Disqualified from SO - what should I do?

[benseventeen]

Everything was going well until the polygraph. I passed the polygraph, but in the process I admitted to things that got me DQd by email 2 days later. I understand the decision, and that I am not promised a job by anyone, I am just wondering if it is crazy to keep applying to different agencies (my wife seems to think I should just give up, although she has been supportive up to this point).

The first reason given was domestic violence. The polygraph examiner told me that the sheriff's office considers pushing domestic violence. I told him that my wife has pushed me about 4 times and I have pushed her about 2 times. No one ever fell to the ground, there were never any injuries, cops were never called.

The other reason given was admitted / undetected crimes...

One circumstance was where I failed to immediately transfer my registration on my car when I transferred my DL from one state to another. The officer told me I could be arrested for it, but just gave me a warning, and I registered my car shortly thereafter.

One circumstance was when I was in college me and my wife (then girlfriend) were eating dinner in a public park after dark. We knew we weren't supposed to be there but we didn't know it was a crime. However, we also made the regrettable decision to play dumb and act like we hadn't seen the sign, basically lying to the officer. He informed us it was a crime to trespass in a public park after dark, and let us off with a warning.

Another undetected crime was underage drinking when I got married at age 20. Had a drink on a few occasions with my wife. Never been drunk. Never driven impaired. Still a crime, though.

Some moral issues were also raised, but not mentioned in the email as the reason for my DQ. I admitted that I had argued with a supervisor on one occasion. I explained that I was frustrated with my job, and expressed it to my supervisor. I explained that it was not a heated argument, and that I did not show any disrespect to my boss, and that my boss had a positive view of the discussion, and tried to help me with my situation.

All of this was admitted to the polygraphy examiner. None of it was on any prescreen stuff, or even on the application, so it was not like I falsified the app and then got scared and admitted stuff when I got to the polygraph. I know integrity is vital in this career and started down this career path with the full intention to be honest about my background with any and all potential employers.

I've been rejected by another sheriff's office for not being competative enough (they only sponsor 50-70 out of 1,000). I'm also in the process at FHP, which has its drawbacks, but positives, too.

Like I said, I am looking for advice on how my disqualification at this agency will affect other applications in the future... please help if you can.

Thanks,

Ben

[Citicop]

I'm going to be honest.

The only thing that strikes me as being of any significance at all is the Domestic Violence. If you are having heated enough arguments with your spouse that it's turning physical, that is a major red flag (and liability issue) for the department.

As to everything else, I would be surprised if any of those issues made any real difference. A few underage drinkings, being in a park after hours, a verbal argument with a supervisor, and a registration violation would mean almost nothing here.

I see two possibilities:

1.) They are taking the DV issue very seriously.
2.) They had another candidate in mind, and took what you had to DQ you to get to their guy.

Just my $.02...

-Citicop.

[ChevySSP]

I would say that the Domestic Violence is a huge deal, and would probably be the deal breaker.

As for te rest....its all relatively minor stuff. Heck, some guys have done way worse and are still on the job.

[retdetsgt]

The only thing that strikes me as being of any significance at all is the Domestic Violence. If you are having heated enough arguments with your spouse that it's turning physical, that is a major red flag (and liability issue) for the department.

As to everything else, I would be surprised if any of those issues made any real difference. A few underage drinkings, being in a park after hours, a verbal argument with a supervisor, and a registration violation would mean almost nothing here.

I see two possibilities:

1.) They are taking the DV issue very seriously.
2.) They had another candidate in mind, and took what you had to DQ you to get to their guy.

Just my $.02...

-Citicop.

I totally agree. I think they were looking for a reason to DQ you.

That's why I don't like polygraphs for hiring purposes and glad we don't use them, they bring up insignificant things. I think the DV thing is BS if this was a one time event. When I was very young and first got married, my wife and I were arguing and she slapped me. I slapped her back and told her we aren't playing that game and to not ever do that again. I had a bit of a red mark for a short time, she had none as my slap was more ritualistic and didn't want to hurt her, but that was the end of that. It never did happen again. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have reacted that way, but it would have been a dumb reason to not give me my job.

A proper background check will reveal the things that are important. I never heard of us hiring someone and finding out later that there were things in their history that would have DQ'd them. A polygraph is the best tool in the world for a witch hunt.

I agree that they probably wanted to hire someone else.