I recently failed my FBI pre-employment polygraph. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed because I have nothing to hide. Of all the stages in the FBI application process, this is the one I should have been most confident about. It wasn't, because I had heard a long time ago from a psychologist that polygraphs were about 50% accurate-just like flipping a coin to determine if someone is lying. I didn't have any reason to doubt him, nor did I have any reason to do research on polygraphs until I decided to apply to the FBI. At that point, I questioned my friend. After all, why would the federal government use a tool that doesn't work, right? But I trusted my friend, so I looked into it a bit, mainly so that I would feel more at ease when I went to take the poly. I didn't want to feel that I had staked my career goals on a coin toss. After some quick research, I read things about probable lie control questions and relevant questions, but I purposely stayed away from anything regarding scoring or countermeasures, mainly because I wanted to be able to tell the truth if asked about my research. To be clear, by this point, I wasn't worried the machine would find me out if I lied about my research; I just prefer to be honest. Hence the draw to an organization devoted to integrity. I questioned whether to take the test at all because I wondered if my knowledge would hurt me. But I wanted (and still want) the job, and it's the next hoop in front of me. If they want me to jump through it to get to the best job in the world, I'll do it. I decided to trust that the FBI would not screw me as long as I just continued to tell the truth. Well, for whatever reason, I failed the test. Incidently, he chose poor control questions if he expected me to be uncomfortable, because I could answer several of them without reservation. Not true in every case, but even in those cases, I still didn't believe I was LYING and I certainly didn't believe he could tell either way. So I wasn't nervous about being 'found out', and I felt ok about my answers. From what I know of polys, that's not a good combination. I REALLY wanted to trust the process and see if my normal, already pretty sensitive conscience would produce the results necessary to pass. I think that, more than likely, my breathing patterns were indicative of depeption. I distinctly remember taking deep breaths from time to time and even holding my breath so that I would be ready to answer the question when he finished asking it. I know he told me to breathe normally, and I tried. I think I just overthought it, and since I had no idea what might disqualify me, I found my breathing pretty erratic around various questions, but not because of the question itself. Anyway, I failed, even though I tried my best to trust the process. I have since done more research on the polygraph to understand why I might have failed (hence the breathing theory above), but I haven't found anything that tells me what my options are other than countermeasures. Countermeasures just aren't the route I'd like to take. After all, I signed a form that said I wouldn't use them, so I'd like to keep my word. I don't want to have to compromise my integrity in order to join an organization that claims to value it. This job would mean a lot to me, but it isn't worth THAT. I WANT to trust the process, but it didn't work for me. I still want this job (I'm not even sure that's possible now, but I want it just the same), and my normal way of approaching a situation like this would be to approach the FBI and tell them this story to see what they would recommend. Based on everything I've read, however, I am just an acceptable loss, since there are thousands of people waiting to take my spot. The Bureau doesn't seem to have many options available for someone like me because it doesn't have to. Ok, so I know there are plenty of people on this site who will tell me that the process can't be trusted, and I tend to agree with this statement now. What I want, however, is the opinion of some polygraphers. You have my story now, so what would you suggest? I still want to trust the process. I still want to believe that the FBI won't screw me for trying to be honest, especially since I am trying to deal with this in the most honest way possible. I am, quite simply, at a loss as to how I should proceed. Any advice? I'd like to hear from polygraphers, but I'd welcome suggestions from anyone. Thanks!
|