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Best Resources for Getting a Dispatcher Job

Emergency dispatchers, commonly referred to as 911 operators or police and fire dispatchers are an integral component of emergency services across North America.
 
An emergency dispatcher's role is to provide the first response to citizens who call 911 for help. They determine the nature of the emergency and then alert the correct service. A dispatcher must define and describe the emergency accurately, so the fire, police, or ambulance service can attend to the crisis appropriately.
 
If becoming a 911 dispatcher is your goal, you should be prepared for a stressful job, but an incredibly gratifying one. Once you decide on this career, you might not know the best way to obtain a position. We will tackle this task for you below and give you tips to help you get hired as a dispatcher and start your dream career.
 

What is a Dispatcher?

Emergency dipatchers work for a city, or specific regions to answer calls from concerned citizens asking for medical help or reporting a fire, a suspected crime, or other emergencies. A dispatcher must multitask and record information while also needing to supply information or give directives to callers who are hurt or under extreme psychological or physical duress. In addition, a dispatcher must record as much information as possible so that all details of the call are known before sending emergency responders to a possibly dangerous scene and possibly increasing the risk to all involved.
 
An emergency dispatcher job usually requires triage abilities. You will need to discern which call is a priority while also being in touch with first responders, the original caller, and other dispatchers at times.
 
To sum it up, your duties as a dispatcher can include:

Your tasks in a dispatcher role are not limited to the above, and every shift will be different.


How to Become a Dispatcher

The requirements for becoming a dispatcher vary from city to city and service to service.
 
In Ontario, you can expect to be required to:

You will also need to be a Canadian citizen or permitted to work in Canada. Experience in customer service, especially a past job with inbound calls, is considered an asset for a prospective dispatcher. The education requirement for many dispatcher jobs is a high school diploma. Still, secondary school education may help you further your career in the dispatching or emergency services field.
 
Once you are hired as a dispatcher, you will be trained to use the software and applications required for the job. You will also be trained on the dispatcher's standard protocol, language used, and how to respond to calls swiftly and successfully.
 
As stated above, you will need to type 40 to 50 words per minute, but you will also need to ensure that you are an accurate typist. This is incredibly important for taking caller information and providing first responders with the correct details—especially because lives may depend on your accuracy.

 


The CritiCall Dispatch Test

One of the requirements listed above, and a requirement for most dispatching jobs, successful completion of the CritiCall Dispatcher Test.
 
The CritiCall test is a computer assessment that determines your skill and abilities for being a 911 dispatcher.
 
You will complete a series of questions grouped into sections that evaluate your skills in a particular ability. One of the test sections is to see how well you receive, record and delegate incoming mock 911 calls, and you must be successful in all segments of the test to be hired.
 
The CritiCall test can be modified to suit different emergency service departments and cities. As a result, it can be hard to decide what to study. However, there are practice tests and study material that you can find online to help give yourself an advantage over your competition. The best practice tests for CritiCall are from reputable companies that update their material regularly. Check out this one from Police Test Tutor.


Successful Dispatcher Job Candidates

When you are a job candidate for a dispatcher position, you can do a few things to boost your chances of success, aside from using a practice test and study service.
 
Practice taking notes while there is background noise to distract you. You might want to try some typing practice and typing tests that improve your typing speed and accuracy. This will help you with the hiring process and ensure your skills carry through after being hired.
 
Once you are successful, you will need to be prepared to work rotating shifts. Your shifts might include weekends, overnight, and holidays.

Where to Find Dispatcher Jobs

When you are looking for a dispatcher job, you will need to know when different cities or services are hiring. One way of doing this is to set up job alerts for local emergency service agencies. This is not always a possibility, however.
 
There are alternative ways of finding dispatcher jobs. One of the best resources for finding a dispatcher job is on a career services website like Police Test Tutor.
 
Police Test Tutor features a job board that is updated according to available jobs.
 
The benefit of using this site for your job search is that you no longer have to spend time combing through the internet for jobs geared toward dispatching positions.


A Final Note

Your path to being hired as an emergency services dispatcher is straightforward if you follow the steps outlined above. You can prepare yourself by ensuring that you have obtained all the prerequisites for dispatcher jobs and building your customer service experience. You can also review study materials and take practise tests with a package from Police Test Tutor.
 
When you have prepared, and feel ready to apply for dispatcher positions, check out the job board at Police Test Tutor, and once you land an interview, reach out for some interview coaching!