Becoming A
Firefighter or Officer-----The Complete
Guide to Your Badge! Fire "Captain Bob"
|
|
|
HomeAre Polygraphs Lying to Us?Being prepared for every step of the hiring process before you show up will place you in a better position to end up wearing a badge than being caught flat footed wondering what happened when the career you have been intensely pursuing evaporates before you eyes. If polygraphs are so great why aren’t the results admissible in court cases? Criminologists say lie detector tests pass 10 percent of the liars and fail 20 percent of the truth-tellers. The first time I ever had contact and talked to Scott was 45 minutes after he got the call that he had failed his poly. Needless to say he was devastated. When I asked him what he had done to prepare for his polygraph he said he used the free information from some of the “experts” on some of the firefighter Internet forums. Using those guidelines he said he went in and spilled his guts, just like going to confession.
Scott wrote: I chose to take this
test knowing I had nothing to hide and being truthful was the best route I could
take. The next test I take, I assure you I will be better prepared. According to Doug Williamson a
35-year veteran polygraph evaluator from
www.polygraph.com
“It is a very serious mistake to believe that you will pass your polygraph or
CVSA tests just because you are telling the truth - they are not "lie
detectors". Scientific research proves that simple nervousness will cause a
truthful person to fail!” I echo what Capt. Bob says in that
you need to be prepared going in. I went in DM: I had a poly today. There were six pages of questions asked verbally by him before he hooked up the poly. When hooked up, there where only ten questions asked 3 times in different order each set. All seemed to go well until the end when the examiner asked me, "Anything you want to tell me about the question you had a problem with?" Me (puzzled) "NO" Again he asked as he began to take the equipment off me. Me (really puzzled now)...”I can't think of anything" Then he proceeds to tell me that there was one particular question that I had elevation on. Should I consider or was this all a smoke screen to get a boring person to confess to something? CB: Quite common to use this smoke screen to get you to confess to something. DM: After everything I've purchased (Your program included), I didn't consider the poly. But after that past experience I looked up polys on your site and that is my next purchase. I hope my oversight did not come back to bite me in the end. Inconclusive: Often candidates are eliminated through the poly with inconclusive results. Not that you failed, but it’s the same as you did. Why is that? You didn’t fail and you didn’t pass? Your results were inconclusive. You still don’t go forward in the hiring process. I think the problem again is candidates need to prepare for the poly the same as with any segment of the hiring process. Randy had the same problem. He took the poly and the evaluator eliminated him with inconclusive results based on his use of pot within the last five years. He swore he had not. Yea, right you say, but that’s his story. So, Randy jumps on the Internet and found www.polygraph.com and www.passapolygraph.com He educated himself on what to expect. He took a poly for another agency and passes with flying colors even that inconclusive area about pot and was hired. Question: I will be taking a polygraph soon (presuming I do well in the interview) and just tonight talked to a friend of mine who was hired last year at the same dept. He told me that they asked him, during the pre-qualification questions if he had received advice on how to cheat polygraphs or had researched it on the Internet. Beware of this. I am now worried about researching anything about polys on the web. Reply: No worries From FF/PM1: Yes, I was asked if I had researched polygraphs in my pre-interview, but not in the actual polygraph exam. The examiner asked me why I researched polygraphs? Was I going to manipulate it? I said of course not, but I always study before going into a test, I knew nothing about polygraphs prior to my hiring process and wanted to know what they are about. While I am a big advocate of honesty in the hiring process, I am also an advocate on RESEARCH prior to entering into a new portion of the hiring process. This does not make you a "cheater" or "dishonest" for wanting to know what you are getting yourself into, just thorough. I researched every step of my hiring process. I learned everything I could about interviews, medicals, psych exams, polygraphs, backgrounds...not because I was trying to manipulate the system with deception or dishonesty, but I wanted to know what is next. Honesty was the foundation of everything during my hiring process. I used this formula.....If asked; a truthful answer was always given. If asked a question, I would answer the question honestly then be quiet. All other times I sat there with my mouth shut. I have had friends fail polygraphs, not because they were dishonest, but they were not educated for what they were getting into. They sat down and were honest, but when answering one of the polygrpaher's questions, they would answer the question and then ADD additional info not even asked for. This ultimately led to their demise. Learning about a polygraph does not mean I am trying to cheat it. Were you trying to cheat by going to fire stations and finding out what types of questions may be asked on the oral interview? No, you just wanted to be prepared. Be honest, be prepared and be consistent. If you don’t think there is something going on with the polygraph, consider this: I thought the best way to gain more experience for the polygraph is to include information from those that have gone through the process. The following information has not been verified. Take what you want and leave the rest. These postings were gathered from the Internet bulletin boards. Here we go: Hey bud, I’m not an expert but I have just recently passed my first oral and failed my first background process thanks to the polygraph. I told some information in my background that probably would have never been found out but being the stupid honest guy thinking I would be praised for telling the truth. It actually nipped me in the ass. My background was approved and at the polygraph I again was too honest about something and the ex-sheriff apparently had me depicted as GUILTY as soon as I explained. Needless to say he interrogated me and made me so angry stating that every time I was asked this particular question it was “bothering me” and stating “are you sure you’re telling everything.” I showed a response to this question every time apparently. A week later I got my letter that my conditional offer of employment had been revoked, but thanks for applying and have a grrrrrrreat day! I know three buddies who pasted their polys and are nowhere near being a saint. Two of them spent $50 on some document they got off of the Internet on “how to guarantee and pass the polygraph.” I don’t know if this would of helped me but if I could do it all over again I would have taken my buddies advice and that is tell em what they want to hear and don’t offer any info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK BROTHER, YOU CAN DO IT. More: I’m currently employed by a Fire Dept in the LA area. My opinion/advice towards the Poly and Background check is very simple: Poly: there is no way in which a machine could read if you are lying or not. What this machine does is read your heartbeat, breathing, and your sweat glands by attaching two strips of Velcro with cables to 2 fingers. My opinion about this machine is that the only thing they use this for is to have the examiner drill you on something (drug use, sex life, temper, etc). While they are conducting the exam, they pick something to drill you on. Once they chose something, they drill you constantly until you confess. Example: John Doe lied on his application about the one time he smoked pot. He writes down that he has never used pot. When he goes to take his poly, the examiner tells him the machine is making a funny reading when he is asked about his drug use (the machine is not actually reading anything funny). John Doe gets drilled and drilled until John finally confesses. Because of this John gets disqualified. If John would have stuck to his story he would have never been disqualified. As for backgrounds, they tell you to be honest. But sometimes being honest can bite you in the ass. When a background is being conducted the only obvious things they could find out are things like your driving, criminal record and credit history. Don’t be stupid and write down references that hate you. I’ve known some good people that should be fireman/cops, but get disqualified for being too honest. Example: I know a guy who when he was young was playing basketball one day after school. After the game he and a buddy were walking by a classroom, they saw a window open and stole some stuff. They went home and never got caught. This dummy was too honest and got disqualified. There is no way in which anyone would ever find out. Finally, I am not a background investigator, nor a polygraph examiner. I do however know a lot about this because I have a lot of friends who are cops and firefighters. While processing to get our jobs we went through all this. We share stories and actually talk to these people. When I was in college I did a report on the polygraph. Hey, if O.J. Simpson passed his poly anybody can. As for you b/ground: if its not written down on record anywhere don’t tell them. They will never find out unless you tell them. The reason I’m responding to this is because too many good people get disqualified for stupid things. If you are currently using drugs, they will find out at your medical, if you are weak, you won’t pass your PAT, if you are crazy the, psychiatrist will find out. Still more: This is the part of the test that worries me too . . . I have actually taken one before and failed it, though I know that while being tested I was being entirely honest and open about my answers. The test I took did not want you to have a clean slate so I answered the questions accurately. After they told me I had failed, they then drilled me to make sure there was not “something I did not tell them”, over and over - “are you sure, there must be something in your head you are not letting out.” It was the most frustrating thing to have someone look you in the face and based off a machine tell you are lying when you are not. Now any polygraph I go to I will inevitably be freaked and wonder if I will fail on that fear alone. I do not have any answers for you, but based on the above, O.J. and my story it seems as though you simply cannot predict just what will happen. GOOD LUCK! Another one: I just took my polygraph and passed it. There was one question that the print out showed the lines going clear off the page. Supposedly showing that I was lying. This proctor drilled me on it. He almost turned militant, and somewhat hostile trying to get me to confess. The question he asked was, “have you ever been fired or asked to resign from a job.” I never have. I think the best advice I can give from my experience is to stick to your guns and do not let them back you into a corner. If you know you are telling the truth, this stupid machine isn’t going to be able to tell the difference. The only reason the line went clear off the page was because I took a deep breath. Not a very dependable reading if you ask me. See any patterns here? Like every step in the hiring process, you don’t want to go into a polygraph without being prepared. Educate yourself! Because, Absolutely nothing counts 'til you have the badge. Nothing! You can get more than 300 pages of free testing information here Remember, absolutely nothing counts 'til you have the badge. Nothing! Get a Bonus when you sign up for our Free Newsletter here
This program is also available on an easy payment plan
"Nothing counts 'til you have the badge . . . Nothing!" Ask "Captain Bob" Any Question
|
|
