!!!help Asap!!!!

[TX Kid]

I need help from anyone who has been through an oral board interview. I have mine tomorrow morning for dispatcher at city hall and i need someone with aol instant messenger to hit me up at justin851025 ASAP so that i can get any help that i can as soon as possible. I was made aware of the fact that I have my interview tomorrow morning and I am desperately trying to get ready for it. Anyone who has any pertinant information would be greatly appreciated if you could IM me as soon as possible. Thanks in advance for all of your help.

Justin

[AnthonyM83]

All I can say is, relax. Follow your normal morning routine. If you usually drink coffee, drink it. If not, it's not the time to start.

Where a suit so they know you plan on acting like a professional.

Keep your hands visible, but if you're going to be fidgety, just put them on your lap.

Take a moment to think about and answer each question. No rushed answers. Don't lie.

Do some practice questions at home. Why you're qualified. Why you want the job. What to say if they say, "So, tell us about yourself."

Get good sleep

[TX Kid]

well i have been through the hell, and i think i failed. i did good on everything except for some of the situational part... the questions were not too detailed, and when i asked for an elaboration on the situation, i just got "that is the situation", i would ask if the person on the phone sounded panicked, or if they gave descriptions so i could take the next steps to rectify the situation, and this guy would be like "the officer just stated the situation"

[Stump]

Sorry, TX kid. I didn't see your post until just now. If you still want advice, I'd be more than happy to give you some from my perspective.

[TX Kid]

Any help would be greatly appreciated b/c i won't give up just because i am not sure if i passed the oral board or not, even if i have to re apply later on down the road. If nothing else this was a learning experience.

[nealopp]

I wouldn't worry too much. I knew for sure I failed my dispatch oral board, but it turns out I didn't, and I'm now on the eligibility list.

[mcsap]

ALmost everybody thinks they have failed the oral because they don't know what to expect. They don't expect you to respond as though you are a seasoned officer but do expect answers that use common sense and logic.

[Stump]

Really, mcsap? I didn't think I did. I had really no clue as to what they were going to do, but I remember the letter (probably still have it around here somewhere - I am such a packrat!) that invited me to the interview. It told me that "now is the time to really sell yourself". It was in a group setting, so I was with about 10 others. I remember thinking "Gee, I may be talking myself up too much... nah, this is what they want to hear!" I used words, phrases, and general ideas of what I thought they would want to know my strong points are. Ex: organization - I am extremely organized, even if sometimes it is what I call "organized chaos". Multi-tasker is a great buzz word for dispatchers. I made sure I mentioned that word when I described my (then) current job, because that is the #1 skill for a dispatcher. It must have worked - I scored #1 on everything out of 400 or so.
The other thing I suggest - strongly - is to do a sit-a-long. You can go sit with different dispatchers/phone operators/ems dispatchers and see the job firsthand. You won't be able to DO anything but observe, but it was the key factor to me knowing what the job entailed before my interview.