Communications Officer Hiring Process

Communications Officer Written Test

If your application is in good standing with all documentation in place, you will be contacted with your testing date/time. DO NOT BE LATE!  Applicants who are late for the testing will NOT be permitted to test. Applicants not meeting the eligibility or failing to complete the application correctly, including required documentation will not be permitted to test. Picture ID will be verified before testing. This part of the process usually lasts two hours.

Applicants will take the National Dispatcher Selection Test. This test has five sections:

  1. Reading Comprehension – Tests a candidate’s ability to understand written words, as well as the ideas and concepts associated with them. The test consists of a number of short paragraphs and the information needed to answer the questions is contained in those paragraphs. In some instances you will need to draw a conclusion based on the information given. There are 20 questions in this section and you will have 20 minutes to complete it.
  2. Listening – Measures how well you understand and remember what you hear. This section consists of a number of simulated conversations between dispatcher/call-takers and callers. There are a total of four listening passages and a total of 20 questions. Applicants have four minutes to answer the questions associated with each passage.
  3. Problem Solving – There are two types of Problem Solving types:
    • You are presented with a brief scenario and asked to reach the most logical conclusion based on the information presented. The scenarios will reflect the types of calls received on a daily basis by communication officers.
    • You task is to assign patrol units to emergency and non-emergency calls, subject to a set of rules. These rules outline priorities and constraints that must be used to make your assignments.
    • Prioritizing – In this section, applicants will be presented with sets of calls that are received simultaneously and have varying degrees of priority. The task will be to determine the priority of the calls and rank them by priority based on the priorities provided in the test.
    • Multi-Tasking – During this portion of the test you will be working on two different tasks at the same time.
      1. You will be checking the information provided in two columns to determine if they are an exact match, including: spacing, capitalization and spelling.
      2. You will also be provided with a list of names sorted from A to Z by last name. The names will be read out at various intervals. You will be asked to mark any names that are called out during this portion of the testing. The names will be read out while you are checking the data in columns 1 and 2 and will require you to pause checking the columns to mark the name that is read.

Typing Test

A five minute typing test is required for this position.   Although there are no set requirements, accuracy is crucial for this position.

Interviews

Interviews will begin on the afternoon of the testing process and continue the next day and each subsequent day until all interviews are complete. Generally, the interview panel is made up of one Human Resource representative and four Support Services employees ranging from the rank of Captain to Communications Officer. The Myrtle Beach Police Department will attempt to interview out-of-state applicants during the first day(s) of the process; however, we cannot promise that this will happen in all processes due to the number of applicants.  Interview times cannot be scheduled prior to the completion of the testing process; if an applicant fails the test, they will not move on to the next stage of the interview process.

Background Investigation

After the interview process, the department will begin the background investigation on the qualified applicants.  The Background Investigation process can take up to four weeks, or longer, depending on the number of applicants.

  • The background investigation consists of going over your applications and questionnaire to ensure honesty and accuracy. It is important for an applicant to be honest in completing each document. Any attempt to hide or falsely make any statements on the documents may result in being disqualified from the process.
  • Employer and Social references are contacted and questioned on your qualifications. (It is important that all phone numbers and email addresses are up-to-date on your applications. Failure to have up-to-date information, may result in being disqualified from the process)
  • Friends, family, and neighbors are contacted and questioned on your qualifications. It is important to include phone numbers and email addresses for these references and to let them know that you have given their name as a reference.
  • Criminal History, Drivers History, Complete Credit Report, Military History, High School/GED certification, College Certification are all examined for authenticity
  • Once the background is completed, applications will be sent to the Command Staff for review.
  • Following the Command Staff review all process documents, decisions will be made on who will receive a conditional job offer

Conditional Offer

  • A conditional offer is made pending the outcome of a medical exam.
  • If an applicant receives a conditional offer for any police department position, he/she must schedule a date to complete
  • A physical exam with the medical facility contracted by the City of Myrtle Beach
  • Upon passing the exam, Human Resources will provide a hire date.

The entire process will require two visits to Myrtle Beach:

  1. Written Exam, Typing Test and Interview
  2. Physical Exam (To be determined)

SCCJA

The new officer will attend a two week training course at SCCJA.

For additional information on the SCCJA, please visit http://www.sccja.org

For current Police Department job postings, details and application instructions, click below:

CITY OF MYRTLE BEACH JOB OPPORTUNITIES