I was kind of hoping for more feedback...oh well.  I really don't want to be limited only to agencies that don't poly next time I apply because that eliminates the vast majority of departments in my state.  On the other hand, I never again want to spend 6 months in a hiring process and get DQ'd because of this stupid crappity smacking test.  Anyone want to guess if it was my admission that screwed me over or the actual polygraph results?  I've been thinking about this over the past few months and it's been driving me crazy.

Joe Montana wrote on May 6^th, 2010 at 6:20am:

Apply only to agencies that do not poly.  Tell any prospective employer about this application and rejection.  If they ask, tell them you suspect a poly exam washed you out.  Don't tell them you were trapped into admitting that you lied on your application.

That way, you will automatically limit yourself to working only for agencies that believe the poly is BS.

-Aunty Agony.

I took my first polygraph recently, GOD what a miserable experience.  I don't think I've ever done anything so mentally draining in my entire life (not getting any sleep the night before didn't help).  I read TLBTLD beforehand, employed the countermeasures recommended and still (I'm assuming) failed.  The polygrapher was about what I expected, unfriendly in an odd sort of way and at the same time giving me bullshit about how the department was so interested in me and he wanted me to pass, etc.  

The interrogation/interview was nothing like the examples given in TLBTLD.  There was only one control question followed by the relevant questions, the whole thing only taking about 20-30 minutes (preceded by about an hour of non-polygraph interviewing).  After the first session he said my body had shown a response to the drug question, and asked me if I was 100% sure about the last time I had used.  I said that I possibly could have used MJ sometime in 2005 when I had initially said 2004, which he said was fine because it was still within the departmental guidelines and had me sign a waiver saying I had made the admission.  Big mistake, obviously, after going back and re-reading that portion of the book.

After going through another shorter polygraph test, he said I was done and told me the officer in to contact to find out the results in two days.  Contacted the officer, no response, and a couple days later received a letter saying that I had been moved out of the hiring process and onto an interest list or something, basically that my name would be on a list for a year.  I'm sure they're going to call. 

Anyways I'm pretty pissed about this, I assumed if there was an issue with the polygraph they would have let me know and given me a chance to re-take it another time, but they won't even give me a response about the !@#$ results!  I don't ever again want to deal with this, having my dream job depend on a bullshit test that I may or may not pass whether I am being honest or not.  In the future I think I am only going to apply to agencies that don't poly, unfortunately they're aren't many in my state.  

When I do apply again, should I omit that I had applied to this dept?  I can imagine it looks bad if I candidate fails (if in fact I did fail it, I really have no way of knowing) a polygraph and then proceeds to apply to a dept that doesn't poly.  If whatever dept I apply to in the future isn't in the same area, or even the same state, how likely would it be that it would come out that I had a poly issue with this dept?  Any insight is appreciated.