For those who required multiple attempts before passing, what was your final polygraph exam like? Does the examiner turn friendly in the end? Do they acknowledge that they were wrong about previous accusations?
My first examiner was nice at first until the accusations came. My second and third were pretty rude to me the entire time. I am going in for my fourth and hopefully last exam and wondering what it’ll be like.
The only difference I noticed was that after the questions they didn’t challenge or accuse me of hiding stuff, they just sat and scribbled notes for like 5 minutes after every set of questions. Everything before the questioning phase was the same as the previous exams. Mine was only a CI though since I passed suitability on the prior exam so your experience might be different.
Passed on my 5th (I know, crazy, but possible!)
They definitely don’t acknowledge that they were wrong. The test went the same as always but after each set of questions, rather than pushing for more, my polygrapher just continued on. At the end, I knew I had passed because rather than talking about rescheduling, he said he just needed to send it forward for quality assurance. Pretty similar to how the other ones went, slightly different ending.
My advice to you would be to change your mindset. The wording you used kind of hints to why you may not be passing the exam. “Turn friendly”, “Accusations” , etc. show that you have some level of contempt towards the test. It’s not a fun test and it shouldn’t be. Accept the test for what it is and accept that the polygrapher is just doing their job. Once you let the contempt and additional stress go, you will be far better off. If you are meant to pass the test, you will… Good luck!
Thank you for sharing and congrats on passing!
I do have some contempt because each exam was an awful experience (them calling me a liar to my face despite me telling the truth). But I don’t know what else to feel… On one hand, it wasn’t surprising (I read others’ experiences before going in); on the other hand, it was extremely annoying to endure.
If you look past the charades and kabuki theater, and realize it’s all a script, to not take it personal, it becomes infinitely easier to tolerate the sessions. At least thats how I approached it.
Yes its bs, but going in with the mindset that it’s nothing more than that, is powerful in my experience. I had to actually stop myself from smiling/laughing.
It’s a stress test. Never change up your story to appease those clowns, let the chips fall where they may. I have done 4 full scopes between 2 agencies, it was almost identical in the script.
And yeah, they wanted to be all buddy buddy at the end. Play the game, move on and get that job. They aren’t worth any of your time after you finish the tests.
I have never had any issues with the several polys I have had at the various agencies I have worked for - boring life I suppose. I astounds me that the current administration is full of appointees that likely wouldn’t qualify for TS/SCI access.