Finding a dental assisting position

[firstcitizen]

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I was planning on working at the dental clinic over at the medical campus at my school, but they're pretty packed with pre-dentistry students enough as it is.

Should I go around and calling up random numbers from the directory, or should I walk around with my resume in hand and ask in person?

 

[Flipper405]

I was just talking to my pre-dental advisor about this... she recommended calling dental offices that are nearby, but to NOT ask to speak to the dentist at that point. Just see if there's a time when the dentist could call back, so you can talk to him or her about potentially assisting/shadowing/whatever.

 

[Tygerm9]

I tried this at the beginning of the summer and I would recommend going around to the offices and just ask the person working at the front desk if they have any openings. Bring your resume with you so they can keep it on file if a position opens up in the future. The bad news is, I visited over 20 dental offices and did not find one job! I don't think there is much of a shortage for assistants, but I think it is worth a try because it only takes that one dentist who does need someone. Good luck and be prepared to visit a lot of offices

 

[mestizo212]

do you need to go to school to be a dental assistant? or can you just go in there and get trained?

 

[firstcitizen]

I tried this at the beginning of the summer and I would recommend going around to the offices and just ask the person working at the front desk if they have any openings. Bring your resume with you so they can keep it on file if a position opens up in the future. The bad news is, I visited over 20 dental offices and did not find one job! I don't think there is much of a shortage for assistants, but I think it is worth a try because it only takes that one dentist who does need someone. Good luck and be prepared to visit a lot of offices

This seems really time consuming, so I was going to opt for giving them a call and resort to faxing them my resume if they request it, but it would probably be better for me to go check with the office in person.

Did you eventually find a position this summer?

 

[Flipper405]

do you need to go to school to be a dental assistant? or can you just go in there and get trained?

I was told this depends on the state. The example states were for Utah, you need training, and in Georgia, you don't. I think generally for the ones that don't, the dentist will train you him/herself.

 

[Tygerm9]

No, I did not end up finding an assisting position this summer. I called about 12 places and had very little luck (most just said no and didn't give much thought to it). Then I decided to visit offices in person (~20) and most of the people were very nice, they took my resume and said they would let me know if any positions opened up. The only problem was that out of all the places I called and visited (20+) not one had an assisting position open. But like I said earlier, it only takes one office to have an opening and I know pre-dents have done it in the past, so you might just get lucky enough to find one. Good luck

 

[firstcitizen]

No, I did not end up finding an assisting position this summer. I called about 12 places and had very little luck (most just said no and didn't give much thought to it). Then I decided to visit offices in person (~20) and most of the people were very nice, they took my resume and said they would let me know if any positions opened up. The only problem was that out of all the places I called and visited (20+) not one had an assisting position open. But like I said earlier, it only takes one office to have an opening and I know pre-dents have done it in the past, so you might just get lucky enough to find one. Good luck

Did you mention that you were at least willing to come in and shadow? If I don't have much luck with finding a da position, then I'm going to just go around shadowing at different practices.

 

[Tygerm9]

At some offices the dentist was nice enough to come out and talk to me and I found that even though they did not have any positions available, most of them were very willing to let you shadow. I think that would be a good way to get shadowing experience if you aren't able to find an assisting position. And you never know, if the dentist knows you want a job they may offer you one after you've shadowed for some time and they get to know you better.

 

[firstcitizen]

At some offices the dentist was nice enough to come out and talk to me and I found that even though they did not have any positions available, most of them were very willing to let you shadow. I think that would be a good way to get shadowing experience if you aren't able to find an assisting position. And you never know, if the dentist knows you want a job they may offer you one after you've shadowed for some time and they get to know you better.

Yeah, I guess if worst comes to worst, I'll just do some shadowing even though I prefer to participate by being more hands on.

Did you quit looking or are you still looking around. I'm going to ask around places that are further away from my school, since a lot of pre-dentistry students at my school are working within close proximity to campus.