I just got back from my FBI polygraph where the "tester" told me that I failed the test, but they would still be sent to Washington for further review.  I don't know if this is just part of the mind-f*** to see my reaction or if I really did fail and my hopes of working for the FBI have truly shriveled up.

The experience was almost the same as everyone elses except I didn't expect the examiner to look at me like a mass murderer when I admitted to underage drinking (7 years ago) and cheating once on a test.  I laughed inside though when she went from being mean and saying how much of a piece of crap I was, to asking me how my recent wedding was!

I also find it odd that I was told during the stim test that I wasn't breathing normally and needed to concentrate on my breathing.  Then at the end of the test she told me that my charts looked like I was using counter-measures because I was concentrating on my breathing.  She also said that I was having trouble with the drug question, which we had discussed at length before the test and I wasn't nervous about, and the question regarding contacts with foreign intel agencies which is ridiculous.  I served in the Iraq war and consider my self a partiot.  The thought of selling my country out for anything is just funny.

Oddly enough though, I'm not really that pissed about it.  I don't know if it's because it hasn't sunk in yet, or because I know who I am, that I'm an honest person, and that it's the Bureau's loss if they decide to hire me based on a "test" and not the things I've done.

Thanks for the response.  I've been reading these forums for a few months, ever since I knew I was going to take a poly.  I'm going to contest the results, but if offered a restest I'll tell them that we should just save 3 hours and just use a magic 8 ball.

I think the reason I'm not as upset as I should be is because after reading these forums I knew this outcome would be a very real possibility and that this crap shoot was just part of the process.  It's unfair, and ridiculous, but in the end, it's the FBI's loss.  I was willing to relocate to relocate far from my family and friends, take a pay cut, and reside in a city with a huge cost of living.  If they really want to rely on the poly for letting people in, that's their problem.  And I will laugh my ass off every time a spy is discovered in their midsts.