In The Hiring Process... Help anyone ??

[mcrdsd911]

Hi guys/girls my name is Calvin. Here is my situation. I just got a call from my Background Investigator telling me that I have a meeting with him on Monday and my polygraph will be done the following day. If you guys/girls wouldnt mind giving me some tips on what to expect that would be appreciated. thanks !

[hitman13]

MPCOA:

He will give you a fat packet to fill out. Fill it out honestly and take it to thr poly, who won't ask every question in the packet, but will ask some.

Think of the poly as a "truth verifier" for the packet's questions, not as a "lie detector" IRT your entire life.

S/F

[mcrdsd911]

Thanks for the response Hitman ! ya it definately feels good to be getting this far in the process. I try not to get to excited lol

[non sequitur]

Hiring process...

Be honest!

Good luck

[Ron-Solo]

Try to relax as much as possible. Disclose everything and don't lie about anything. If you get caught in a teeny tiny lie.......you're done.

[mcrdsd911]

Thanks for the advice guys. how far back to background investigators go ?

[BigDogatPlay]

As far as necessary to confirm what's in the packet.... or as far as their investigation takes them. It's a somewhat open ended thing. The investigator follows where it leads.

The key thing is to be honest, don't try to hide or lie and don't let your background investigator be surprised by something you didn't disclose. As Ron alludes to above, little white lies = big fat DQs.

The polygraph... relax and keep your mind open. Don't try to guess where the examiner is going to go.

[FourLoko]

Breathe during the Poly and NEVER waver from what you wrote in whatever packet you fill out. It's the examiners job to mess with your mind. Nothing scientific about a polygraph, bogus stuff.

[Roddd]

The polygraph is easy. Usually the examiner goes over each question before the test to clarify anything. Be honest and relax. You'll do great. Good luck!

[ankyle62]

Try to relax as much as possible. Disclose everything and don't lie about anything. If you get caught in a teeny tiny lie.......you're done.

and if you forget anything, you are done. I legitimately forgot something from 7 years ago, and got the boot. I felt dumb.

Nothing scientific about a polygraph, bogus stuff.

Yeah, just try to relax and go with it.

[TheExpertish]

It's all going to be up the the department and remember, it's just a tool and it is subjective. Many departments who still employ it take it all with a grain of salt. Departments that can afford it use voice stress analyzers. If you pop on a question they'll talk to you about it. It won't always be an automatic DQ. I had a friend who kept popping on the same question who was telling the truth, and she was later hired. Investigators know that you will remember things as you go along and will simply make you explain them. In the end the Investigator usually isn't going to be the one to decide to DQ you at this stage. Their job is simply to complete the investigation. I feel sorry for guys who go through departments who take a black and white approach to polys, and fail.

[CORETAC]

Be honest during your interview, package completion, background investigation, and so forth. If there are issues in your background, they will come up.

Depending on the agency, your background process may run continuously until you complete the entire probationary period. There have been some people who were disqualified due to a issue in backgrounds which came up while they were already in the Academy or on patrol operations while still on probation.

If you disclose the issue, the agency can make decisions on it. If you do not disclose them and they are discovered, then you may get disqualified due to dishonesty. The second scenario is usually a deal breaker.

Good luck to you.

-Stay safe

[carryaxd40]

be honest dont leave anything out of your history and again be honest if you lie it will come back to bit you in the but, make copies of all your paper work so if you have to fill out something similar later in the hiring process you wont forget what you already told them. they want all your answers to be consistent.

[bubbagump]

Not an LEO. Worked for a PD and had to go through the same background as the officers.

Take your time with that packet. Make sure you don't miss anything. PRINT NEATLY. I always write everything all caps. Again, take your time so you don't have to scratch out or use white out. It may seem a bit extreme, but if you have the money and the time, I would make a copy of the packet and use the copy as a "rough draft" so you don't screw up the one you give the investigator (final draft).

I would also make copies of all the relevant sections of your final packet you turn in for future reference. If you have to do another background in the future, you want things to be consistent.

I had "revolving references" and they still found people to talk to that I didn't reference. Luckily, those people had good things to say.

They told me to reference 5-6 people. I didn't (and still don't) associate myself with so many people. They were cool with that and accepted my 4 references.

Other than that, don't lie.

Good Luck!

[mcrdsd911]

UPDATE : Did my Polygraph and I passed with flying colors He said. Now just waiting for my background investigation to get done. Thanks again for the advice !