The Test

I just returned from taking the preliminary exam for the dispatch position I'm trying to get and it seems like the only real qualification for this job is that you be breathing and can spell most of your name correctly 80% of the time. I'm not sure if having prior dispatching experience will help or not when I get to the oral interview phase, but it certainly didn't matter a hoot for the written civil service exam. There were 60 questions on this test; half were vocabulary and the other half were math. Some of the vocabulary words were "vacant", "repair" and "rapidly." The math had some basic addition/subtraction questions and the inevitable "Bob is travelling on a train headed west at 60mph...", but overall it wasn't too bad. If I'm one of the top 30 scorers on the test I will advance to the oral part and if offered a position I'll have to get a CDL license. The license is apparantly a requirement for anyone working in the roads department whether or not you actually drive equipment or not. I guess they figure that in case of a major snow crisis they'll need every able-bodied dispatcher out there plowing the roads. I'm sure it'll be a comfort for them to know that I haven't seen snow in over 10 years. Perhaps I won't mention that in the interview.