Emergency Services Dispatcher I

Introduction

THIS IS A NEW CONTINUOUS EXAMINATION. The eligible list resulting from this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year but can be extended.

The upcoming filing deadlines for the 2025 testing cycle are as follows:

• Tuesday, January 7, 2025
• Tuesday, May 6, 2025
• Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Applications must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Applications will only be accepted online. Applications received after the filing deadline will be considered for the next testing cycle.

If you have previously applied or started an application for the Emergency Services Dispatcher I, Examination #23-1882-01 , please contact the examination analyst, Elaine Lemi, at elaine.lemi@acgov.org to reapply. In order to reapply, you must contact the analyst to have your previous application released back to you. DO NOT SUBMIT A DUPLICATE APPLICATION. The scores and dispositions of candidates for this examination will be merged with previous exam participants. If you previously submitted an application and choose to reapply, your new score/disposition will replace your current disposition. If you do not wish to change your score/disposition, you are not required to reapply to this examination. Candidates who received a qualifying score cannot participate in the examination within six (6) months of their disposition notice. Candidates who did not qualify may reapply sixty (60) days from their disposition notice. Candidates who failed any of the exam components (i.e., written, oral exam), may reapply sixty (60) days from the exam date. *

DESCRIPTION

ABOUT THE ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is a full-service law enforcement agency accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) for its law enforcement services, its Regional Training Center, and its Dispatch Unit; the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board for its Crime Lab; the Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board for its Explosive Ordinance Unit. Additionally, the agency's health care provider, Wellpath, has experience working with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC).

The Sheriff's Office has a currentbudget of approximately $600 million and has over 1700 authorized positions, including in excess of 1000 sworn personnel. The agency's Chief Executive Officer is Sheriff / Coroner Yesenia L. Sanchez, who is assisted in the operation of the agency by Undersheriff April Luckett-Fahimi, Assistant Sheriffs Emmanuel Christy and Daniel McNaughton.

The Sheriff of Alameda County is responsible for a vast array of tasks and duties, including the following:

• Providing security to the Consolidated Superior Courts
  
• Operating the Coroner’s Bureau
  
• Operating a full-service criminalistics laboratory
  
• Performing Civil Process
  
• Operating the County Jail (Santa Rita)
  
• Operating the County Office of Emergency Services
  
• Providing patrol and investigative services to the unincorporated areas of Alameda County
  
• Pursuant to contractual agreements, providing patrol and investigative services to the City of Dublin,Oakland International Airport, Highland County Hospital, Social Services, and to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
  
• Conducting a basic academy pursuant to Police Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) requirements. [ Sheriff's Academy website ]
  
• Providing Fish and Game enforcement
  
• Project Director of the Narcotics Task Force
  
• Serving as the Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force
  

For more detailed information about the agency, visit: Alameda County's Sheriff's Office.

THE POSITION

Under close supervision, to receive training in public safety, emergency compliant taking and radio dispatching methods and techniques; to dispatch personnel and equipment for one or more public safety operations, including Sheriff's Patrol, Fire, Medical, Animal Control Services and Local Government; and to perform related work as required.

This is an entry-level classification in the Dispatcher series which is flexibly staffed to the class of Emergency Services Dispatcher II. Emergency Services Dispatchers I work in the Sheriff's Office Emergency Services Dispatch Center and receive on-the-job training. After satisfactory completion of the training period, employees are expected to qualify for appointment to the next higher class of Emergency Services Dispatcher II.

For more detailed information about the job classification, visit: Emergency Services Dispatcher I (#1882).

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Either I

Experience:

The equivalent of six months of experience in the class of Clerk II or an equivalent or higher level class in the Alameda County classified service. (Non-classified includes District Attorney’s Office, Hospital Authority, and the Consolidated Courts.) (Experience must have included public contact.)

Or II

Experience:

The equivalent of six months of general clerical experience that involved public contact and completion of a public safety dispatch training course from an accredited school.

Or III

The equivalent of six months of general dispatching experience (such as ambulance, service vehicles, etc.).

Or IV

The equivalent of one year of general clerical experience that involved public contact.

Special Requirements:

1. Hearing must be normal in each ear.
2. Ability to type 40 words per minute.
3. A thorough background investigation will be made of all prospective candidates including a psychological exam.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies:

Knowledge of:
• The highways, main streets, major buildings and geography of Alameda County.
• Simple record keeping.

Ability to:
• Read, write and alphabetize.
• Follow written and oral instructions.
• Retain oral information.
• Learn the operation of two-way radio and telephone communications equipment.
• Speak clearly and concisely in a well-modulated voice.
• Learn to dispatch public safety equipment in an effective manner.
• Deal tactfully with the public.
• React with sound judgment under stress and emergency situations while doing several tasks simultaneously.
• Learn statutes, rules and regulations applicable to communications.
• Learn to operate electronic data terminals.
• Listen and clarify incoming calls to extract pertinent information.
• Write detailed reports.
• Condense a message into a clear written passage.

EXAMINATION COMPONENTS

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

1) A review of applications to verity possession of minimum requirements. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications for the class will move onto the next examination component.

2) Applicants that meet the minimum qualifications for the position will be invited to take aperformance examination which is includes a typing test and the CritiCall test. CritiCall is a software that tests job-related knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies critical for public safety dispatchers. The following are some of the areas CritiCall will assess (please note, the following is just an example of areas CritiCall tests for and is not necessarily the components candidates will be tested on): reasoning, stress tolerance, decision making & judgment, multitasking, prioritization, map reading, memory recall, comprehension, probability, data entry and decision-making. For more information regarding the CritiCall test, applicants may visit their website at: https://criticall911.com/dispatcher-testing/applicants/ . Applicants who pass the CritiCall test will be invited to the oral examination.

3) The oral examination will be weighted as 100% of the applicant's final score. Applicants who pass the oral examination will be placed on a list of candidates that are eligible to be referred to a background investigation, the final step in the examination process.

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION.
We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components.

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the "What You Need To Know" section of our website: www.acgov.org/hrs .

Selection Plan

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN

Deadline for Filing:

Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at 5:00 PM*

Review of Applications for Minimum Qualifications:

*Wednesday, January 15, 2025*

Typing Test and CritiCall Performance Exam:

Friday, January 17, 2025 -

Monday, January 27, 2025, 2:00 PM*

Oral Examination:

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 &

Thursday, February 20, 2025*

*Updated 11/6/2024

*WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN*

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing . Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs .

BENEFITS

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall wellbeing. These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

• Medical - HMO & PPO Plans
• Dental - HMO & PPO Plans
• Vision or Vision Reimbursement
• Share the Savings
• Basic Life Insurance
• Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees)
• County Allowance Credit
• Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
• Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

• Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
• Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

• 12 paid holidays
• Floating Holidays
• Vacation and sick leave accrual
• Vacation purchase program
• Catastrophic Sick Leave
• Pet Insurance
• Commuter Benefits Program
• Guaranteed Ride Home
• Employee Wellness Program (e.g., At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
• Employee Discount Program (e.g., theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
• Childcare Resources
• 1 st United Services Credit Union

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement. This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

Conclusion

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @jobaps.com, @acgov.org and Noreply@jobaps.com as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page and clicking on the link 'last notice sent' for the respective recruitment.

Please take the steps recommended above to ensure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box Noreply@jobaps.com are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied.

Elaine Lemi | Human Resources Analyst
Human Resource Services, County of Alameda
(510) 272-6434 | elaine.lemi@acgov.org

DISASTER SERVICE WORKER
All Alameda County employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law. Employment with the County requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to report to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is representative of the communities we serve and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in employment on the basis of, race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming workplace environment.

Closing Date/Time: Continuous

• 

• County of Alameda

Show more