Appeal on psychological exam

[marlon671]

How you doing folks. I was a candidate for a police officer position for Napa State hospitals. As far as I knew, I was almost 90% done with the process and I would be hired and in training except for one thing, I got disqualified from the employment process because I failed my psychological interview.

I wanted to get opinions as to whether or not I should go forth with an appeal and can anyone recommend a psychologist here in the Bay Area, I'm located in Vallejo, CA. I'm guessing I just can't see any psychologist that I google or read up on Yelp because supposedly this has to be a Dr. that has knowledge and experience on the process for appeal/ 2nd opinion regarding a police officer job screening.

I really want to go forth with this process because I went through a lot to get to where I am now and I also do not agree with the reason I was disqualified. Most people I spoke to including officer buddies think the reasoning is very subjective and definitely calls for an appeal on my part.

So if anyone can give me any recommendations on who I can see or any success stories on an appeal that you or someone you know who appealed such matter and ended up getting hired will help boost my morale somewhat... If you guys fee an appeal wouldn't get me anywhere, I'd want to hear the reasoning to your opinions as well.

I'd hate to be "that guy" who would get a job because of a second chance but like I mentioned, I truly believe the decision of my disqualification was not right.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Unit74]

I passed 4 in and failed one. No clue what the deal was other than maybe I didn't align with their ideal profile. There is no appeal. The opinion won't change. Move on to a new department.

[marlon671]

Thanks for the reply. I have a few of you that pm'd me and i get all the same impression that appeals are both a waste of time and/or money on my end. You guys all seem to tell me to apply elsewhere. I have my backgrounds packet that I know I can use to apply elsewhere but I dont know what other agencies i can apply for? I was under the impression that California State Hospitals are in its own category in the police officer world as they only require PC832 classes and not POST. So this part was all new to me.

Can anyone shine some light as to what other agencies require the same things as California State hospitals? I would rather spend time on applying than sitting here thinking what made the psychologist decide i wasn't fit for this job. Any help and/or advice would be great! Thanks!

I passed 4 in and failed one. No clue what the deal was other than maybe I didn't align with their ideal profile. There is no appeal. The opinion won't change. Move on to a new department.

[TheSierraDrifter]

If you do appeal, make sure and find a doctor with the exact same or higher qualifications than the Doctor that was involved in your first test. i.e. make sure they have the same level of education, etc.

Sorry, I can't tell you whether appealing is worth it or not. It can be expensive, and I'm betting the Dept. won't go against their own contracted evaluator.

[BigStiCK]

I have no idea what Cali Hospitals want from their applicants, but I can tell you that the CHP is always hiring.

[marlon671]

Yea thats what im afraid of, time and money especially since it bad timing for me being its the holiday season. I thought i was gonna receive an early Christmas present of a new career but instead I get more financial obligations, go figure. I also had the impression that 2nd appeals will be almost as gut wrenching as the first one and it would take alot for the hiring agency to have my appeal supersede the first psych eval done by their contracted MD.

But Law Enforcement is something I really want to pursue so I will definitely keep trying if this does not work out at this time.

If you do appeal, make sure and find a doctor with the exact same or higher qualifications than the Doctor that was involved in your first test. i.e. make sure they have the same level of education, etc.

Sorry, I can't tell you whether appealing is worth it or not. It can be expensive, and I'm betting the Dept. won't go against their own contracted evaluator.

[marlon671]

CHP is definitely in my choices of agencies.

I have no idea what Cali Hospitals want from their applicants, but I can tell you that the CHP is always hiring.

[micro911]

When I took written Psych test for my agency, there were over 600 questions. many of them were repeats in some way. Took me at least couple of hours to complete. Luckily, I "passed" the test and was hired in 1986. Some people did not do well in written had to go for an interview.

I have heard of some people having problem with the test/evaluation. It may be the inconsistent answer from the written portion of the evaluation. All I can say is be consistent with the written or interview evaluation.

[marlon671]

This psych test is a 2 part. I took almost 3.5 hours to do the written exam and believe I was as consistent as can be as I did answer them truthfully. I passed
the written test but failed the eval due to "poor judgement". Im still scratching my heas as to how they determined this? It sounds like an outcome of a scenario test although no such test or questions of that matter were given to me. Im starting to think they just based this on the time I shoplifted beef jerky in the 5th grade. My record is clean and have no hidden demons yet they determined I have poor judgement. I strongly disagree on that finding. I was expecting maybe a "over thinking" would get me disqualified, but never would have thought i had poor judgement.

When I took written Psych test for my agency, there were over 600 questions. many of them were repeats in some way. Took me at least couple of hours to complete. Luckily, I "passed" the test and was hired in 1986. Some people did not do well in written had to go for an interview.

I have heard of some people having problem with the test/evaluation. It may be the inconsistent answer from the written portion of the evaluation. All I can say is be consistent with the written or interview evaluation.

[P5Ret]

Keep this in mind there is no pass or fail on the written. All it does is give a baseline of personality type. The interview is where you get a go or no go. Also that different agencies will have very different lines that are carved in stone for the type of person they want. I'd think that even though the hiring standard for the State Hospital's is lower than most every other agency their psych eval line is one of the highest. Since your mostly going to be dealing with nut balls all day every day, you had better be prepared to deal with absolute crazy and primadonna staff all at the same time.

Chalk it up to experience, don't waste the money or time on an appeal, and keep trying.

[9mmepiphany]

You have to remember that there are no right or wrong answers in a psych eval. It is just a matter of your "fit" with what they "want."

You can't really appeal that you don't fit, as they don't tell you what they want.

I strongly disagree on that finding. I was expecting maybe a "over thinking" would get me disqualified, but never would have thought i had poor judgement.

Over Thinking and Poor Judgement fall into the same spectrum of personality traits

[marlon671]

Thank you for the reply! Advice considered!

Keep this in mind there is no pass or fail on the written. All it does is give a baseline of personality type. The interview is where you get a go or no go. Also that different agencies will have very different lines that are carved in stone for the type of person they want. I'd think that even though the hiring standard for the State Hospital's is lower than most every other agency their psych eval line is one of the highest. Since your mostly going to be dealing with nut balls all day every day, you had better be prepared to deal with absolute crazy and primadonna staff all at the same time.

Chalk it up to experience, don't waste the money or time on an appeal, and keep trying.

[marlon671]

Thats good to know.. just a bummer that I came a long way with the process. Gonna keep trying!

Over Thinking and Poor Judgement fall into the same spectrum of personality traits

[Snoopy47]

Chalk it up to experience, don't waste the money or time on an appeal, and keep trying.

It would probably be quicker to apply somewhere else than challenge someone's decision to decide not to hire you.

I recently took a scenario based test, and of the 4 choices for answers on each question one was obviously wrong, and the other three clearly vetted out what kind of officer I would be, but each would have been something that would have been perfectly legal to do as an officer.

So it was quite clear based on my responses I would have scored higher for one agency over another that uses that test. I just have to find the one that likes the way I think

[1CavScout]

I was hired by the agency where I had to appeal my Psych. A friend that also works for the same agency also had to appeal his.

The Psych that did my interview was later determined to not be doing proper interviews, and lost his contract with my agency as a result.

I would appeal if I were you.