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Author
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Topic: On Changing Careers
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stat
Member
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posted 05-06-2008 01:06 PM
  
As many here already know, I have been delving into the traditional workforce through applications and whatnot for the past few weeks---this being a second period of job searching in the last couple of years. So I thought I'd relate some challenges with being a polygraph examiner for the last 6 years and how prospective employers view such a career on paper and in/during the interview process. I have a limited amount of time at this moment, but I feel compelled to put on this great record some experiences that some of you may have to meet if you should decide to change careers completely. Incidentally, the career change is an effort to make more money, get health insurance for my wife and three kids, a 401k, travel less, and have a generally less caustic occupation. Money being one of the greater factors.The image of polygraph examiners, sight unseen, is that of a person who is less than warm----warmth being an attractive personality trait for 90% of employers. TV and movies haven't helped us folks. I have had in the past been told frankly by HR personel that they simply see very little in common with a host of occupations such as management, marketing, production supervision, social work, sales-----you know, the usual career paths. This lack of imagination by hiring agents is despite the fact that on my resume, I have drawn similarities to various jobs and their values and efficiencies. So I recently nailed an interview and educational requirement of a fortune 500 company in need of a sales executive---a nice 6 figure job with great everything. Everything went as if I were the perfect candidate----and I attributed some of that to the fact that on my resume, instead of "polygraph examiner"---I did not even use the word "polygraph" and instead replaced it with "interview specialist." Seriously, I replaced every proper mention of polygraph with "interviewer." After meeting with a very impressive gentlemen for the job---and we got along swimmingly, I mentiond polygraph as apart of my old job, and he was fascinated. He drew ALL the similarities that I had previously attempted to draw on paper---but ONLY after he met me and saw some humanity. There was one hurddle with this job, and that was that I must take an executive sales simulator online. No biggie. I was wrong. It was a biggie. It consisted of a short video with bad actors in a business situation, and through multiple choice via playing additional video "answers", I had to choose which response was the best for the original scenario. No answer was necessarily "right" or "wrong"---so it was challenging. NOW---to make that test a horrific experience, was that it was timed--and you could at no time stop the test or view the video snippets a second time. The test lasted 90 minutes non-stop. Again, this was extremely difficult testing to say the very least. After the test, I researched the test's authors/ company. They are an outfit out of Florida which customizes tests and boasts that they can "outdo" HR interviewers by ascertaining whether candidates will be retained and successful----based on this stupid test. Do you know where I'm going with this? No, the test wasn't "validated" by any professional organization. No, the company has no real credentials in testing according to thier website. The HR department at this potential job stated that they just started using the test----me being one of a few to be the first to take it. Poetic Justice, eh? I have put hundreds of folks through awful tests and now it is me bent over for a job. The difference being that at least examiners let candidates know how they did on the test---whereas my performance is yet a mystery. Luckily, I am to fly to a final interview---so I can assume that it went alright----although my gut tells me that I tanked that awful "lucy and Betty on the chocalate conveyor belt" nightmare called a "simulator." As a person with a degree in Human Resources/Business Management, I can assure you that I wouldn't be placing alot of stock in that test, regardless of the fudgey numbers the company boasts. p.s. No, I won't be complaining about that test one bit to my potential employers! 
[This message has been edited by stat (edited 05-06-2008).] IP: Logged |
sackett
Moderator
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posted 05-06-2008 02:01 PM
yeah, that sounds nasty.But, did your countermeasures work...? LOL
Jim
P.S. On a serious note, we're looking for an examiner in Carson City, NV. Need a job that badly? IP: Logged |
stat
Member
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posted 05-06-2008 02:41 PM
Thanks Jim, but I doubt seriously any examiner JOB will pay what I'm wanting. I'm attempting to break out of lower to middle class income bracket----and I'm tired of being a knee surgery away from bankruptcy, ya know?I love the work, but my family must come first. I love polygraph, and I won't be burning any bridges---but I need to see what other options are out there before I get too old. IP: Logged |
liedoctor
Member
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posted 05-07-2008 06:38 AM
STAT,Even think about a polygraph career in the government? The feds pay well and offer full benefits...
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stat
Member
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posted 05-07-2008 07:13 AM
Morning Doc!
I have thought on and off about federal work. The problem is that I speak elementary Arabic----and I doubt seriously that once I signed up (assuming they would even hire me) that I would have little choice but to serve far far away----in a war that I feel is the single greatest strategic blunder since giving back 100% interest in the Panama Canal. Of course that blunder didn't kill 3000plus good soldiers ready for a noble fight versus a whimsical "plan" by a select few old, white, draft dodging oilmen----as has been done in the Iraq War.See, I'm not so attractive for Federal service. I'm not a wild mustang, but I'm no plow horse either----too many years as an independent contractor I s'pose. Last thing my family needs is to move away from my wife's family, while I leave her exhausted and alone with three rambunctious boys and no man for the lonely nights. [This message has been edited by stat (edited 05-07-2008).] IP: Logged |
liedoctor
Member
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posted 05-08-2008 07:46 AM
Just for your consideration, there are positions in agencies that do not generally deploy, but they might make you relocate (generally to the DC area.)Liedoctor... IP: Logged |
stat
Member
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posted 05-08-2008 11:13 AM
Thanks Doc! I haven't altogether ruled out such employment, but then again it's not in my current cross hairs either. I like to think that if I decided to go for that sort of employment, I would do so for the long haul. Additionally, it would be unwise to apply for a position that requires so much elapsed time before one can even be (if at all) offered a position---meanwhile, 1-2 years have come and gone with no tangible results. It's a gamble I'm not certain I want to take.
With a broader set of professional possibilities than I've ever had, it's kind of exciting.
-----------------------------------------
"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people." ~Issac Newton
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Buster
Member
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posted 05-23-2008 07:09 AM
There should be a spot here that jobs are posted. On the APA site there is like 2 announcements, but "My Space Jobs" which I thought was a teenager site, has 10-15 poly jobs listed now.Every one I saw right now (Army, Air Force, DIA) requires signing an agreement to be relocated anywhere throughout the world. IP: Logged |
Fed Employee
Member
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posted 05-23-2008 08:52 AM
Buster is right. Most fed agencies now require employees to sign a "mobility" statement. This means the government can "send" you (sometimes on a permanent basis) to any location in the world. When you move, they'll pay for shipping your household goods and your home closing costs, but they no longer offer the home purchase program. So its up to you to sell you own home.I had to sign one as a condition of employment and I'm hearing some rumblings that I may be moving in the near future (not official). If I decline, my choices become: find another job or retire. Not ready for either one. IP: Logged | |
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