Hello folks. As I would imagine is the case with most people, I was nervous about taking my "voluntary" pre-employment polygraph. I read about some of the polygraph horror stories on this forum and did my best to study the guide. I even got to talk to George on Skype (which, again, I really appreciate, George). 

So I take the test in an empty office building. While my examiner is setting up the equipment, she goes on about the accuracy of polygraph and her extensive experience (as predicted by the guide). One amusing moment was when I had asked her the question "so is the polygraph more accurate than those voice-stress analyzers"? Which, again as predicted, led to her rant against the other voodoo science in which she touted how much more accurate the polygraph is. Oh how wrong she was... 

Firstly, the confusion part of this. I was prepared to identify my control and relevant questions, however, I could find no control questions! Maybe it was because I was nervous, but I couldn't identify a single control question. She just asked me to close my eyes and answer the 8 or 9 relevant questions she had. I should   note that the only thing I was interested in hiding here was some minor scattered pot use (a few times a year).

Round 1:
She fires off the first barrage of questions. Then, at the end, said I was showing deception on the question "have you ever commited a serious [by her definition assault, rape, etc. (not speeding, running red light)] crime for which you were not convicted". Puzzled, I told her I had no idea why she would come to that conclusion. 

Round 2: 
The questions come again only in a different order. And as with the first chart, she states that she was having problems with a question. Not the same question as the first chart nor the question I was actually being deceptive on, mind you, but that I showed deception on "ever knowingly recieving stolen merchandise". Amused at the inconsistency of her findings, I feigned surprise as I said "wow, I'm surprised you could pick that up!". Not wanting to have her relay these incorrect findings to my potential employer (which would without a doubt prevent my hiring as the latter question is directly relevant to the position), I proceeded to tell her a story about being in high school and drinking some liquor at a party that I knew a friend had stolen from a grociery store. She apperantly regarded the detection of this small deception as a trophy and was satisfied with my explanation. 

In any case, I'm happy to say that I did get the job and I start next week.  After experiencing a polygraph myself,I'm absolutely amazed at it's inaccuracy. She could have done just as well giving me a pre-employment tarot card reading, lol. I did not employ any countermeasures to hamper the "tester's" results other than steady breathing (which she asked me to do anyway). 

I really appreciate this sites presence and the work put in by it's founders. I look forward to seeing an abolishment of the polygraph "test" in the near future.

-Dan