It may not seem like it now, but you are better off being washed before being hired than be terminated for lack of candor two, three, ten years into your career. It does happen.

Standards change, both physical, medical, and moral. If there is something that a specific department passes candidates on and then the policy changes, lowering the bar for any of the standards, those new candidates will be looked at by the currently employed as being less than satisfactory. This is normal, but just adds another layer of stress to an already stressful process.

Polygraphs are a cake walk. It isn't the box, it is the examiner that you will be working with, so listen carefully to the questions during the pre-test interview. Ask clarifying questions and get everything out in the open. It is the little things in the back of your mind that cause your autonomic physiological reactions that require the examiner and the QC process to figure out. If you have been up front and brutally honest, the questions while on the box are actually boring.

Get to know some people already on the job where you are applying.

I would rather be unemployed with integrity than pulling down a fat check and be dirty. Keep in mind, getting hired only gets you in. You will still have to do your 25+ years to actually make it

Be safe.