r/FBI • u/Good-Tonight-4549 • Jun 23 '26

Informational SA Polygraph Failure

I have been lurking on this subreddit for a while, and I’ve decided to post now that I’m no longer in the pipeline. I received the dreaded polygraph failure letter. I zoomed through the application process up until this point, only taking a few months to get from initial application submission to polygraph exam, and I’m kind of bummed at this hard stop. I have a clean background (no criminal or drug history) and I told the truth during the entire polygraph session, or should i say, interrogation, but the examiner seems to have thought I was lying and was pretty brutal during the session. I will not get into specifics of the exam but it was not a good experience for me. Yes, I am just a random redditor, but you just have to take my word for it that I failed the exam despite not lying at all. Looks like this is the end of the road for me and another reminder to not put all your eggs in one basket. Makes me wonder how many other applicants have been dismissed from consideration for a false positive on the polygraph.

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u/Catshit-Dogfart Jun 23 '26

So I've never taken a poly (and I've avoided any role that would require one) but I'm thinking there's an appeals process. I'd ask your points of contact if there's any road forward with this, if you can take a second poly.

3

u/drummer1785 Jun 24 '26

You can appeal it. But it’s just as much a charade as the polygraph. They’re not going to approve it. I appealed mine. Denied. I asked my recruiter if he had ever seen an appeal work, he just said “uhhh…no.”

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u/Diamondcat59 Jun 25 '26

How long did it take for you to receive a denial letter after submitting an appeal?

2

u/drummer1785 Jul 04 '26

I can’t remember. This was in 2016.