Have you ever taken a polygraph? Lots of questions for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine any job where your level of fidelity would come into question. It has nothing to do with any job you might perform, so why would they ask such a specific question?

I've never taken a polygraph, but I would assume questions would be more like "have you ever taken anything from the office that does not belong to you" "have you ever lied for your boss" "did you earn a degree from XYZ University" "do you currently use illegal drugs"

Whatever you do OP, just be honest.

This may be true for private employers but if you’re even tangentially going to be looking at classified material as part of this job, the questions will be tailored, at least in part, to areas that would make you susceptible to blackmail. I know one person who was asked to name all affair partners.

[Anonymous]

Polygraphs are not reliable. They are not reliable.

It's possible to be accused of deception even if you tell the truth. If your breathing patterns or anything else is "off."

Think hard how you'll feel about that before you agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you sit for it, you could still decline to answer questions. If they ask if you’ve had affairs, you could say “I don’t think that’s relevant and I decline to answer.” Or you could say “I’m not currently having an affair.” I assume this would be about your vulnerability to extortion? Tbh I think they should be more worried that you’re willing to sit for a polygraph to get a job. That seems like way too much faith in authority.

+100, I get if it was for an intelligence agency or top-secret military work, but a regular ol' private sector job? No way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine any job where your level of fidelity would come into question. It has nothing to do with any job you might perform, so why would they ask such a specific question?

I've never taken a polygraph, but I would assume questions would be more like "have you ever taken anything from the office that does not belong to you" "have you ever lied for your boss" "did you earn a degree from XYZ University" "do you currently use illegal drugs"

Whatever you do OP, just be honest.

…..I know one person who was asked to name all affair partners.

Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. I didn’t even know the names of some of the guys I hooked up with. Affair Partner is a generic term in my case, because quite a few of them were totally anonymous NSA type trysts. In the interest of clarity and context, I had some issues I was dealing with at the time with body image after my first pregnancy, and that kind of fed into a sex addictive pattern of behavior, where I guess I felt I had to prove to myself I was still desirable and attractive. So I went down a path of casual hook ups and anonymous encounters. I saw a few guys on the side regularly, but a lot more ONS’s and other stuff. It was the early 2000’s, I was getting with guys on Craigslist. The kind of stuff that my H, or any man frankly, just wouldn’t be able to get past. It would be the end of us, period. So naming people would literally be impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sit for it, you could still decline to answer questions. If they ask if you’ve had affairs, you could say “I don’t think that’s relevant and I decline to answer.” Or you could say “I’m not currently having an affair.” I assume this would be about your vulnerability to extortion? Tbh I think they should be more worried that you’re willing to sit for a polygraph to get a job. That seems like way too much faith in authority.

+100, I get if it was for an intelligence agency or top-secret military work, but a regular ol' private sector job? No way

It’s not really a regular 9-5 type job. It’s sort of an executive assistantship, except it sounds like a “My Man Friday” type job, where there’s all sorts of additional duties/responsibilities. Lots of travel coordination involved, access to financial material/resources, and almost certainly proprietary business information, and probably a pretty all encompassing NDA. So I “get” why they want someone who’s absolutely trustworthy. My H joked that it sounds like a Valet worthy of a Bond villain. I guess that’s sort of accurate in some regards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sit for it, you could still decline to answer questions. If they ask if you’ve had affairs, you could say “I don’t think that’s relevant and I decline to answer.” Or you could say “I’m not currently having an affair.” I assume this would be about your vulnerability to extortion? Tbh I think they should be more worried that you’re willing to sit for a polygraph to get a job. That seems like way too much faith in authority.

+100, I get if it was for an intelligence agency or top-secret military work, but a regular ol' private sector job? No way

It’s not really a regular 9-5 type job. It’s sort of an executive assistantship, except it sounds like a “My Man Friday” type job, where there’s all sorts of additional duties/responsibilities. Lots of travel coordination involved, access to financial material/resources, and almost certainly proprietary business information, and probably a pretty all encompassing NDA. So I “get” why they want someone who’s absolutely trustworthy. My H joked that it sounds like a Valet worthy of a Bond villain. I guess that’s sort of accurate in some regards.

Ok, with this detail I am concerned for you OP. A 1:1 employer relationship requires a lot of humanity on both sides, and demanding a polygraph does not suggest the boss has this. At the very least, it shows s/he has terrible boundaries and does not respect employees as humans and professionals.

The upsides of the job sound good, but give equal thought to the worst case scenario. Could this person hurt your future prospects in this industry? Could you afford to quit if they are unbearable, and will this experience make you eligible for other jobs or is it a dead end that could trap you?

[Anonymous]

This is easy. Never lie. They’ve heard everything. Just don’t lie. It may be embarrassing. If you think you’re the first person who has had an affair, smoked a joint in college 20 years ago, you are not.

Tell the truth. It’s that easy.

[Anonymous]

You have to understand they are measuring whether someone could blackmail or extort you.

The answer to: how many butt plugs do you own? The number you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine any job where your level of fidelity would come into question. It has nothing to do with any job you might perform, so why would they ask such a specific question?

I've never taken a polygraph, but I would assume questions would be more like "have you ever taken anything from the office that does not belong to you" "have you ever lied for your boss" "did you earn a degree from XYZ University" "do you currently use illegal drugs"

Whatever you do OP, just be honest.

…..I know one person who was asked to name all affair partners.

Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. I didn’t even know the names of some of the guys I hooked up with. Affair Partner is a generic term in my case, because quite a few of them were totally anonymous NSA type trysts. In the interest of clarity and context, I had some issues I was dealing with at the time with body image after my first pregnancy, and that kind of fed into a sex addictive pattern of behavior, where I guess I felt I had to prove to myself I was still desirable and attractive. So I went down a path of casual hook ups and anonymous encounters. I saw a few guys on the side regularly, but a lot more ONS’s and other stuff. It was the early 2000’s, I was getting with guys on Craigslist. The kind of stuff that my H, or any man frankly, just wouldn’t be able to get past. It would be the end of us, period. So naming people would literally be impossible.

If you’re going to do this, lie. And figure out ahead of time how you can trick yourself into believing the lie, at least for an hour or so while you take the test: No way you should get into this, it’s between you and God. Not worth risking your marriage if you’ve come this far and can keep it all buried. My friend who was asked to name all his partners was openly gay, and I think that’s why the a-hole tester went down that route. Good luck and please report back!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sit for it, you could still decline to answer questions. If they ask if you’ve had affairs, you could say “I don’t think that’s relevant and I decline to answer.” Or you could say “I’m not currently having an affair.” I assume this would be about your vulnerability to extortion? Tbh I think they should be more worried that you’re willing to sit for a polygraph to get a job. That seems like way too much faith in authority.

+100, I get if it was for an intelligence agency or top-secret military work, but a regular ol' private sector job? No way

It’s not really a regular 9-5 type job. It’s sort of an executive assistantship, except it sounds like a “My Man Friday” type job, where there’s all sorts of additional duties/responsibilities. Lots of travel coordination involved, access to financial material/resources, and almost certainly proprietary business information, and probably a pretty all encompassing NDA. So I “get” why they want someone who’s absolutely trustworthy. My H joked that it sounds like a Valet worthy of a Bond villain. I guess that’s sort of accurate in some regards.

Ok, with this detail I am concerned for you OP. A 1:1 employer relationship requires a lot of humanity on both sides, and demanding a polygraph does not suggest the boss has this. At the very least, it shows s/he has terrible boundaries and does not respect employees as humans and professionals.

The upsides of the job sound good, but give equal thought to the worst case scenario. Could this person hurt your future prospects in this industry? Could you afford to quit if they are unbearable, and will this experience make you eligible for other jobs or is it a dead end that could trap you?

So they're gonna find someone "trustworthy" by using an untrustworthy device with a 50% accuracy rate at best? LOL this is like the stupidest Bond villain with a superiority complex and an ego the size of the sun who, like PP said, would throw you under the bus and probably pin some seedy stuff on his secretary without a second thought. Requiring a polygraph to access finance materials and proprietary business info is also ridiculous; all of Wall St would need their own version of security clearance in that case, as would anyone working in a corporate job. Come on now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to understand they are measuring whether someone could blackmail or extort you.

The answer to: how many butt plugs do you own? The number you have.

Based on OP's follow up, I wouldn't be surprised if the boss is the blackmailer in this scenario. It sounds very sketchy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sit for it, you could still decline to answer questions. If they ask if you’ve had affairs, you could say “I don’t think that’s relevant and I decline to answer.” Or you could say “I’m not currently having an affair.” I assume this would be about your vulnerability to extortion? Tbh I think they should be more worried that you’re willing to sit for a polygraph to get a job. That seems like way too much faith in authority.

+100, I get if it was for an intelligence agency or top-secret military work, but a regular ol' private sector job? No way

It’s not really a regular 9-5 type job. It’s sort of an executive assistantship, except it sounds like a “My Man Friday” type job, where there’s all sorts of additional duties/responsibilities. Lots of travel coordination involved, access to financial material/resources, and almost certainly proprietary business information, and probably a pretty all encompassing NDA. So I “get” why they want someone who’s absolutely trustworthy. My H joked that it sounds like a Valet worthy of a Bond villain. I guess that’s sort of accurate in some regards.

Ok, with this detail I am concerned for you OP. A 1:1 employer relationship requires a lot of humanity on both sides, and demanding a polygraph does not suggest the boss has this. At the very least, it shows s/he has terrible boundaries and does not respect employees as humans and professionals.

The upsides of the job sound good, but give equal thought to the worst case scenario. Could this person hurt your future prospects in this industry? Could you afford to quit if they are unbearable, and will this experience make you eligible for other jobs or is it a dead end that could trap you?

Is the company NXIUM? I can’t imagine taking a polygraph for a private sector admin assistant job. This sounds crazy and does not bode well for the job culture.

[Anonymous]

Try clenching and unclenching your ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you sit for it, you could still decline to answer questions. If they ask if you’ve had affairs, you could say “I don’t think that’s relevant and I decline to answer.” Or you could say “I’m not currently having an affair.” I assume this would be about your vulnerability to extortion? Tbh I think they should be more worried that you’re willing to sit for a polygraph to get a job. That seems like way too much faith in authority.

+100, I get if it was for an intelligence agency or top-secret military work, but a regular ol' private sector job? No way

It’s not really a regular 9-5 type job. It’s sort of an executive assistantship, except it sounds like a “My Man Friday” type job, where there’s all sorts of additional duties/responsibilities. Lots of travel coordination involved, access to financial material/resources, and almost certainly proprietary business information, and probably a pretty all encompassing NDA. So I “get” why they want someone who’s absolutely trustworthy. My H joked that it sounds like a Valet worthy of a Bond villain. I guess that’s sort of accurate in some regards.

For whatever this is worth, I’m a legal secretary in a law firm, and have access to four different peoples unlimited credit cards. Plus their SS numbers, bar numbers, birthdates, passwords to various accounts, etc. i haven’t ever been asked to do a lie detector test. Maybe this is not the right job for you.

[Anonymous]

Polygraphs are all about what you disclose- not the result according to the readings. If you fail or if it is inconclusive and you haven't disclosed anything significant, there's not a lot they can do with that.