Recruitment Coaching
Polygraph & PHS
This stage is not about catching you out. It exists to confirm that what you told the department about yourself is accurate. The preparation is honesty and organization, not a trick to learn.
What This Stage Typically Involves
Departments vary in exactly where this sits in their process, but the shape is similar across many Canadian fire services. In Calgary's process, for example, applicants complete a Personal History Statement (PHS), a detailed written disclosure of background information, which a recruitment officer reviews and then confirms during an in-person polygraph examination later in the process.
Always confirm your target department's current process, PHS requirements and any associated fees directly with them. Details, including whether a polygraph is used at all, vary by department.
Where Candidates Cause Themselves Problems
- Leaving something out of the PHS because it seems minor, then having it surface at the polygraph as an inconsistency.
- Filling out the PHS quickly close to a deadline instead of taking the time to reconstruct dates and details accurately.
- Going into the polygraph anxious about the process itself rather than confident that their paperwork is accurate.
How Coaching Helps
We help you build a PHS that is thorough and consistent before you submit it, so there is nothing left to reconcile later. We also walk through what the polygraph appointment itself is like, so the process is not a mystery on the day.
What we will never do is help anyone leave something out, soften it, or make inaccurate information look truthful. This stage exists to confirm that what you told a department is accurate, and anything sold as a way around that would put you in far worse trouble than the thing it was meant to hide.
Working Through It With Northline
Northline sells preparation for this stage, from a workbook you fill in yourself through to an expert review of your completed draft. The PHS and Polygraph stage page lists what is currently available, what each one does and what it costs.
Get Your Candidate File Straight First
Most PHS problems are reconstruction problems: dates, addresses and employment history assembled against a deadline. The details need to be gathered and verifiable before the form asks for them.