PST Store
DST: Study Guide (for Dispatcher Applicants)
***These are downloadable products. You can retrieve them from the "My Downloadable Products" menu in your account after purchase. No physical copy will be mailed. This product is non-refundable.***
The purpose of this guide is to enable you to efficiently and effectively prepare to participate in the administration of the DST™, a state-of-the-art test, to identify those individuals who will excel in dispatcher careers. The DST™ will be a critical hurdle in the pathway toward achieving an employment opportunity as a dispatcher. This guide seeks to provide critical information about the DST™ that will allow you to prepare for the test-taking experience, hone your cognitive skills, minimize test-related anxiety and ultimately perform at your peak level.
Dispatcher examinations can vary greatly in form and composition; therefore, we encourage you to be discerning about any other resources you may use to prepare for the DST™. This guide was created specifically for the DST™ by the publisher of the DST™. No other source of information will be as informative or accurate concerning the content and construction of the DST™.
Table of Contents:
1. Preparing for a Dispatcher Career
2. What Does the DST Measure?
3. How is the DST Scored?
4. Rules Governing the Testing Process
5. Test Preparation
6. Example Cognitive Ability Questions
7. Diagnostic Cognitive Ability Questions
8. Orally Presented Questions
9. Before the Test
10. Answer Key
Use/Purchase Agreement
This Preparation Guide is intended solely for use by candidates/applicants who are preparing to participate in a testing process for a municipal, county, state or federal agency that will administer the Dispatcher Selection Tool™, herein referred to as the DST™, as part of its testing and selection process.
This Preparation Guide is intended for distribution ONLY to candidates/applicants as described above or to approved representatives of municipal, county, state or federal agencies in conjunction with the administration of an agency-approved testing process. Distribution to any outside parties is expressly forbidden.
Any use of this Preparation Guide for purposes other than those stated herein is expressly prohibited. This Preparation Guide contains copyrighted and trademarked content. The alteration, reproduction or distribution of this content through physical or electronic mediums is expressly prohibited. Violators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
You may download this product 5 times.
COVID-19 UPDATES
5/6/2020 Update:
TESTING IN WASHINGTON STATE CANCELED THROUGH MAY 31, 2020
All pre-employment tests in Washington State have been canceled until May 31, 2020 unless government restrictions are eased. With recent updates, facility closures, and government guidelines, this step is necessary and could be modified at any time. The health and safety of our customers, our staff, and their families is of the highest priority.
We will continue to evaluate developments and make changes to this policy as necessary. When we do resume testing, there will be plenty of events for everyone to test. We are in regular communication with our public safety agency partners, assessing alternatives to the traditional testing model and our testing policies. Any future updates will be posted on the PST website and our Facebook page.
4/1/2020 Update:
If you have tested with PST in the past 12 months, there may be additional positions you are now eligible to add. Several departments have temporarily changed their testing policies due to the suspension in testing that COVID-19 has caused. Please login to your PST account and navigate to the ‘New Positions’ page to see what departments you can add! We will regularly update that page in your account as departments send updates.
FUTURE TEST REGISTRATION
We know that there will be testing in the future - we just don’t know when! We want you to be prepared for when testing begins again so we have created test events on our calendar that you can register for that will place you in a queue to be first notified. These tests are not “real” test events, they are essentially a holding area. You will be able to “reschedule” out of that event to any other event date/location at no cost. Registering now will also give you time to work on your Personal History Statement (PHS) so that your data will be ready and up-to-date to send to your departments once testing resumes.
To sign up for this placeholder event, select the June 15, 2020 test date in your category (police, fire, 911 dispatch, corrections, etc.).
You may also click on the test event of interest below to sign up:
Law Enforcement & Corrections Written and Physical Ability Test
Please check back here frequently and ‘Like’ our Facebook page to stay updated.
PST staff are working remotely and are available by email at contact@publicsafetytesting.com. We anticipate a high email volume and will respond as quickly as possible.
