911 Is a Job in My Town
May 14, 2015 12:14 PM Subscribe
I'm up for a 911 operator/dispatcher position. Next week I'll participate in the ECOMM video-based simulation testing where calltaking, notes, and dispatch skills will be evaluated. Aside from doing some random Googling/reading and working on my typing, what else can I do to prep? If you've had experience in the field, do you have any tips or suggestions on how I can do my best? Are there any prep resources you'd recommend?
Best answer: I've been a dispatcher (police, fire, and medical) for 15 years, and have been active in hirings in various departments (most departments loan out other dispatchers for testing/interviews in order to be unbiased). You don't need to prep at all for the test--what they're testing is your ability to multitask. You'll be asked to listen to/watch something while writing something else down, to look at license plates while jotting down other numbers, prioritize things, etc. They're not looking so much for being good at doing this as the potential for being good at it, so don't sweat that part at all. You'll pass. If you don't pass, you wouldn't make it through training, so it's a good hurdle to get over.
When you move from this part of the testing to the oral boards -- that's the time to prep. Know stats about the city/county. Know how many people live there and what they do. Know the names of the mayor, the police chief, and the fire chief. Be ready to answer why you want to be a dispatcher (make it more specific than you want to help people). Tell them you're ready to work nights and weekends and all holidays (because as the newest hire you'll be doing that for the next three years, at least -- there's no getting around that -- they'll say it to you and SO many new hires don't believe it's true). Tell them your family doesn't mind holding Thanksgiving for the day you have off (but mean it). Don't tell them you need time off on a certain weekend for an annual family retreat. Your oral board interviews will be comprised of people like HR reps and management, but you'll have a dispatcher or two on each panel. Dispatchers are human lie-detectors, so be honest -- they'll know if you're not.
The hardest part of 911 isn't telling people how to do CPR on a drowned kid or listening to someone shoot themselves in the head (those kinds of thing happen all day long and you just do your job and then eat your oatmeal and laugh at the face your coworker just made across the room). It's not the crazy hours (I routinely work 80-100 hour weeks, and 56 hours is my shortest possible week, schedule-wise).
The hardest part is getting along with other dispatchers who tend to be a very opinionated, very impatient, and very smart group. Emphasize in your oral interviews (you might have more than one, depending on the structure of the department) that you get along with everyone (if this is true--if this isn't true, 911 will be difficult to work). Dispatchers and their ilk make snap judgments and stick to them (this is how we prioritize which call gets dispatched and which gets held), so dress well. A suit is not overkill in an oral board interview. They will notice if you show up in jeans, and you won't make it to the chief's interview. Don't wear cologne/perfume; DO wear deodorant. Shake the hand of everyone on the oral board(s), meet their eyes, like a grownup.
Just so you know, it's a great job. I wanted to do it out of high school but went to college, then got a masters, and then went into dispatching anyway. I'm also a full-time novelist, and the dispatching not only pays the bills but gives the best view into the human condition anyone could possibly imagine. I love doing it.
Good luck to you!
posted by yarnagogo at 5:20 PM on May 14, 2015 [10 favorites]
When you move from this part of the testing to the oral boards -- that's the time to prep. Know stats about the city/county. Know how many people live there and what they do. Know the names of the mayor, the police chief, and the fire chief. Be ready to answer why you want to be a dispatcher (make it more specific than you want to help people). Tell them you're ready to work nights and weekends and all holidays (because as the newest hire you'll be doing that for the next three years, at least -- there's no getting around that -- they'll say it to you and SO many new hires don't believe it's true). Tell them your family doesn't mind holding Thanksgiving for the day you have off (but mean it). Don't tell them you need time off on a certain weekend for an annual family retreat. Your oral board interviews will be comprised of people like HR reps and management, but you'll have a dispatcher or two on each panel. Dispatchers are human lie-detectors, so be honest -- they'll know if you're not.
The hardest part of 911 isn't telling people how to do CPR on a drowned kid or listening to someone shoot themselves in the head (those kinds of thing happen all day long and you just do your job and then eat your oatmeal and laugh at the face your coworker just made across the room). It's not the crazy hours (I routinely work 80-100 hour weeks, and 56 hours is my shortest possible week, schedule-wise).
The hardest part is getting along with other dispatchers who tend to be a very opinionated, very impatient, and very smart group. Emphasize in your oral interviews (you might have more than one, depending on the structure of the department) that you get along with everyone (if this is true--if this isn't true, 911 will be difficult to work). Dispatchers and their ilk make snap judgments and stick to them (this is how we prioritize which call gets dispatched and which gets held), so dress well. A suit is not overkill in an oral board interview. They will notice if you show up in jeans, and you won't make it to the chief's interview. Don't wear cologne/perfume; DO wear deodorant. Shake the hand of everyone on the oral board(s), meet their eyes, like a grownup.
Just so you know, it's a great job. I wanted to do it out of high school but went to college, then got a masters, and then went into dispatching anyway. I'm also a full-time novelist, and the dispatching not only pays the bills but gives the best view into the human condition anyone could possibly imagine. I love doing it.
Good luck to you!
posted by yarnagogo at 5:20 PM on May 14, 2015 [10 favorites]
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posted by dchrssyr at 1:17 PM on May 14, 2015