Dispatcher Resume Examples and Tips
Highlight your skills in an effective dispatcher resume. Use these tips and dispatcher resume examples to land your dream job.
Highlight your skills in an effective dispatcher resume. Use these tips and dispatcher resume examples to land your dream job.
A dispatcher answers and responds to any emergency and non-emergency calls to provide assistance or important information to different departments, often for emergency services. It’s their responsibility to retrieve information quickly, coordinate responses and maintain call logs. They need to be experts in prioritizing and organizing team activities.
This role requires multitasking and problem-solving skills, and the perfect resume will communicate this to the hiring manager to show that you can perform the role’s duties.
Create your resumeHiring managers want you to show you can manage many tasks simultaneously. Depending on the role, you may need to show evidence of decision-making in emergency situations. Or you may need to focus on your customer service skills and your ability to address customer needs. Whatever the role, the best resume will demonstrate that you have the interpersonal skills and communication skills necessary for a dispatcher job.
The main resume formats are the chronological format which emphasizes work history. The functionalformat, which emphasizes skills, and the combination format, which emphasizes both. Depending on what your strengths are, choose the format which emphasizes them by putting that section first. No matter the resume format, most resumes will have the following sections:
Your header always sits at the top of your resume. This is where you’ll feature your contact information including your name, phone number, location and email address. That way, a recruiter can easily reach out to you for the next stage of the hiring process. It’s also good to feature links to your job networking profiles such as LinkedIn, to provide further information about yourself to the recruiter.
Your resume summary or resume objective is a short paragraph detailing your career background. It should be clear and concise to share your highlights – but not longer than three sentences. Alternatively, if you lack relevant work experience, you can opt for a resume objective. This is slightly different because it details your career goals and ambitions instead of experience. This is good if you want to show that your career aims align with your potential employer. Check out our tips for writing a clear resume objective.
Your skills section is your opportunity to list hard and soft skills that will help you in your future role. If the role is an emergency dispatcher, you need to convey that you can deal with emergency responses in short time frames under extreme pressure to aid first responders and prioritize public safety. Dispatchers typically use a computer-aided dispatch system, so you should include skills that show you have the competencies needed to use the equipment. Remember to look in the job description for the specifics of the role – and use this to guide what you list in your skills section. Here are some of the skills that hiring managers are looking for:
Be sure to list your skills in bullet points on your resume to keep them concise.
Your work experience section is your chance to display your previous relevant dispatch experience. List your previous jobs and highlight the duties you were responsible for. Remember, the aim is to pinpoint your relevant experience. This could be:
The point here is that you don’t necessarily need years of experience to apply for the job title advertised. The key is to share any relevant experience that you do have and help make the connection for the recruiter.
Typically, you only need a high school diploma plus some on-the-job training to be a dispatcher. However, certification requirements for a dispatcher position vary by state. You may even need EMS certification in some states. Emergency personnel dispatchers may also need a bachelor’s degree with a specific focus – in criminal justice or another related field.
Create your resumeHere are some general guidelines for your dispatcher resume:
Do’s:
Don’t
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Absolutely! You should always write a cover letter to accompany your resume. The cover letter allows you to add a personal touch to your application as you expand on some of the finer details of your resume. This can include your best skills and measurable achievements in the industry.
Generally speaking, you should keep to a one-page resume format for a dispatcher role. This should allow you to share enough information in a concise, professional format. There are many dispatcher resume templates available online to help you do this.
While the role of a dispatcher may vary, the essential elements of the job will be similar. A dispatcher needs to answer the phones, listen to callers, coordinate with team members, follow up if required and ensure the smooth running of whatever work situation they are in. As a result, dispatchers need to have excellent communication skills, organizational skills and the ability to work well under pressure.
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