To land the high-stress job, candidates must pass a background check and two-hour exam, then complete over a year of training and testing before becoming a full-fledged operator at the Gwinnett 911 Center.

Curious about what it takes, I asked for a chance to take the test in Gwinnett, where about 120 operators handle emergency calls from over 1 million residents.

The state’s second-most populated county expects to hire dozens more operators next year to reach a full staff of 145 as Gwinnett continues to grow.

Here’s what I learned about what it takes to be on the other end of a 911 emergency line. Spoiler alert: It’s more than just fielding phone calls.

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

Applying

On a Saturday morning in December, about a dozen applicants, many of whom were young to middle-aged women, sat in a lecture room at Gwinnett’s police training center waiting for a hiring orientation to start.

For some, such as 47-year-old Victoria Reynolds, who recently moved to Atlanta after working for the Oregon State Fire Marshal, and 22-year-old Jadden Tolliver, a former correctional officer, becoming a 911 operator is a way to keep working in law enforcement. Tolliver said she was not able to continue her former job due to a medical illness.

Raemie Fransen, the hiring manager, began orientation by reviewing key details of the job. Pay: begins at $48,460 per year. Dress code: a polo shirt with the 911 insignia and slacks (no tattoos on hands). Background check: required, and you’d best be truthful.

Applicants must complete an “investigation booklet” with information on previous employment, education and addresses as well as any use of illegal drugs and criminal records.

Responses are then compared against a polygraph examination which every candidate must take. Any discrepancies between the candidate’s provided answers and the results from the lie detector test will lead to a lifetime disqualification.

People have been eliminated for lying about drug use and their criminal background, Fransen said.

“We’re not looking for perfect, just honest,” she said.

Testing

After orientation, I was led into a room of computers where I took a two-hour written test, known as the CritiCALL exam.

Much of the test is typing information that is dictated to you — such as a name, phone number, address, driver’s license and license plate — into the correct entry fields in an allotted amount of time.

The program keeps track of your accuracy and keystroke speed, both of which determine whether you pass.

The test then introduces the most stressful part of the exam: emergency questions. They pop up throughout the exam to test your ability to multitask and must be answered within 15 seconds while the test continues as normal. You must quickly read each scenario and determine which agency — police, fire or emergency medical services — to dispatch it to.

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

Other parts of the test include locating a caller on a map based on the description they provide and a personality test with about 80 questions.

I completed the test in about an hour and 15 minutes with a 91% score, a typing speed of 3,600 keystrokes per hour and a “highly recommended” personality.

Gwinnett’s passing score is 65% and 2,500 keystrokes per hour.

The test administrator explained that a “highly recommended” personality is one that can think logically and act calmly under stressful situations.

The county also requires candidates to have a high school or GED diploma and two years of experience in customer service or telecommunications.

My advice for acing the test: Be a fast typer and be familiar with the “tab” button to quickly navigate entry fields.

Training

After passing the CritiCALL test and an oral interview, successful applicants enter an eight-week academy where they study the county’s vast territory, which covers more than 400 square miles. They also learn to navigate the dispatch software and how to deal with crisis, intervention and stress management.

Prophete said the academy includes simulations and discussions to prepare new hires for any scenario.

“We have a role to play and that’s being precise and accurate, and making sure that while that person is on the line with us, we get the important details out of the way before we can show our human side and cater to the emotions, because if we go down that rabbit hole with them, nobody is in control of the situation,” she said.

Then, new hires spend another year to a year and a half taking calls at the 911 center with a training officer.

“This is a job that has a lot of liability, and you can make a mistake easily because there is so much room for error, so we want to make sure our training is precise,” Prophete said.

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

911 centers around the nation have struggled to attract and retain employees, leading to a shortage of trained workers and delays in answer times.

The industry standard requires 90% of calls to be answered within 15 seconds, and 95% of calls to be answered within 20 seconds. Gwinnett County had one of the worst 911 answer time rates in metro Atlanta in 2023, with just 65% of calls picked up within 20 seconds, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation. In Atlanta, only 71% of calls were answered in the same time frame.

But Gwinnett said the figure has improved this year, with 93% of calls answered within 20 seconds for the month of October, according to Gwinnett police spokesperson Collin Flynn.

“There are a lot of factors that account for this statistic, however, the police department is always looking toward new technology or training which can improve call times and response times,” he said.

Prophete agreed: Training is key.

“I compare this training process to a difficult college course,” she said. “You have to be willing to put in the work, put in the effort and maybe you might have to be study at home... That’s the only way we can trust you are going to do what you need to do when you’re on your own.”