Guest guest Posted May 17, 2000 Report Share Posted May 17, 2000 In our agency we had to pass a polygraph for employment also. We were asked about 75 questions before the test was administered. When " hooked " up to the machine I was asked questions related to what I had answered beforehand. For example " were you being truthful about your past drug use " ? The thing that got me was after I was unhooked, the test give asked me how I thought I did? I replied " i hope I passed " to which he replied you only hope you passed? You don't know you passed? Oops....made it seem like I was hiding something. I wasn't of course, cause IM working there now. I hope all goes well for you. Peg New Hanover CO. Sheriffs Dept. Wilmington NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 17, 2000 Report Share Posted May 17, 2000 , our polygraph was okay, but the guy that interviewed me beforehand was an egomaniac and a blowhard. I kept registering bad on a question that I knew I was answering truthfully and the guy treated me like a liar. He asked me the same question 6 times, same result. I have no idea why. Whatever, don't let em get you down!!! Lyn magik@... P.S. Hey, I took my psych test twice...I guess they couldn't believe the first results...what a trip!! 911:: Polygraphs .. The last step before employment is a psychological test along with a > polygraph. I have never had either kind of testing done before. From what I > hear, the psych test is mostly about consistency, but what about the > polygraph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2000 Report Share Posted May 18, 2000 Yeaassssss...one of our own trying out for deputy told me that when he was asked what state he was in (Ohio being the correct answer and the one given) it showed as lieing...(voice stress test)...in fact, not once but twice....hemmmmmmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2000 Report Share Posted May 18, 2000 The only advise I have is to answer the questions honestly. If you lie and you get caught, you don't get the job. If you answer honestly, you will pass the polygraph. Don't even think about the questions, just answer them. There aren't any trick questions anyways. Good polygraph operators can tell between nervousness about the test and deception. I took a polygraph when I was hired at PD years ago. I was so nervous. But I guess I passed because I was hired! annette hallmark ahallmark@... > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2000 Report Share Posted May 18, 2000 On Thu, 18 May 2000 at 00:36:22 EDT, in Northern Illinois wrote: > > what about the polygraph? What do they ask? I don't have anything > to hide (that I know of!)...but the thought of the test makes me nervous. > To top it off, they told us about only 1 out of 5 pass. Polygraphs are a pain and I've never met anyone who likes taking one. As to what they ask, that will depend on what your department has asked the polygraph operator to ask you. That could mean anything, but you will know what the questions are before being hooked up to the machine. The operator will do a pretesting interview before hooking you up and will ask the questions that you will be asked when you are actually taking the test. They do this so you will not be surprised but also mostly so that your answers can be broken down to yes or no. That's all you'll be able to answer when the test actually starts, so when doing the preinterview, make certain that you are comfortable with either yes or no to each question. If not, then the operator will need to reword the question or narrow its focus. The 1 out of 5 statistic could mean a couple of things. It could mean that 4 out of 5 actually fail the examine itself, meaning that the machine shows they are being deceptive about their answers and no amount of tweaking the questions resolves that deception reading. It could also mean, and I'm betting it means this, that people admit things during the exam that disqualifies them. For example, if you honestly asnwer the examiner's question and admit that you've smoked marijuana in the past 12 months and the polygraph indicates no deception on that admission AND your prospective agency has a policy of not hiring anyone who has smoked marijuana in the past year, then you'd be disqualified. Doesn't mean you failed the polygraph; it means you gave them information because of the polygraph that disqualified you. Explain going in that you have never had a polygraph before. Tell the operator that you are very nervous about it and ask him to explain the procedure carefully and slowly. Ask him to explain the machine. He will probably do that anyway, but go ahead and broach the subject yourself. I've found that they actually like talking about what they do and how the machine works and that sort of thing. That may help put you a little at ease ad the time spent while he discusses the machine will help you acliment yourself to the room and to the operator. -jackie Jackie McElroy y Creek Fire Dept. Walt Disney World, Florida (I speak for me and only me.) http://www.reedycreekdispatch.webservepro.com http://sites.netscape.net/mcjackie/index.html mailto:mcjackie@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2000 Report Share Posted May 18, 2000 Thu, 18 May 2000 at 01:18:39, Lyn wrote: > > I kept registering bad on a question that > I knew I was answering truthfully That has happened to me on every polygraph interview I've taken except 2. On one, the guy kept running me through on the question about my ever being drunk on the job. Nice, but I don't drink. Period. On or off the job. We never did resolve the issue and to this day I have no clue what was causing that reading. On other polygraphs, different issues caused problems. I have taken more polygraphs than I can actually recall. My last one was when the county dispatch centers consolidated into the sheriffs office on my last job. We all had to do the polygraph thing. He wanted to know how many timed I'd been polygraphed. I honestly could not tell him. I could tell him when my first one was (1975 for the CIA) and when my previous last 2 had been (1992 for the Dept of Defense and 1988 for the National Security Agency). The polygraph I took for the sheriffs office in Florida & for the the Sarasota Police Department in Floida back in 1981 were the only two that did not register some problem on some question that never was resolved. Still, I have been hired by very agency that required a polygraph and I've recd every government security clearance and special access that required a polygraph. I think it has a lot to do with the polygraph operator and how consistent your other answers are. I don't know. I'm guessing. -jackie Jackie McElroy y Creek Fire Dept. Walt Disney World, Florida (I speak for me and only me.) http://www.reedycreekdispatch.webservepro.com http://sites.netscape.net/mcjackie/index.html mailto:mcjackie@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2000 Report Share Posted May 20, 2000 WOULDNT IT BE INTERESTING TO POLYGRAPH SOME OF THE EMPLOYEES YOU WORK WITH WHO WERE NEVER POLYGRAPHED WHEN THEY WERE HIRED? I WONDER HOW MANY WOULD STILL BE EMPLOYED? - HOLLY >From: dsptchmom@... >Reply-To: 911consoleegroups >To: 911consoleegroups >Subject: Re: 911:: Polygraphs >Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 22:15:05 EDT > >An interesting thing about polygraphs are the phone calls I would received >from a candidate after they had taken their poly.. Sometimes they'd call in >tears telling me why they thought they'd failed the test (they were never >told the results) but some of the stuff... holy cow. It's not that they >lied >on the test but afterwards they'd start thinking about old situations then >panic that since they had not remembered it at the time of the test, it >might >have shown subconsciously that they lied. > >Then there are those who told the truth and it just knocked the wind out of >you. During pre-screening, one question asked is about drug usage. I'd get > " Oh I smoked marijuana once during college and nothing else " but the poly >results would show more then marijuana. > > The thought of taking a " lie detector " test is a good psychological test >in >it's own. Makes people come clean. But they are not fail proof - we've >had >people pass the poly - have an absolutely clean background and after >training >a bit, all kinds of problems present themselves. I wish we could ask >questions about work habits, moral issues, things that really matter in the >comm center (not that alcohol or drug use/abuse isn't important). > >Don't we all wish there was a machine we could hook applicants to that >would >register " has the right stuff " or " hit the road jack " !!!!! > >Kathy ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2000 Report Share Posted May 20, 2000 An interesting thing about polygraphs are the phone calls I would received from a candidate after they had taken their poly.. Sometimes they'd call in tears telling me why they thought they'd failed the test (they were never told the results) but some of the stuff... holy cow. It's not that they lied on the test but afterwards they'd start thinking about old situations then panic that since they had not remembered it at the time of the test, it might have shown subconsciously that they lied. Then there are those who told the truth and it just knocked the wind out of you. During pre-screening, one question asked is about drug usage. I'd get " Oh I smoked marijuana once during college and nothing else " but the poly results would show more then marijuana. The thought of taking a " lie detector " test is a good psychological test in it's own. Makes people come clean. But they are not fail proof - we've had people pass the poly - have an absolutely clean background and after training a bit, all kinds of problems present themselves. I wish we could ask questions about work habits, moral issues, things that really matter in the comm center (not that alcohol or drug use/abuse isn't important). Don't we all wish there was a machine we could hook applicants to that would register " has the right stuff " or " hit the road jack " !!!!! Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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