Chrissy,

The FBI and other govt institutions lose the valuable services of normal, intelligent, faithful, loyal, efficient people - on a daily basis.
Simply because they (the employers) are talentless and have no ability to recognize human talent.

It is no wonder then that these institutions are filled with emotionless, spineless and ambivalent individuals. 

Movies glorify the FBI. In reality they are 100% decaffeinated. No spirit. No spark. 

No wonder then that real spies find it relatively easy to breach the polygraph barriers.

It is mostly the ordinary and fundamentally decent folk that are turned down by the lemon faces.

Dont take it upon yourself as a shaming incident. It is their error. Their loss. 

Hold your head high and find an employer that is worthy of you.

pailryder wrote on Aug 6^th, 2008 at 12:13pm:


I felt lying would get me where I wanted to be?  That is not true at all.  I was emotionally distraught, mentally raped and nearing the end of my whits.  How do polygraphers reconcile telling endless amounts of lies and expecting to somehow arrive at the truth?   

If your boss tells you to do something and you don't do it you get fired.  If a polygrapher tells you you have failed and if you just start telling a story you will pass, what shell shocked person wouldn't?   

Then somehow a small utterance to end the hell of the interrogation and suddenly you are a felon for lying on a federal form and lying to a federal officer.  What about going after the federal officer for lying as their career? 

The polygraph is playing with fire.

Chrissy,
What happened to you is terrible.  The blind and unaccountable bureaucracy of the US government baffles me.  I too was rejected from federal employment because I confessed to smoking pot one time more than I admitted on my SF86.

Why are drugs such a big deal to the government?  Especially recreational use in college?  The polygraph process is no more than a witch hunt which weeds out those unprepared for it.

Since I lost my contracting job I have been continually labeled as a drug user and a liar.  I got strait A's at a good college but a stain like this follows one around forever.  In Asia there is no shame in admitting failure and honorably ending it all.  I just wish it were the same here.  

Do the examiners comprehend the pain and anguish they inflict?  

Chrissy

You interviewed for a position where you would have access to top secret infomation and lied in the interview because you felt that lying would help you get where you wanted to be.  If you can be turned away from the truth that easily, maybe you are not quite ready for TS status.   

Chrissy,

I took the NSA polygraph in march of 2000.  I fell for the same con game.

Most people think the polygraph is simply a scientific procedure meant to test your veracity.  Just tell the truth and you'll be okay.  BULLSHIT!

You now know the truth.  It is an INTERROGATION disguised as a test. The goal of the examiner is to see what they can "get out of you".  They do this by putting you at ease and conning you into believing they are there to help you.   

You seemed to get some bad advise from your coworkers.  Tell all your friends, family and coworkers about your experience.  We need to get the word out.   But be discreet at work.  Look out for back-stabbers.  Just tell the people you really know and send them to this site!  The advise to not research prior to testing is bogus.  Remember the old adage:  "If you don't know who the patsy is in a card game, then YOU'RE the patsy!"

So what type of test was it?  Were there "control" questions?  Like "Have you ever lied to a higher authority?", or "Have you ever betrayed someone close to you?"...etc.

TC

Chrissy

You need to get that kind of thinking out of your head. Your polygrapher is not worthy of any thoughts of that nature. Replace your negative thoughts with a little anger and fight. Keep remembering that those people are leaches and vampires that keep their jobs by sucking the blood from innocent and naive applicants. Turn your thoughts and energy toward the U.S. Senate and House. Herein lies the reason for the abominable position in which this nation finds itself. The biggest damage a president does is with his appointment of idiots to key positions in his administration. Our self-serving congress people are supposed to be a check and balance body. I guess they do. They write themselves the checks to balance their check book. About 90% of them need to be replaced with honest people. Write your elected officials, be sure to name your polygrapher, about your experience. Tell them if they can't fight for the suppression of the polygraph, then you will work to defeat them come election.

Chrissy,

Thank you for sharing your polygraph experience. You are not the first person to have been seduced into fabricating an admission to placate a prodding polygrapher. Many have reported feeling tempted to do so, and some of these, like you, made the mistake of actually doing so.

I'm afraid this will indeed have negative consequences on your ability to hold a security clearance. But it should not affect your ability to obtain a professional license.

Whatever the consequences, don't consider this as an ending your reason for living. While you may have pinned all your hopes on a career in the national security/intelligence field, there are other options available, including going to graduate school, or work in the public or private sectors that doesn't require a security clearance.

My NSA Polygraphs

I am writing in a moment of despair.  I am 22 years old, fresh out of school, working for a NSA contractor in MD.  I recently took 2 successive NSA polygraphs which, when the paperwork goes through, will end my career and reason for living.

In college I interned at DoD and got a Secret level clearance.  Upon graduating finding a job was quite challenging.  My only leg up proved to be my existing security clearance.  I never wanted to work for the NSA but my current job was the only offer I received which didn’t require going to Iraq. 

When I went in for my polygraph I did not research it, obeying the advice of my coworkers.  The Polygrapher was very nice and the environment professional.  While I was nervous I answered all the questions honestly and confessed to all my minor indiscretions.  I was then called back for another interview a week later.  This was completely different.

My second polygraph in no way resembled the first.  While professional, she convinced me I was already a sure bet and that we just had to get through this process.  “The NSA is not interested in people with no history of indiscretion,” I was told.  “There is a war on and we need smart people that have been around the block.”  Over the course of several hours of talking about every little thing I could think of, I became convinced if I did not come up with some sort of juicy story I would never get cleared.  

I proceeded to tell the Polygrapher everything I had witnessed in my college sorority but in the first person.  I talked about hazing and minor drug use.  While the hazing did not impress her, she lit up when I mentioned drugs.  She wrote down everything meticulously and kept prying for more.  In total I confessed to smoking marijuana about 10 times and using ecstasy once.  By the end of the exam I was mortified.  I couldn’t believe the story I had made up.  I was so eager to please this woman I would have told her I killed Kennedy if she asked.  The truth of the matter is I was always too worried about getting hair tested to join my sisters out on the balcony.  I am a coward.  I almost crashed my car driving home.  I couldn’t believe what had happened.

I now go to work and feel like I am living a lie.  I don’t know what is going to happen.  I am sure I will not get a TS clearance but I am convinced my secret will be revoked as well.  When that happens I will get fired and will never be able to get either a government job or a professional license to do anything.  I am not qualified to do anything else and will be out on the street. 

My life is over.  I can’t believe the manipulation I was put through and how in a matter of hours all my life’s efforts were turned to garbage.  Everything is over.  I don’t know what to do.