The polygraph..

[R8DRFAN]

I was wondering what are some of the questions they ask you during the polygraph phase of the hiring process?

[alex00]

From what I remember of mine they confirmed that my answers were truthful on my Personal History Questionnaire. After that I was asked a few questions about stealing, drug use, prostitution and violence. Its been 15 years, so the questions have surely changed, but the themes should remain the same.

[Recession]

Believe it or not, one of the PD's I polygraphed with asked me if I've ever had sexual relations with an animal.

I was so tempted to say "Yes, my girlfriend, she's a wild animal in bed."

[BoJackUSMC]

Do they give you time to explain certain situation? or is it all "yes" or "no" only?
I been to few shoot outs in my life when I was in Iraq, but we never bother to check whose bullet hit who after fire fight. So if they were to ask me "Have you ever killed someone and I answer "No", but polygraph tells something else. Am I in trouble?

[alex00]

Believe it or not, one of the PD's I polygraphed with asked me if I've ever had sexual relations with an animal.

I was so tempted to say "Yes, my girlfriend, she's a wild animal in bed."

I had the same question. It must be more common than I thought. (The question, not the relations)

[socalblue]

Do they give you time to explain certain situation? or is it all "yes" or "no" only?
I been to few shoot outs in my life when I was in Iraq, but we never bother to check whose bullet hit who after fire fight. So if they were to ask me "Have you ever killed someone and I answer "No", but polygraph tells something else. Am I in trouble?

Poly is all yes/no. The key is the up front discussion with the examiner, as the need to be able to develop the right questions. Other than the basic stuff (is your name, etc.) they will ask questions along the lines of "other than what we discussed, have you ever ...".

[5968]

From what I remember of mine they confirmed that my answers were truthful on my Personal History Questionnaire. After that I was asked a few questions about stealing, drug use, prostitution and violence. Its been 15 years, so the questions have surely changed, but the themes should remain the same.

This sounds about like mine. I had the opportunity talk with the man doing my polygraph first and after that it is all Yes/No.

[alex00]

Do they give you time to explain certain situation? or is it all "yes" or "no" only?
I been to few shoot outs in my life when I was in Iraq, but we never bother to check whose bullet hit who after fire fight. So if they were to ask me "Have you ever killed someone and I answer "No", but polygraph tells something else. Am I in trouble?

What I remember from mine is that I was told the questions to be asked at the start of the interview. I was given an opportunity to explain anything that may trigger a deceptive response. The question was then tailored to fit around my 'answer'. The questions were all 'yes' or 'no' answers.

As an example when I was a kid, I was in Peru and drank Coca tea and chewed Coca leaves for the altitude. When the question about Cocaine use came up I told my BI that I thought this might trigger deception if I answered "no". He rephrased the question to something along the lines of "Outside of what we discussed today, have you ever used cocaine." It allowed me to answer no without triggering a deceptive response on the machine.

When I took my 'polygraph' (actually CVSA) I had two questions that registered as deceptive. Both were things I had never done. The BI asked the question again, and it was cleared up. Just because they detect deception does not necessarily mean it will be an automatic DQ.

[R8DRFAN]

Believe it or not, one of the PD's I polygraphed with asked me if I've ever had sexual relations with an animal.

I was so tempted to say "Yes, my girlfriend, she's a wild animal in bed."

LOL... Thats awesome..:

[R8DRFAN]

Poly is all yes/no. The key is the up front discussion with the examiner, as the need to be able to develop the right questions. Other than the basic stuff (is your name, etc.) they will ask questions along the lines of "other than what we discussed, have you ever ...".

Thats good there's a discussion period before hand. Thanks for the replies!!

[fullrearview]

Believe it or not, one of the PD's I polygraphed with asked me if I've ever had sexual relations with an animal.

I was so tempted to say "Yes, my girlfriend, she's a wild animal in bed."

Orange County? I remember that on questioner form.

[cacop]

The way mine worked was they had a questionaire that was a couple of pages long that was kind of a quick code of the background form. IT was a series of questions that basically said, "Have you ever...?"

After you fill it out they go over it with you. I think he selected 20 questions and we went over what my answers would be.

Then they wire you up and run it twice.

Then they bring up some deceptive or inconclusive results they have. They always do. This is where I suspect the poly is about as reliable as a copy machine with "LIE" and "TRUTH" preloaded in them.

[ankyle62]

Do they give you time to explain certain situation? or is it all "yes" or "no" only?
I been to few shoot outs in my life when I was in Iraq, but we never bother to check whose bullet hit who after fire fight. So if they were to ask me "Have you ever killed someone and I answer "No", but polygraph tells something else. Am I in trouble?

Just yes and not questions. It isnt that accurate, it measures your physiological response to the questions. If you think you are telling the truth you probably wont have a response. They go over the questions before you do it and they will ask you after to clarify any discrepancies they may have.

[J_B]

Don't be surprised if you get through all the questions prior to doing the test and they throw one in there.

A city PD did this to me as my angry ex wife had tried to sling mud. It caught me by surprise.

He went over the question and immediatly started the exam. I passed. When it was all done, he laughed and told me it's not uncommon for the angry ex spouse to sling mud in hopes of ruining the job.

Better even yet....she was stopped for speeding and she ID'd herself as my current wife since she still had my last name. F'ng B.

[tyrist]

I had the same question. It must be more common than I thought. (The question, not the relations)

Somebody confessed to this once during background. It is of course a failure.