6.1 Conditional Offers, Background Investigations & Psychological Screening

6.1 Conditional Offers, Background Investigations & Psychological Screening

Passing the written exam and being reached on a certification opens the door to the real hiring process. HRD's 2026 posters say that candidates who pass and receive a conditional offer of employment from a civil service department or the MBTA Transit Police will be told how to apply for the Physical Ability Test and other screening. This section explains the sequence and the rules that govern it.

The Typical Sequence

Departments set their own process within the civil service rules, so the order varies. A common path:

1. Certification and response. Your name is certified for a vacancy, and you answer the vacancy notice by its deadline (Section 1.3).
2. Background application and investigation. You complete the department's history forms; investigators verify employment, education, records and references (Section 5.3).
3. Interviews. Many departments use structured oral interviews.
4. Conditional offer of employment. Issued after the non-medical screening.
5. Medical examination. Uses HRD's Initial Hire Medical Standards.
6. Physical Ability Test (PAT). HRD runs it at its Hudson site (Section 6.2).
7. Psychological screening. Required by many departments, and required for POST certification.
8. Appointment and academy enrollment (Section 6.3).

Why the Offer Comes Before Medical and Psychological Tests

The federal Americans with Disabilities Act lets an employer require a medical examination only after a conditional job offer, and only if all entering employees in the same job category are examined. Psychological evaluations that assess mental health conditions count as medical examinations for this purpose.

The practical results:

• No health questions before the offer. Departments complete background and interview steps first.
• Withdrawing the offer. A department can withdraw a conditional offer if you do not meet HRD's medical standards or the department's psychological screening criteria.

Under M.G.L. c. 31, § 61A (which applies in cities and towns that have accepted it and § 61B), no person appointed to a police position may perform its duties until passing the initial medical and physical fitness examinations. If you fail one, you are eligible for a reexamination within 16 weeks of the failure. Failing the reexamination means the appointment is rescinded.

The Background Investigation

Section 5.3 covers background investigations in detail. Two civil service points matter here:

• Bypasses need written reasons. If a department passes over a willing, higher-ranked candidate because of background findings, it must give that candidate a written statement of reasons, and the candidate can appeal to the Civil Service Commission within 60 days (M.G.L. c. 31, § 27).
• "Detrimental to the public interest." Under PAR.09(2), an appointing authority may submit specific written reasons why appointing a certified person would be detrimental to the public interest. If HRD agrees, it removes the name from that department's certification for the position.

Statutory bars apply regardless of rank:

• A felony conviction, or a listing in the national or Massachusetts decertification database, bars appointment (c. 41, § 96A).
• Anyone hired from the police list must not smoke tobacco products at or after appointment (c. 41, § 101A).

Psychological Screening

HRD's August 2015 policy memo told civil service police and fire departments that HRD would no longer approve individual psychological screening plans or providers. Departments now keep their plans and documentation locally, consistent with HRD's Medical Standards and HRD's model plan.

Separately, the POST Commission's minimum certification standards require every Massachusetts officer to complete a physical and psychological fitness evaluation approved by the Commission (M.G.L. c. 6E, § 4(f)(1)(iv)).

Psychological screening for police candidates commonly combines:

• Written inventories. Standardized personality and psychopathology questionnaires scored against norms.
• Clinical interview. A licensed psychologist or psychiatrist explores the inventory results and your history.
• Review of background information. The clinician often sees the same history you reported to investigators.

The best preparation matches the advice for the WSQ and LES:

• answer honestly and consistently;
• know your own history; and
• get a normal night's sleep before the appointment.

Inconsistency between what you told investigators and what you tell the clinician is a common source of concern.

If an Offer Is Withdrawn or You Are Bypassed

• Read the written reasons carefully. Section 27 requires a written statement for bypasses, and the statement must explain your appeal rights.
• Appeal promptly. The appeal deadline to the Civil Service Commission is 60 days from issuance of the statement. The Commission asks whether the department had reasonable justification supported by credible evidence.
• Ask about re-evaluation. For a medical or physical fitness failure, ask the department about the 16-week reexamination under § 61A. For psychological findings, ask whether the department's local screening plan provides for a second opinion; procedures vary by plan.
• Stay on the list. Your eligibility usually continues for other departments where you are ranked, until it expires or you are removed.