Limbo?

[Ride_Along]

Hi everyone,

The second department that I tested with started my process. I got bumped to top three after my oral board. My background investigation had already started: my investigator called all of my references, talked to my neighbors, came to my house (I was not home) and talked with the family that was home. Originally, he told me that we had about three weeks to get everything done in the beginning because they were trying to send me to the September academy (with a recruit from the retired list). The next academy they use starts in January. I went on a ride-along with the department met the FTO and a few of the patrols.

I went for the polygraph and it was inconclusive. At that point he had already talked with my references. He had me schedule another polygraph. I went, the administrator said I had a lot of movement. After the first round of questions she moved the cuff from my arm to my leg and said, "Ah! Much better read." Before I left I asked if I passed and she said she couldn't tell me, but it wasn't inconclusive this time. I called my investigator like he asked after I finished my polygraph. I'm assuming I passed because the next day he came talked to my neighbors and the one family member that was home.

However, I haven't heard from him since. The neighbors all told me good things. In fact, one told him, "I hope you're considering hiring X." and the investigator said, "We like X."

So, I called and left a voicemail, but never heard back. *He has not returned voicemails before though.

I've checked my mai, my email, etc. and I haven't gotten anything indicating that they are moving on, I'm assuming they would send something if that were the case. So, no news is good news? What do you guys think? I've already had to stop the process with two other departments because I was farther along with this one and had conflicting appointments between this department and the others.

Thank you.

[SmallCityCop]

All you can do is wait...they will contact you either with good news or bad news.

[SRT936]

Hi everyone,

The second department that I tested with started my process. I got bumped to top three after my oral board.

There could be a million reasons why things seemed to have stalled out. The only people who know are the department that you applied for. We can speculate all day without even coming close.

I will say that back when I was hired on, I sat at number 1 on an eligibility list for 18 months before I finally got the call. At another agency, I had a contingent offer that was cancelled last minute because the funding for the academy was cancelled. Law enforcement hiring is a finicky mistress.

I went for the polygraph and it was inconclusive. At that point he had already talked with my references. He had me schedule another polygraph. I went, the administrator said I had a lot of movement. After the first round of questions she moved the cuff from my arm to my leg and said, "Ah! Much better read." Before I left I asked if I passed and she said she couldn't tell me, but it wasn't inconclusive this time. I called my investigator like he asked after I finished my polygraph. I'm assuming I passed because the next day he came talked to my neighbors and the one family member that was home.

I'm going to take a minute to vent here. What you experienced in your polygraph should never happen. It's just a further example of why this junk pseudo-science should never be used for pre-employment hiring. What "inconclusive" means, in reality, is that the examiner can't read the chart. You may have been very calm so there wasn't enough disturbance in the chart to clearly read. You could have also been very nervous and there was too much disturbance in the chart. It could have been that the examiner wasn't very good.

Moving the cuff to the leg is a huge red flag. Can it work? Sure, but it should never produce a better reading than an arm placement. Calf readings (please tell me it was calf and not thigh placement) produce significantly higher readings than arm placement and can vary wildly from actual BP. Those higher readings and greater fluctuations make it much more difficult to get a consistent chart.

Lastly, I really hate it when examiners think they need to be all secretive about their charts. That's BS. It is a much better process to discuss the results with the candidate. In fact, that's how it's trained and especially for pre-employment. The idea is to get a candidate to admit to something by confronting them with the results. When an examiner says "I can't tell you", they de-legitimize what is already a pretty sketchy practice to begin with.

Ok. Rant over. For now.

[PhilipCal]

You wait. It's a part of the process.

[tanksoldier]

Limbo?

How LOW can you GO?

[L-1]

Assuming you passed the background, the next steps are the medical and the psych. The academy does not start until January, so they have two months to knock those out. As far as the hiring agency is concerned, there's no rush. You aren't in limbo. The process is moving normally.

[Ride_Along]

[QUOTE=SRT936;n6390988]
I'm going to take a minute to vent here. What you experienced in your polygraph should never happen. It's just a further example of why this junk pseudo-science should never be used for pre-employment hiring. What "inconclusive" means, in reality, is that the examiner can't read the chart. You may have been very calm so there wasn't enough disturbance in the chart to clearly read. You could have also been very nervous and there was too much disturbance in the chart. It could have been that the examiner wasn't very good.

Moving the cuff to the leg is a huge red flag. Can it work? Sure, but it should never produce a better reading than an arm placement. Calf readings (please tell me it was calf and not thigh placement) produce significantly higher readings than arm placement and can vary wildly from actual BP. Those higher readings and greater fluctuations make it much more difficult to get a consistent chart.

Yes, she put it on my calf, not my thigh. I laughed when she told me she was going to put it on my leg, I thought it was goofy.

Lastly, I really hate it when examiners think they need to be all secretive about their charts. That's BS. It is a much better process to discuss the results with the candidate. In fact, that's how it's trained and especially for pre-employment. The idea is to get a candidate to admit to something by confronting them with the results. When an examiner says "I can't tell you", they de-legitimize what is already a pretty sketchy practice to begin with.

Yeah, my friend laughed when I told him that she couldn't tell me the results and laughed even harder when I told him that she put it on my leg.

Thank you for the reply!

[Ride_Along]

Assuming you passed the background, the next steps are the medical and the psych. The academy does not start until January, so they have two months to knock those out. As far as the hiring agency is concerned, there's no rush. You aren't in limbo. The process is moving normally.

Thank you for your reply. I guess, I got a little excited because everything was rushed when they wanted to send me in three weeks, but I remember now that someone told me it usually takes six to nine months. Thanks for the reminder.

[Ride_Along]

Thank you to all the other posters (since there isn't a "like" feature any longer).

[J2H]

Good luck to you!

[Tldavis]

Thank you for your reply. I guess, I got a little excited because everything was rushed when they wanted to send me in three weeks, but I remember now that someone told me it usually takes six to nine months. Thanks for the reminder.

Do you have any updates on your progress?

[MichaelW1982]

Before I left I asked if I passed and she said she couldn't tell me, but it wasn't inconclusive this time.

A friend of mine is a retired polygraph examiner. He said that if people asked whether or not they passed, even if he thought they were honest before that point.... they now failed. He said his reasoning was that if someone had to ask if they passed it was only because they were trying to find out if they got away with lying. I'm not saying thats accurate... and hes a strange guy... but that was his stance on it. And the examiners arent supposed to decide results so much as they pass them up the chain, but I don't know many folks that an examiner says is deceptive and still get hired.

[Ride_Along]

Do you have any updates on your progress?

No word, yet. But as mentioned above, they have two months to get me through the final phases before the academy starts.

[Ride_Along]

A friend of mine is a retired polygraph examiner. He said that if people asked whether or not they passed, even if he thought they were honest before that point.... they now failed. He said his reasoning was that if someone had to ask if they passed it was only because they were trying to find out if they got away with lying. I'm not saying thats accurate... and hes a strange guy... but that was his stance on it. And the examiners arent supposed to decide results so much as they pass them up the chain, but I don't know many folks that an examiner says is deceptive and still get hired.

I get what you're saying. I just asked because she said my heart-rate, breathing, and perspiration were normal, but she detected movement. I am a fidgety person, I don't sit still for very long and I talk with my hands, so as you can imagine it was difficult for me to the try to sit motionless for almost two hours.

[HI629]

A friend of mine is a retired polygraph examiner. He said that if people asked whether or not they passed, even if he thought they were honest before that point.... they now failed. He said his reasoning was that if someone had to ask if they passed it was only because they were trying to find out if they got away with lying. I'm not saying thats accurate... and hes a strange guy... but that was his stance on it. And the examiners arent supposed to decide results so much as they pass them up the chain, but I don't know many folks that an examiner says is deceptive and still get hired.

Good one! My last poly I asked the examiner "How'd I do?" She told me "Get out of here you deceptive S.O.B.!" (I've known her for a couple of years). I'm assuming all is good as I didn't hear back from the agency regarding any adverse action due to the poly. :-)