I have seen people come and go in over eight years in a dispatch center. There are those who have been there up until their retirement date. There are others who have gone on to bigger and better things. One left to be a Doctor of Pharmacy. There are others who left because they had better opportunities come along. Dispatch is a good career and there are those who can make it a few years and others a lifetime.
What does it take to make a career out of dispatch? There are a few things that are non-negotiable when it comes to being a dispatcher. The first thing I tell every person I work with is willing to take feedback. It is not like the feedback you would get from a teacher or an employer in a regular environment. It's instant and often unexplained. This can be difficult to understand but when you have a screaming caller on 9-1-1, you have to be able to follow instructions without question. The explanation comes after when there is time to talk about it. Many dispatch centers have on the job training and on the job means you are in the thick of it.
A dispatcher needs to be precise. A giant part of the job is documenting what is said by callers or the law enforcement officers. It requires being able to type quickly. Hen-pecking will get you nowhere fast except escorted out the door. It takes skill to be able to type when someone is talking and record what they say as they say it. If you wait the next person will already be saying something before you can finish what the last person just said.
Flexibility is what every dispatcher requires. It does not matter if you have one year or 20 years in, you will end up working a weekend or holiday. The day you are scheduled is the day you work and this is regardless of what the rest of the world is doing. It is a 24/7 job. Holidays are just another day on the calendar. It also includes working nights. Some agencies have dispatchers who prefer nights and stay on them. Others require that everyone rotates and gives everyone an equal chance at every shift.
Then there is the overtime. Dispatchers are in high demand right now. It is a hard job, but it pays well and can be a career. Due to the emergency nature of the job, there always has to be someone to fill the seats. If there is no one to fill it overtime slots open up. If there is no one there to answer 9-1-1, there is no one there to send out help to those who need it.
Being a dispatcher is a life-altering career. You can change someone's life by being a calm voice on the other side of the phone. Not every day will be great, there will be days you get "the call" but in the end, you will know that you have made a difference.
