Hiring dispatchers

A dispatcher’s job is far from easy, often filled with stressful calls and long shifts. Before hiring a candidate, you want to make sure they know what the position entails. It’s important that they’ve spent time considering whether they have the necessary qualities to succeed at the job, from strong communication skills to the ability to remain calm under pressure.

These days, dispatchers use much more than a telephone to fulfill their job responsibilities. They often rely on sophisticated dispatching software to work as fast as possible and gather information with greater ease. While the candidate can learn how to use dispatching software on the job, it’s important that they have experience learning new computer programs and can do so quickly.

Dispatchers often receive calls from people they can’t understand, whether due to a language barrier or a faulty telephone connection. While this situation is challenging, the dispatcher should know not to simply hang up. You want a candidate who will confront this situation with resilience and determination to find a solution.

Across numerous industries, dispatchers are the first people to be notified when there’s an emergency. 911 dispatchers are in charge of sending first responders to the scene, while bus dispatchers may need to send out additional drivers due to an accident or road closure. It’s important that the candidate can remain calm during crises to capture all the information they need and to follow protocol.

Dispatchers will likely have night shifts when they’re working without a full staff, or time-sensitive emergencies when they won’t have time to run their decisions by a supervisor first. An ideal candidate will have strong decision-making skills, and be able to trust their instincts in unfamiliar situations.

At the other end of a dispatcher’s phone calls are often distressed people, whether a school administrator frustrated that a certain bus hasn’t arrived to take students home or a person who’s experiencing a house fire. Dispatchers need to have the interpersonal skills necessary to calm people down in order to get enough information to dispatch their services.

Dispatchers have a stressful job. While they need to be skilled at calming others down, they also need to be able to ease their own nerves in tense situations. It’s important that the candidate has an array of self-care practices and calming techniques in their back pocket for when the stress of the job becomes particularly intense.

Dispatchers can have a queue of calls waiting for them at any given moment. They may also have to place a caller on hold while they are contacting their team’s services for dispatching or when returning to a more pressing call. Because of multitasking and moving at a fast pace, the candidate should be able to keep a lot of information organized.

As the candidate advances in their career, they may find themself training other new hires or even supervising a team of several people. A stellar candidate with potential for promotion will understand what makes an effective leader and know how to be patient, communicate effectively, and trust and respect their direct reports.