Voluntary Polygraph Pre-Employment tests are a means of assuring prospective employers they are hiring someone honest, mature, and reliable.
The old-fashioned method of sending background investigators to question job applicants' friends, relatives and neighbours is both time consuming and inaccurate.
It relies on personal opinion and rumour, and is further hampered by the restraint that previous employers and supervisors feel due to fear of being accused of slander.
The Psychophysiological truth verification test (Polygraph examination) saves investigators and Human Resource professionals time and money.
The examination provides suitable applicants additional evidence for employment agencies and prospective employers of their truthful character.
The pre-employment Polygraph test can therefore increase candidates’ chances for advertised positions. Polygraph testing finds application in the workplace, in Government as well as the private sector. Pre-employment screening of law enforcement applicants is widely used in the United States and is particularly useful in preventing police corruption.
Given the complex nature of police work, with its physical and emotional demands, the pre-employment screening helps identify the most qualified applicants to become Police Officers.
Early detection of an undesirable aspirant for any law-enforcement agency is an effective preventative measure against corruption, and the mistreatment or abuse of power by members of the organisation in the future.
Pre-employment screening is not only advantageous for Government agencies, law-enforcement, defence and national security organisations. An individual applying for a position requiring honesty and integrity will also benefit by proving the truthfulness of his or her statements.
An applicant should be in a position to demonstrate truthfulness regarding inappropriate habits (using illicit drugs, alcohol), unacceptable behaviour (bullying, internal theft, sexual harassment), and on past employment. It is also a useful tool to check the truthfulness of a candidate's statements regarding qualification, education or/and work experiences.
A candidate with a high level of honesty and integrity is not just a potential asset for any company or organisation, but he or she is more likely to be prioritised in the selection process for a rewarding and responsible position. Employers who would greatly benefit from pre-employment polygraph testing include pharmaceutical industry, financial institutions, insurance companies, security companies dealing with transportation of cash, precious metal or jewellery, and performing executive escorting, or the role of an armed guard.
Screening potential candidates applying for careers working with disadvantaged people, children and youth could also be extremely advantageous for employers and candidates, ensuring that only the individuals with the highest developed honesty and clear criminal past are allowed to work in such trusted occupations.
In the era where we are experiencing an increased exposure of children to child pornography and/or paedophiles, Polygraph pre-employment testing should become a minimum standard in checking potential professionals.
Professional organisations dealing with children on day-to-day basis, like child centres, schools, youth sport clubs and hospitals prefer candidates with the highest standards and clear past. Therefore, Polygraph tests may minimize the issue of public liability while increasing the reputation of those well-recognised and respected professions.
Polygraph testing plays a significant role in personnel selection and the security clearance process in national security agencies, as well as private companies. A considerable portion of employees in government organizations and private enterprises may violate security procedures at some time in their careers through sloppy security practices.
However, a large number of serious security violations remain undetected and therefore pose a great threat to an organisation. In the US for example, all employees of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency must take and pass a Polygraph test to obtain and retain their security clearance. (Polygraph, Volume 33, Number 2, 2004) Polygraph interviews appears to be an integral and extremely beneficial part of security clearance procedures for civilian and military security and intelligence personnel since the days of the Cold War, especially in the USA.
Fear of an increase in terrorism and espionage activities has led to a high degree of scepticism of the security agency's vetting procedures. According to the information available in the form of DoDPI's (Department of Defense Polygraph Institute) reports to the US Congress, 43648 counter-intelligence screening tests were administered within the US Department of Defense between 1995 and 2000.
In those tests, 902 people made admissions relevant to security issues.
As a result of these screenings, individuals working for government agencies may have been deterred from engaging in espionage activity in the first place out of fear of being detected by periodic Polygraph security screenings.
It should not be expected however that a Polygraph screening on its own will detect all subversive activities within an agency or organization.
It is rather a unique and highly reliable tool in security screening whilst in the hands of trained investigators who can implement other security measures such as financial records analysis and background interviews to collectively provide an effective preventative application against those who threaten company and/or national security.
All material contained in our pages dealing with polygraph testing is provided by Miro Rosic, principal of Global Polygraph. Mr Rosic is a consultant to Investigateway.com.au
Miro Rosic is a Forensic Psychophysiologist (Polygraph Examiner) and his credentials include:
Master of Justice (Strategic Intelligence)
Grad. Cert. Justice Studies (Strategic Intelligence)
B.A. Strategic Studies & International Relations
Dip. Security Management
For advice and service you can contact Miro Rosic through his website.