I’m currently employed with a small company that does contracting work for the government. I won’t say exactly what type of work because I don’t want to reveal too much personal info for reasons that are probably obvious to most people that read this forum. I’m not a mercenary or a spy or anything like that, but my work does take me around the world to a lot of really cool places and I get to do some fun things that I’ve enjoyed over the past few years.

I’ve always considered myself a patriot moving from one crusade to the next with my life. Before my present employment, I served in the military for more than ten years. I was decorated and honorably discharged. I just feel the need to be contributing to a cause greater than myself in order to feel satisfied with my direction in life. And about two years ago I started getting really bored with my life. I then started looking for some way to liven things up.

Even though I had a great job with good pay and benefits, I just found myself not very motivated. I really hate when I get that way, so I started thinking about a career change. I have had a security clearance for about five years, and with my technical skills and willingness to travel to remote locations to work, I thought I might like to be a spy. So I submitted (half jestingly) my resume to the CIA.

Not too many months after, they invited me to test for a technical position and to be interviewed. It was later revealed to me that I did quite well on the testing, but I think the interview was what hooked them. My interviewer was looking pretty glum, I suspect having been through two days with potential candidates that turned out to be a complete bust. 

His eyes got rather large and he perked up nicely when I informed him that the only reason I was talking to him is because I was interested in becoming a spy. “If the agency has plans to dump me behind a desk” I said, “then he could forget about me.” I wouldn’t be hanging around in that environment for very long.

Well, to make a long story short, I got a really sweet Conditional Offer of Employment (COE) that was very competitive with my present salary. So off I went to Virginia to take their poly.

The polygraph experience was pretty rough. I was very angry when it was all over. I won’t bother boring you with the details but, needless to say, I was informed that I had failed.

When I received the letter rescinding my COE, I chuckled to myself in amazement. It’s apparent to me why our intelligence agencies are in such disarray, being inept and incapable of discerning the good guys from the bad guys. “So be it!” I thought. I’ve got a great job, and I’d have been taking a pay cut to sign on with them anyway. I was actually glad it was over because I thought I was most likely making a mistake in even pursuing the endeavor.

So I thought I’d get on with my life. Somehow.

And I did. 

I continued at the same job, racking up a few pay raises and bonuses, and have sort of gotten out of that rut I had been in that had led me to apply with the CIA.

But recently, I was confronted with at dilemma. My supervisor informed me that our company is attempting to contract some work from another (different) intelligence agency, and the clearance requires people to take a poly with this agency. He asked me if I’d be willing to submit to one, or if I had any problems with it.

I reflexively laughed, but stated, “sure, I’ll take one.” (Am I a glutton for punishment or what??)

My question is how should I approach this polygraph? 

Should I be honest with the agency and tell them I’ve previously flunked one with the CIA? I don’t really want my current employers knowing I was looking for a new line of work, so I don’t plan to tell them anything. If I tell the agency I flunked once before, I would suspect it would be very difficult for me to clear their poly. 

Of course, not telling them does not really seem like an option to me. My choices are basically to tell them, or to decline to test…

Also, if I do decide to test, how should I handle the actual testing? On my previous poly I did not use any countermeasures. Should I tell the testing agent that I have read about the deceptions behind the polygraph test?

I have a whole host of questions. Maybe some of you could answer them for me.

Thanks for the response. I am really debating whether or not I want to submit to another poly. On the one hand, I think if I am honest and tell the truth that I stand a good chance of passing and I certainly plan to be. But on the other hand, I have come to believe that unnecessarily submitting to a poly is like playing Russian Roulette, especially if you already have a clearance. If I fail this poly I may jeopordize my current security clearance and hence, my current job!

One thing that I noted in your response that struck me was that you indicated that I should be honest if the polygrapher asks if I've ever previously been tested. But then you said I should probably use countermeasures. That sounds right to me, but can you elaborate on why I shouldn't just lie about my previous experience if I plan to use countermeasures anyway?

Its not an ethical conflict or a nagging conscience I'm having with that, but just curious why bother being honest if I should be trying to beat the machine...brings up other questions like what about people that have significant things they would like to conceal...should they just lie and use counter measures too?