POST Entry Level Dispatcher Exam Preparation – 2025

The POST Entry-Level Dispatcher exam is a popular option, particularly in California, for emergency dispatchers. It is a longer test and covers a variety of aptitudes to ensure that the candidate chosen for the job is the best fit for the position.

What Is the POST Entry Level Dispatcher Exam?

The POST entry-level dispatcher exam is a test for emergency dispatchers that assesses verbal ability, reasoning, memory, and perceptual skills in candidates. The test is broken down into eleven individual exams that assess those four primary aptitudes. The timing on the test is around two-and-a-half to three hours, which includes time for reviewing directions and a short break.

What to Expect on a POST Entry Level Dispatcher Test?

As mentioned above, the POST entry level dispatcher exam is broken down into eleven individual exams. Each of these exams has their own timing, number of questions, difficulty, and focus.

The easiest way to understand what to expect out of the POST exam is to go through the exams individually. These are broken down below with the exam title, details on what it involves, and the time limit constraining the test. Review these carefully as they are the best explanation for what to expect on the test.

• Public Safety Bulletin: Candidates are given three minutes to study a “shift bulletin” and are then asked a series of questions about the details and facts given on the bulletin. This test has fifteen questions that should be completed in six minutes.
• Assigning Field Units: Applicants should read the set of rules governing the assignment then go over hypothetical incidences as they are provided in order to determine which field unit to assign. This test has twenty questions and a time limit of five minutes.
• Evaluating Facts: Again, job-seekers and graduates will read a set of rules. These will be followed by conclusive statements, which test-takers must label true or false based on the given rules. There are fifteen questions, and the test is timed at five minutes.
• Setting Priorities: Read the rules containing priority codes. Then determine which codes and statements match in the sets of questions. This test is comprised of fifteen sets of forty-five questions and must be completed in ten minutes.
• Reading Comprehension: Read a passage and recall details or form conclusions based upon it. This one is much like most reading comprehension assessments. There are twenty questions, and the test is to be completed in fifteen minutes.
• Recalling Facts & Details: Answer questions based on memory recollection of the information provided in an audio excerpt. This test is an audio test with eighteen questions and a time limit of nine minutes.
• Call-Taking: Listen to an audiotape simulation of an emergency call before answering questions that require applicants to recall details, summarize, and analyze or draw conclusions. The test is audio in format with twenty-five questions and a time cap of seventeen minutes.
• Oral Directions: Listen to a simulated radio call from a police officer while taking notes. Using those notes, applicants then answer questions about which actions are to be taken, the sequence of required tasks, and then respond to questions about various details and conclusions. Another audio test, this one has seventeen questions and allows fourteen minutes for completion.
• Checking Coded Information: Listen to an audiotape with letter and number codes. Using a provided “Code Sheet” applicants must select the answer containing the audio code. The speed of the audio does increase through the duration of the exam. There are sixty audio questions to be answered in fourteen minutes.
• Checking & Listening: Perform two tasks simultaneously and compare the data with information given on a “Hot Sheet”.

The test is typically multiple-choice, but the time limits can make the test difficult, so preparation is key to success.

Scoring

The individual tests are scored based on the number of correct answers minus a fraction of the number of wrong answers. These scores are then added together and compared with the average score of other candidates in the region. A higher-than-average score is important for gaining positions as emergency dispatchers, especially in locations where this is the preferred test.

How to Prepare for a POST Entry Level Dispatcher Exam?

Preparation for the POST entry level dispatcher exam is much like preparation for any emergency dispatcher assessment. However, the time allotments and sheer volume of questions can make this a fairly challenging assessment for those who have not spent enough time working on their speed. This makes honing your accuracy and your speed essential to passing these exams.

If there is an area, or several areas, in the key aptitudes they test for, you ought to be focusing your practice on increasing your speed and accuracy in those areas.

If there is no one area where you struggle in the four aptitudes, then spend your preparation time improving memory recall, speed, data-entry, and listening skills. All of these are heavily tested in the eleven sections, and improving them will give you a boost that may be much needed for the POST assessment.

While taking the practice exams, note down any areas where you are struggling and make sure you come back to them until you are confident in your ability to do well on those portions of the POST exam. If you do not feel confident yet and there is more time to practice, then use the time wisely and make sure you are certain of your ability in that area.

Conclusion

Although the POST Dispatcher selection test battery may seem daunting, knowing what to expect on a dispatcher test will help you to focus your practice and preparation time such that you can do well not just on a dispatcher practice test but on the real thing. And once you have done the studying and practicing and feel confident, do not allow the fast pace of the test to unnerve you. If you have prepared appropriately, you will do fine.