New to forum..have a hiring process question for OSP dispatchers.
Hi, my name is Tami. I am a dispatcher for a public safety office in Salem at a large college. I love dispatching, but would love to have more excitment. Well, yesterday when I got home from work I had a call from the Oregon State Police Dispatch center in Salem wanting to know if I was still interested in a Telecommunicator II job...I am of course. She said that they are short and calling people on the eligble list. I am so, so excited! I go in for a typing test and a skills test next Monday. I think I will do ok on the typing, but what is a skills test? Any one know what I should expect? On the 22nd they are doing interviews for the people that pass the testing. How long does the hiring process take? I am just so excited! I thought I had blown my chance with the OSP. I was a self pay for my WLS. I went to Spain, and when I was there, I got a letter from them saying they were doing there testing and interviewing. You had to call them to set up a time, but if you were not interested at that time you had to send in this card...if you didn't send in the card before the 'end date' you would be marked as 'failure to respond' and be taken off the list. I was so bummed when I got back from Spain and found I was well past the time frame. I almost called and told them I was still interested, but didn't want to sound desperate. Also, I was way to tired and not quick in the head at that moment to do a test if they wanted me to. So maybe it worked out for the best! Anyway, I am babbling on and on...lol. I am just so happy and hope that someone will give me some pointers. Only a few days till Monday. You can bet I will be practicing my typing speed and accuracy.
Thankyou and hugs,
Tami
post op 11/30/05 Dr. Baltasar of Spain
Lap BPD/DS
SW407 CW303 GW180 -104lbs
Only three more lubs to go till I am in the twos!!! Yeah!
I have not been in the twos since I was a teenager!
Tami, congrats on theinterview and tests! .. it certainly can be an exciting field. I wish I knew what to tell you for the skills test, I didn't have to take anything like that when I was hired (but the lack of testing allows them to hire some real doozies, who don't know thier butt from a hole in the ground, but anyway) I wish you all the best, it really is a great field to be in.
Welcome to the Dispatcher baord..it is a quiet baord and it gets lonely in here sometimes. Hopefully we can pick up the posts a bit
Hi Tami!
I can't believe I just happened to pop in and see your post. I'm running on empty right now so I hope I don't ramble. Up 23 hours...don't know why I do this to myself. LOL!
To address the blowing your chance thing - state rules regarding responding on the interview invitation is pretty strict but you can just reapply and get back on I believe. Anyway, looks like that's not an issue now for you. Things happen and they take that into account.
OSP is ALWAYS looking for more dispatchers. We have a couple openings in Central Point as well but they haven't called for the list yet. One thing I will say is that if you don't make it this time out, keep trying because once in a blue moon we'll get a few applicants that have a lot of experience, but it doesn't mean that we wouldn't want others as well. That happened here this last year. We had some great potentials that had no experience (we are down to hiring people as calltakers with no experience with the intent to train them as dispatchers once they are done training as calltakers...), but we had two seasoned 911 dispatchers that moved to the area who just blew those folks out of the water. But the next round of hiring we had 2 more with no experience we hired. So obviously with experience, you'll automatically have an advantage.
The skills test - I believe Salem uses the same one we have. It's a dispatch simulator where you sit at a computer with headphones on and you will hear people giving descriptions of cars, people, events, etc, and you need to accurately log the information . It's pretty simple really but it tests your ability to take information and enter it out of order, jumping around the fields on the screen and taking notes on the pertinent information. Much like what we already do. I wouldn't sweat it really - if you are already a dispatcher you probably won't have a problem with it unless you don't work on a CAD system. Even still, it's not hard for those who don't use a CAD because it's more about your thinking process than typing skills. Of course, typing fast only helps.
So do you dispatch at OSU then? We had a trooper just transfer down from Albany who's wife apparently worked there. I can't remember her name though....isn't that awful? If you are at OSU you must already be familiar with 12-code since you dispatch the campus troops, right? Of course, I'm making an assumption here.
Yikes! I know I'm rambling now!!! ;) Anyway, I wish you all the best and if you have any questions feel free to email me.
As for the rest of you fine dispatchers here on this board, I'm going to come back after I get some sleep and catch up. I've been away too long! I loved how this board was getting busy...we need to keep it up!
Dina
http://www.saveosp.org
http://www.javajabbers.com
Hi Dina! Thankyou for responding. I don't work for OSU, I work for Chemeketa...its a large community college. We have seven full time officers and many part timers and ticket writers. Part of my job other than dispatching, is dealing with staff and students who get tickets, or have emergencies. People sure can come unglued about tickets...(even though we have signs everywhere about permits..lol. I think I am weird...I do long for more excitement...when students don't pay there tickets, and they get more than four, we can boot there cars...I like the excitement. I like it when the officers call in a traffic stop and they have a suspended DL or a warrent out for them. We don't get alot of that, but we do have trouble with gangs in this area.
I am familiar with the 12-code. We do not, however, use a CAD system. We have access. I usually write info down on a pad of paper while the officer is giving me info, although I always put the call time down, location on our CR log first, then it gets put in the computer, the rest on the CR log and then on the officers AR log. I am interested to try out a new system. Hopefully I will do ok. As long as I can not be too nervous, I think I will do fine. I multi task alot at my job. This morning, I was taking a typing test online and I was suprised at my speed. I don't type super fast or anything, but I thought I was at 36 or 37 wpm. I hadn't tested in many years. This morning I rated about 42 to 45wpm. with about 92 to 94 accuracy. I think I need to concentrate more and slow down...would like to get my accuracy up above 95%.
So how long do the test take? I just got my info in the mail and it says that it could take up to four hours. Which is fine, just wondering. The supervisor I talked to the other day did not say. Anyways, I am just babbling away...lol. Its on my mind alot!
Oh yeah, I definetly know Dina McBride! She is a wonderful and loving person. She lovingly gave up two weeks to accompany me to Spain to be my support person. It was so nice having someone who knew the ropes a bit. I also see her every month at our support group in Portland. She's the head of it.
Anyways, take care of yourself.
Hugs,
Tami
Dina 
I'm in NJ, so I can't help you with any info, but I just wanted to say hi. This is a good group of people. The board gets slow at times, but everyone here is great. Congratulations and good luck on the interview. A big congrats on your weight loss too! 
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