INDUSTRY NEWS
This article can be found on
page 4 of the Mar/Apr 1997
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.
Promotional Piece
There comes a time in many dispatch careers when the specter of promoting rears it's multi-limbed head.
You've put in your time, dispatched all the exciting calls, and now you've decided to plunge into career development and dive headlong into the Excellent Adventure which we fondly call, The Promotional Process.
Just when you thought you were done with tests and interviews and backgrounds and auditions, here comes another barrage, pumping you full of more stress than all the horrible calls you've ever dispatched. I'm too old to feel like an applicant all over again! And, if I make the promotion, I get to relive all the wonderful stuff I swore I'd never endure again - I get to be a trainee all over again. I get to be on probation all over again. Welcome back to the bottom of the seniority list! D'oh!
Despite all of these peculiar stressors, promoting is a very real part of many dispatcher's lives.
Perhaps you're driven to face new challenges, to be involved in your department at a greater level, to Make A Difference. Maybe you just want to be able to keep up with the bills. Whatever the reason, you've made the commitment, you've put in the application, and you're out there under the microscope again.
Now, there's nothing wrong with those dependable dispatchers whose interest in promoting lies somewhere below being eaten by scorpions. They are the backbone of our organization. In the long run they may well consume less Maalox than those of us who have grabbed the rungs by both hands and heaved ourselves into the nether regions of supervision and found waiting for us, not paradise, but an octopoidal assemblage of responsibilities impossible to disengage from.
What can you do to survive the promotional process?
Be prepared. Pay attention to even the smallest of things. Don't do what I once did and absent-mindedly write down "bananas" as the last name of a former job supervisor (this is entirely true!) Proofread your application, your resume, anything else you are turning in as a True And Reliable Representation Of Your Very Self. Mistakes may come back to embarrass you.
Be prepared. Don't stumble into the interview clueless. Know what questions might be asked and prepare a studied response. Practice your delivery. Be able to present yourself with confidence and a clear understanding behind your responses.
Be prepared. Be familiar with the position requirements and responsibilities. Be aware of the Big Picture and where your department and your job fit in with it.
Promoting is a difficult gauntlet to pass through, but it has mighty rewards for the so-iclined. Be prepared.
