Maybe it is how it's written, but this person's entire career reads like a rat navigating through a maze built by superiors. Even though they say the job is among the happiest times of their life, it helps put into perspective the follower mentality some have, especially in the public sector. I'd have given the middle finger right away knowing I can find enjoyable work sans harassment. To put it crudely, I can't even sympathize with someone so willing to grab their ankles.
Instead of telling your kids to avoid working at places with a polygraph, how about instilling some confidence and make it clear to them that if they are/become really good at what they do, they have the leverage to not put up with these things (at least in non-depressed employment markets).
"it helps put into perspective the follower mentality some have, especially in the public sector. I'd have given the middle finger right away knowing I can find enjoyable work sans harassment. To put it crudely, I can't even sympathize with someone so willing to grab their ankles."
That's such an arrogant thing to say if you have never been in this situation. History has long shown that when things get tough most people will fall in line and only a very few will resist. Talk is easy but actually acting is very tough and rare.
The quote is "I'd have given the middle finger right away"
How does that person know that without having been in that situation? It's so easy to say "I'd never do that" but history is full of examples where most people just fell in line. Just look at around at most big tech companies or banks. There are a lot of people who may not be comfortable with their employer's business practices but in the end they stay because they don't want to lose that nice paycheck. I am not judging these people, they are like most of us. I am judging people who say they are different without back it up.
I have quit jobs for less, but I suppose nobody can have an opinion on what they'd quit over (or over and over) without being in exactly that situation. You know what's easier than saying what you'd do in a situation? Discounting what someone else might do by putting qualifiers on their ability to even say it.
You wrote " I can't even sympathize with someone so willing to grab their ankles."
I still think your attitude is very arrogant. Maybe one day you will be in a situation where you can't just quit and find anther job easily. This may help you learn to have more empathy with others who are in a less privileged position than you are.
I put it crudely by intention. I don't believe that the author is less privileged or devoid of choice here. We must call out those that encourage these practices with their continued support of them instead of twisting it in to pity when it's clearly a case of choice (as author mentions towards the latter part about working elsewhere). We're never going to increase employee confidence and mobility if we're so quick to appeal to emotion in cases where it's clearly invalid.
If you actually want to bring change then saying "I would never ever do that and I have no sympathy for people who aren't as strong as I am" is a very bad way to give confidence to people. What you did was to pat yourself on your shoulder and to declare others are losers.
It’s like a humblebrag in a sense- saying something that seems relevant, but it’s really just an excuse to put other people down and exalt oneself in a roundabout way. I see it a lot on HN and it always comes across as very very young people who haven’t had to make tough choices in their lives yet. When people describe tough choices in such oversimplified terms, I think they think it makes them sound tough and wise but it really sounds naive and narcissistic.
Ditto for people who brag about getting triggered by some question in a job interview that they feel is beneath them, so they claim that they got up and left the interview right then and there, as if that’s something to brag about. It’s so cringey every time some HN poster brags about immediately bailing on an interview because they thought someone asked them a dumb question.
> this person's entire career reads like a rat navigating through a maze built by superiors.... it helps put into perspective the follower mentality some have...
A few things:
1) The article was a fantastic read(!), and I couldn't help but think that the polygraph is a bit of a hazing ritual that is used to measure, not truthfulness/deception, but one's eagerness for the job and system. As a said in another post, once too many people begin to question a/the system that depends on wide-scale high levels of trust(compliance), it fails.
The whole thing seemed to involve a lot of behavioral conditioning.
Example 1: Offer computer access (so that you can do your supposed job) contingent upon one complying w/ and passing the poly.
Example 2: Oh, you hate the poly and put up a fuss? Well, thanks for complying: here's a good performance review and raise.'
So long as the writer responded appropriately to the bell, he/she received a treat. This is intro-level psych.
2) Though most are not subjected to polygraphs, the experience described over all, doesn't deviate from what most employees experience, unfortunately. You mentioned a maze, and you are correct. That's why the typical work arrangement is colloquially described as "the rat race".
3) A lot of people like "grabbing their ankles," as you say. As it's been explained to me numerous times, they appreciate the "structure" or "predictability." I try not to fight it anymore. Sheep make good eatin', and I realize I should just live as such.
> ...they have the leverage to not put up with these things...
As someone who's been around the block a bit, I no longer believe this. There are too many willing ankle grabbers in world that is more interested in compliance (ego-stroking of the insecure, actually) than in achieving perfection, or even just "better than." Of course, there are exceptions, but those are few and far between, IMO. So, the author suggested one coping mechanism, just as I above offered another.
What is a reasonable hoop to jump through and what is unreasonable is very subjective.
Consider...on the east coast, interview suits are the norm. Even for a coding job where you will never wear a suit, it is reasonable to wonder why a candidate refused to wear a suit for an interview. West coast, though, the reverse is true. I had quite the culture shock coming from a govt job on the east coast to a Seattle coding job.
I have anxiety and would find routine polygraphs stressful...but I also hate annual performance reviews and enjoy my 1:1s with managers. I'm sure others might look at my life and wonder why I choose certain issues as important and others as trivial.
So while I have the same reactions as you when PERSONALLY considering the named job, I'm less inclined to snap judge the author as "so willing to grab their ankles"
The last time I wore a suit I was sixteen. That was 1971. Had to wear a tie at Mullard in Southampton, left in 1983 and haven't worn a tie since. Had a number of jobs as an electronics designer and software developer since in the UK and Norway. I just turn up to interviews neatly and quietly dressed. As far as I can tell my attire was of no consequence.
What I would find intolerable is the persistence of the practice despite polygraphs being bullshit. I can't work for higher-ups that I don't respect, because I'm constitutionally unable to conceal my contempt. And it would be impossible to respect higher-ups that required regular polygraphs.
>like a rat navigating through a maze built by superiors
brilliant use of language here, you're spot on. while i agree that the public sector can foster a passive mentality, i didn't get that vibe from the author. they were just a person trying to put up with the bullshit that accompanied a job they loved.
By leveraging the fact that one is a UK citizen, and applying to SIS or GCHQ, I assume? Most other countries perform in-depth background checks, rather than relying on pseudo-science, when it comes to matters of national security.
The background investigations are still performed, the poly is an additional layer added on, so that's the only real formal difference between countries.
I really want to believe that polygraphs are just used as an interrogation tool and not as a substitute for the SSBI. But the FBI gave Nada Nadim Prouty an SCI clearance even though she wasn't even lawfully present in the US, let alone a citizen. She was working for CIA when the next investigation was due, and they didn't have a problem either.
These sorts of situations are rife and you can pretty well tell from the interview where it's going. It needn't be a polygraph to know it's not worth the effort
Instead of telling your kids to avoid working at places with a polygraph, how about instilling some confidence and make it clear to them that if they are/become really good at what they do, they have the leverage to not put up with these things (at least in non-depressed employment markets).