George:
I'm new to bulletin boards and can't quite figure out how to start my own message so I'm tacking it on to your posting.

I recently took a pre-employment FBI poly and was told I reacted strongly to the drug questions. I admitted to using marijuana a few times long ago, but in fact during a period of youth indiscretion my drug usage exceeded the FBI's 15 times limit and was not limited to marijuana. However, I haven't touched anything illegal in about 25 years. I was encouraged to write an explanation/confession. I was told that without some explanation, the technical reviewers of my poly might not grant me a second chance. I said it was so long ago that I'd have to think about it. 

My questions are these: should I write a beneign statement that perhaps I did more drugs than previously stated, but that it was so long ago I can't be sure?

Also, can a relevant/irrelevant test be beaten? I'm pretty sure after reading your book and other material, that the test was relevant/irrelevant.  The irrelevant questions were 1) Is your name XXX?
2) Is your SSN XXX? 3) Do you live in XXX? One other question seemed relevant, but may not have been. It was, "Have you ever betrayed the trust of someone from your inner circle of trust?" It sounds like a control question, but it was explained that they were only looking for significant betrayal, not white lies, and that they found that spies don't just one day start spying but in fact begin down that road by betraying those closest to them. In that context, it could be a relevant question.

Anyway, I'm stymied as to what tack to take. I'm pretty sure that if I admit to more than 15 times, I'll be disqualifed 1) for exceeding that arbitrary number, and 2) for lying about it to begin with. 

Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
CCK

George:
Thank you for your input. I'll need a bit of prep time, but I'm going to take the test again. Could you please answer just a few more questions so I'll know how to deal with it?

Is it possible that the question about betraying a loved one's trust could be relevant? The only reason I question it is that the polygrapher emphasized that he was only talking about significant breaches of trust, no white lies and such. He also said they used that question as a criterion for hiring because spies tend to betray their loved ones first on their road to espionage.  Maybe I'm still naive to their tactics and the polygrapher was just playing me. If it is a control question, it's not a very good one. I don't think many people (other than those who've had affairs and such) would register a strong reaction. I wouldn't, which would skew the reactions of my relevant questions. 

Second question is, if it is a known-lie control question, would a test have just one? The other non-relevant questions were "Is your last name XXX? Is your SSN XXX? Do you live in XXX?" If I were to try to beat the test, would I manipulate a response to those questions also or only the one about trust?

Also, I understand how to manipulate for a known-lie test. How would one respond to a relevant/irrelevant test? 

Thanks in advance for your answers and for the service you provide with your website.

CCK 

Thanks very much. I'll re-read chapter 4.

Quote:

This comes very close to encouraging an FBI applicant to lie, or rather to continue lying, in pursuit of a career. While one may argue with the specific criteria an agency selects for itself, I don't like the idea that a future FBI agent may have lied about a material job requirement to get hired. I certainly don't expect you to encourage this, George.

-Marty

Always look out for no.1!

Marty,

CCK asked me whether he/she should "write a beneign statement that perhaps [he/she] did more drugs than previously stated, but that it was so long ago [he/she] can't be sure?" I would have been lying had I stated that doing so would be in his/her interest.

Marty,

How would you have answered CCK's question?