of Inditex Group, the Spanish owner of the retail brand.

However, Zara quickly issued a statement revealing Flanagan ''was not part and has never been employed by the company''.

''Group Zara Australia, the affiliated company of the Inditex Group in Australia, would like to clarify that Mr Andrew Flanagan was not part and has never been employed by the company as reported recently," Zara told Fairfax Media.

''He has not held the position of managing director and vice president for Asia Pacific.''

Myer hired Flanagan through recruiter Quest Personnel, which claimed it had run a reference check and interviewed his referees. They are now looking into Flanagan's other listed credentials, which include roles with Tesco and Walmart.

Flanagan was dismissed on his first day on the job, with a Myer spokesperson saying an investigation has been launched into the matter.

Unfortunately, Flanagan is not the first senior executive to have been caught lying on their CV. In 2010, Yahoo fired CEO Scott Thomson after finding out he had faked his educational background.

There's a lesson to be learnt here, folks. It doesn't matter how junior or senior you are, lying on your CV is a major no-no.

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