How To Find Job After Graduation

[lilly5]

I'm graduating from dental school soon and would like to know how to go about looking for a job. I've sent my resume to dental placement companies but haven't heard back from any of them, maybe because all of the jobs they list need to be filled immediately and not months from now. I'm taking the WREB and am open to getting a job in any of these states. I just want to find a job that has good hours, benefits, and high pay. I've also been thinking about NHSC and IHS. Does anyone have any good experiences with these? If anyone could give me a list of corporate dental companies I could apply to that would be great. I'd also like to know what some of the best states for dentists to live in are right now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[The Hammer]

I'm graduating from dental school soon and would like to know how to go about looking for a job. I've sent my resume to dental placement companies but haven't heard back from any of them, maybe because all of the jobs they list need to be filled immediately and not months from now. I'm taking the WREB and am open to getting a job in any of these states. I just want to find a job that has good hours, benefits, and high pay. I've also been thinking about NHSC and IHS. Does anyone have any good experiences with these? If anyone could give me a list of corporate dental companies I could apply to that would be great. I'd also like to know what some of the best states for dentists to live in are right now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

OK let's talk about getting a job right out of dental school. First off you write "I just want to find a job that has good hours, benefits, and high pay" well good luck with that. Coming right out of dental school you are an unproven entity i.e. you haven't shown that you can be profitable in private practice. It's nothing personal, everyone coming out of dental school can't prove that they can be profitable. The problem is if you want the things that you have listed your employers want to be sure that you will be worth the money that they pay you. So what to do? You have two choices:

1. Work for less money than you would prefer for a year and then when you have proven yourself in private practice with hard numbers start floating your resume' around and either renegotiate your current employment or accept another job at higher pay.

2.Accept a job at lower pay but have a clause in your contract that either pays you a percentage of production plus a daily guarantee or that once you reach a certain level of production you get a raise in salary.

Not to be discouraging but most associate jobs offered by corporate dental clinics to new grads kind of suck. They want you to work long hours, usually weekends and will pay good but nothing like what you could earn in private practice. Corporate jobs right out of dental school will give you a lot of experience in doing procedures because the doc in a box clinics will work you like a dog and that is about the best thing I can say about them.

Now after you have been with them for a while and have shown that you are profitable then you can negotiate a better salary, more benefits and better hours. Corporate jobs are corporate jobs whether you work for IBM or Heartland Dental. There is a ladder to climb in all of them and just because you are a dentist doesn't mean that you get to start at the top. That's just the reality of working for someone else.

Now for some really good advice on resumes' check out the thread "Let's buy a Dental Practice" starting on page 2 at post 69.👍

 

[lilly5]

Thanks for your feedback. Does anyone know of any good companies I could apply to? Is working for a private practice too much to start off with as a new graduate?

 

[Edentulator]

I'm a new grad and I just went through that process. There were a few websites with associateships that I kept my eye on: One from a nearby dental school, one from my province's dental association, one random online journal and the Canadian Dental Association journal. I got one of my part-time jobs this way.

I also submitted my resume to some of the supply companies, but didn't have any luck there. I do know people who were hired that way though, but it just happened that they didn't have any clients in my particular city who were looking.

My other part-time job was found through word of mouth. I heard through the instructors at my school that someone was looking, so I sent him an e-mail with my resume to set up a time to meet.

There were other people in my class who got jobs just by phoning up dentists and introducing themselves. If cold calling is a bit scary, try getting some names from people you meet at dental association events. It's a good icebreaker to be able to say "I got your name from Dr. ____, who told me that you may be looking for an associate."

As for a job with good hours, good pay, good benefits, etc, I would suggest looking in some of the rural areas that are underserviced. Forget about the big cities where there are dentists on every street corner. In Canada, for example, areas in Northern Ontario and in Iqaluit are desperate for dentists, and some postings advertise half million dollar salaries and retention bonuses to dentists who are willing to work there. The quality of life is pretty good too, the people are a bit more laid back, and you would get to do a wider scope of treatment because there are fewer specialists to refer to.

 

[Blue Panther]

i.e. you haven't shown that you can be profitable in private practice. It's nothing personal, everyone coming out of dental school can't prove that they can be profitable.

1. Work for less money than you would prefer for a year and then when you have proven yourself in private practice with hard numbers

So how about a dentist who completed a year of GPR/AEGD? How are they viewed by the hiring dentist compared to fresh dental grads? Even though he/she has not proven themselves profitable in private practice either.

 

[The Hammer]

So how about a dentist who completed a year of GPR/AEGD? How are they viewed by the hiring dentist compared to fresh dental grads? Even though he/she has not proven themselves profitable in private practice either.

Usually an AEGD/GPR are viewed the same as a couple of years experience. It puts you ahead of your competition if they are new grads and you can ask for a higher salary.

 

[charlestweed]

Not to be discouraging but most associate jobs offered by corporate dental clinics to new grads kind of suck. They want you to work long hours, usually weekends and will pay good but nothing like what you could earn in private practice. Corporate jobs right out of dental school will give you a lot of experience in doing procedures because the doc in a box clinics will work you like a dog and that is about the best thing I can say about them.

The way they make you work long hours is they (the office managers) wait until your 8 hour shift is almost over and they assign you a big case like a molar RCT or a crown prep. You end up staying behind an hour or two to complete the case😱.

And you can forget about a nice 1 hour lunch break when you work for a corporate office. I've seen doctors eating their lunch while the assistants prepare the chair for the next patients.

 

[Blue Panther]

Usually an AEGD/GPR are viewed the same as a couple of years experience. It puts you ahead of your competition if they are new grads and you can ask for a higher salary.

One year of paid residency sounds more lucrative in the long run versus associating in private practice or chain first year out.

 

[Daurang]

The way they make you work long hours is they (the office managers) wait until your 8 hour shift is almost over and they assign you a big case like a molar RCT or a crown prep. You end up staying behind an hour or two to complete the case😱.

And you can forget about a nice 1 hour lunch break when you work for a corporate office. I've seen doctors eating their lunch while the assistants prepare the chair for the next patients.

My friend (a manager for a big chain at the Long Beach office) told me their computer is now setup to automatically log you off for lunch and log you out at the end of the day. Even if you work past office hour or lunch, there's no overtime and that's your problem!

 

[charlestweed]

My friend (a manager for a big chain at the Long Beach office) told me their computer is now setup to automatically log you off for lunch and log you out at the end of the day. Even if you work past office hour or lunch, there's no overtime and that's your problem!

Yeah, it doesn't matter how many hours they work in a day, they still get the same daily rate. I've had very hard times invite these associate dentists out to lunch because they are always busy. The managing dentist at the office, where I do ortho at, eats cup of noodle for lunch almost every day for the past 6-7 years. They don't care if you quit since they can easily find another dentist to replace you.

 

[lilly5]

What would be a better option than working for the chains? Is it difficult to find private practices that hire new graduates? Would it be too demanding to start off in that kind of environment?

 

[SeattleRDH]

Do some research on which WREB states have a state-run loan repayment program. Here in Washington there is a great program for loan repayment if you work for certain public health clinics (and some of the clinics are in the Seattle area!).

If you're up for it move to Alaska. The only way to get loan repayment is through the National Health Service but they pay pretty well in AK. If I were you I would just look into practices that are for sale. In my hometown in SE Alaska there have been practices for sale off and on for the last ten years. You know what happens? The dentists close shop and retire at a loss because they didn't have an associate to buy them out. Rural areas like this have established practices that you can pick up for practically the cost of equipment. Just be ready for endo, lots of endo.