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Hey hows it going guys. Just popped in and started reading this thread. I too failed a psych eval. Its true - life ain't fair. I agree with 95% of everything Doc had to say about, basically, wanting to hire the MOST qualified candidate. However, there were some things that I take issue with, being on the other side of the fence. I will address this to the guys like myself who are passionate about getting on to a department.
1. Fail the MMPI test in California, and, for a lot of departments, its mandatory that you wait 6 months before you can apply to that specific department. I don't know how they do things over on the east coast, but over here, you can be as jolly "go git-em" as you want and it won't do crap for you. They don't care about tenacity. When they fail you on the psych you're looking at a long, long wait no matter how passionate you are. Sorry, thats facts.
2. The test is subjective. Theres about 1000 questions, however before they administer the test you're told that they REALIZE the test is subjective and that AFTER the test, your particular answers will be gone over in detail and "ironed" out with the psych doctor. In REALITY, all 1000+ answers are fed into a machine. That machine sorts, collates, and correllates your answers to a preset computer model of different personality profiles, and then spits out your results which are, GET THIS: Short paragraphs that are basically a cheat sheet for the psych eval guy to look at and size you up.
As user after user on this board has pointed out though, the questions which are used to make those paragraphs (which purport to be your "personality-in-a-can") are based on questions, the answers to which are judged on a very subjective basis. I love how some jerks on this board try and tell you to "tell the truth" and it'll all be "ok." Thats unrealistic. The very NATURE of these questions clips off portions and degrees of the truth from your answer.
For Example: Say I'm asked True or false (and by the way, most of the questions on the test I took were degree based questions, Like: "I like to take charge when others hold back" 1- VERY TRUE 2- STRONG TRUE 3- TRUE 4- NEUTRAL 5- NOT TRUE 6- NOT TRUE AT ALL etc) whether I have committed acts of violence. That for me, and I suspect for everyone else, would be true, with strict reading of interpretation. However, answering True to this question does not go under the "TRUE" category, its computed into the machine after you're done taking the test and is used to build a PSYCH PROFILE of you. Now, this one answer alone would not be enough to sink you. I suspect that the designers of the test were looking for someone trying to fake the test. However, not all of the questions are this easy to read. There are some that make you wonder "Well, yeah, thats true, I have to answer true but gosh, I know the machine isn't going to understand that I was 6 years old when I "stole" my dads car and that everyone laughed, I got spanked after I backed it up all of 5 feet into the street, learned my lesson and never did something like that again- it just asks true or false and unfortunately THATS ALL THE MACHINE KNOWS - I had to put down "T" for multiple "bad" category questions because of one silly incident that happened to me when I was a kid. Heres the killer though - the machine spits out all these small little paragraphs about your personality right? The psych guy comes in (he was late in my case) from the gold course or whereever. He's a white guy, in his sixties probably, I guessing well to-do. He asks his secretary "Are they done yet?" walks into his office with the results of the test which are the little paragraphs. He walks back out of his office, tells me to take off my tie and my jacket and sit down with him. Now, before I took the test I thought this would be the easiest part to pass. However, when he looked me in the eyes and told me "Well it appears to me you have control issues Mr. X." I knew it was going to be rocky. This guy, (his name is Doctor Wolfe, with an "E" I think, he runs a consulting firm out of Napa california) never went back and looked at how I actually answered all 1000 questions and why I answered them the way I did. The reason why I had scored so high on the "control issues" section (I can't remember the technical term for the section) was due to how I was taught to view a leader takes responsibilty for his actions and the actions of those in his unit. I was coming from a military background (1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, C Company Wpns Platoon) where I had served 3 combat tours in the infantry in Iraq. I remember well, one of the questions was basically : "I engage in small talk on the job." Where I come from, "small talk on the job" means talking on post, or sending or recieving or talking about non-mission related things. Where I come from, that will get your killed, court-martialed or even worse, one of your buddies killed or court martialed. YOU JUST DONT DO IT. So I answered, very strongly, with a 1 or 5 whichever it was, that NO I do not engage in small talk on the job. LOL! Bad move on my part brothers! The test results actually SCOLDED ME for my "anti-social" behavior in the "work-place." I was taken aback, especially when the psych eval guy announced to me that he was done with the interview after only about 15 minutes. He was CONVINCED based on my test results that I was not fit to serve as a deputy sheriff for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's department. I was not allowed to explain myself, and he evaded my attempts to be "tenacious" and show him that I wanted the job and was misunderstood by telling me that I would have made a better lawyer than a sheriff's deputy. I understand that it wasn't him. Its the system of testing that they use. The psych eval guys are not "bad guys." They're just doing their jobs. They're just as lazy, and focused on getting back out to the golf course as all of us are (I hate golf but you get my drift).
The only thing I can really tell you in conclusion is tell the truth to the best of your ability and BE A MAN. I spent about 1000 dollars driving back and forth from Orange county where I live to Contra Costa County trying to get that stupid job. Sometimes things just dont work out. Don't get discouraged, its NOT YOUR FAULT! Just move on. I would like to note however, to all my fellow brother Marines and fellow infantry guys in the Army that CCC Sheriffs Department is probably not the best spot for us. They were pretty hostile to me because of my being in the Marines and I picked up a lot of strong hostility from the psych guy as well. I highly recommend the LAPD or the LA County Sheriff's Department. They're good people and they have more Marines and Soilders protecting and serving than just about anyone else (with the exception of Dallas PD, which are hiring by the way, in a big way). Remember, BE A MAN take your lumps and move on. If they don't like you, its better for both of you guys that you part ways. And for the love of god, you younger guys, DONT CHEAT! You erase ANY sympathy any senior or elder guy has for you if you start cheating or trying to "one up" the system by building up some fake profile.
God bless you guys and I wish all of you good luck in your endeavors!
P.S.- To the guy who posted these questions on here, I hope you realize you're helping young guys build up a phony profile that will probably get them DQ'ed right? Think before you post this stuff. Let them make their own mistakes. Don't baby them or hold their hand. Tell em what they need to know to take the test but don't tempt them with cheating. The test is designed to detect that. You're only teaching them bad habits and how to lie.
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MMPI 2 First 75 Questions out of 567 Psych Exam (Read 1087113 times)
