A little under 10 years ago I stumbled into emergency dispatching, and I mean it when I say
“stumbled”. I had just moved back home to eastern Nebraska from living in Memphis for a couple years and was on the job hunt. I read the job description and knew the position worked with law enforcement and sounded interesting, but that was the extent of my thoughts about it. It wasn’t until I walked into the interview and saw the center that it clicked, “oh it’s dispatch!” After the all too common, way too long, hiring process, I was offered the position and began my career. I did try to escape once, about a year in, thinking that I wanted to make a little more money and save the babies working in child protective services…after 10 months I ran back to dispatch like an ex I was so sure I’d put in the past, but then realized I really wanted back.
Fast forward to now, almost 10 years, 3 agencies, and so many other experiences later and I’m so glad I went back. It’s been a journey of learning, some adversity, and growth. I made some significant mistakes in how I handled certain situations, treated coworkers, and approached some opportunities and it’s been far from a perfect career so far, but without these experiences I don’t think I ever would have gotten here.
So where is here?
Here, is being on the precipice of what I hope to be my greatest experience yet, running my own training and consulting business and continuing to have the privilege to make a positive impact on the dispatch industry. I’m not going to say, “I’m often asked”, because honestly, it’s not that often, but I can say I have been asked on more than one occasion how I got to this point in my career. As some may know, I love a good handout and things in a orderly and linear fashion, so I wish I could provide those who ask with one clearly outlining the steps I took and how you can do it too…but just like most things in life it’s been a hodge podge of DIY’ing my career and taking what I think was the next step to move me closer to my goals that can’t be summed up in a simple timeline. So here are five of the things that I think did help me get here. These are not meant to be a checklist or anything that if you do them you’ll be guaranteed success, but instead just some insight from my own experience that may be helpful for you.
1. Don’t wait for anyone else.
Often, I see those, especially in dispatch, waiting for their agency to pay, support, and/or give them permission to take the steps in their career. Stop that. While there are many supportive centers who do so much for their employees, it’s on us as individuals to work on our goals. No one is going to or should be working as hard for you, as you. While in CPS I had to learn that no matter how much I wanted children to be reunited with their parents, I couldn’t be working harder to help the parents reunite with them than the parents themselves were working. Your agency can do all the things, but if you’re not working as much or more on your own goals, you’ll never get there.
Along with this, when I say don’t wait for anyone else, I also mean, don’t wait for permission. A couple years into my dispatch career, I saw what I thought was a gap in the availability of online dispatch training, so I created some. I had amazingly supportive people around me which made a world of difference, but I never waited for someone to say yes, you can do that. I just researched the how and did it. Had I waited for someone to give me what I felt was permission, I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this and would probably be in a completely different spot in my life. (Also, if you went through that training, please forgive me, I did the best I could with what I knew at the time. Oh man have I come along way.)
2. Be willing to figure it out.
I like to consider myself one of those “it’s fine, I’ll figure it out” type people. Don’t know how to create online training? It’s fine, I’ll research it. Don’t know how to do that thing in CAD? It’s fine, I’ll ask someone. We must be willing to put in the time to learn about the things we want to be successful in. Don’t know something? Don’t just accept it or just wait for someone around you to figure it out. Find an answer! It’s usually through looking for one answer I’ve come across other information that I didn’t know I would need, but often down the road, I did.
3. Get specific.
Working in centers where you were what I like to call, a “one stop shop” meaning the same person often took the call, dispatched it, entered the warrants, and more, I’ve learned that there are so many facets of dispatch to be covered. I’ve also learned it is not practical to try to know everything about everything. If you are looking to branch out and instruct or train at many different centers, take the time to decide what topic or few topics you’re really interested in. From there you can get more focused in your learning and develop a space for yourself as subject matter expert in that topic.
4. Take the risks
One of the most common reasons I get asked how I got to this place (okay it’s been like 4 times, but it counts) is because people are interested in speaking. Again, I can’t give you a easy checklist on how to create a speaking career, but what I can tell you is that you have to be willing to put yourself out there and take the risks. (And please believe me when I say this is coming from a huge introvert who doesn’t even order from restaurants if it can’t be done through an app with no human contact. I’d have my mom still make my doctor’s appointments if I could.) Submit to conferences, go to networking events, reach out to the connection on LinkedIn doing things you’re interested in. Do what you think will help you develop your skills and give you the opportunity to practice your craft. I’ve been completely annihilated in some post session surveys, and it sucked! But it’s also a huge learning opportunity to do better next time. (After you’re done crying of course.)
5. Learn all the things.
I know not everyone is as big of a nerd as I am and adds a new book to their Amazon cart every other day, but I can’t emphasize how important continuous learning is when you’re trying to further your career and take on new roles. There are always changes happening, whether that’s within the industry with dispatch best practices and processes or in the greater working world. Staying up to date on these things is critical because if you never have anything new to say, people will eventually stop listening. It also increases credibility and your impact when you show that you’re on top of continuing your learning and development.
As I mentioned, these steps won’t help you create a detailed plan of what you want to do, but a plan like that isn’t really what you need anyway. I believe in setting your general overarching goals and then being willing to adjust the plan as opportunities and obstacles arise. It’s never a neat, linear path getting to where we want to be, but in my experience without these opportunities and obstacles I didn’t and couldn’t plan for, I never would’ve gotten here.
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