Job For In-Between

[kmack]

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Hey SDN:

I am going to be living in California after I graduate in December up until I start dental school (hopefully in August). I am looking for some ideas of jobs I could do during this time that could be useful to me as a future dentist. (I don't have any certification, but I do have customer support experience.)

Thanks in advance for your ideas!🙂

 

[colombianDDS]

Hey SDN:

I am going to be living in California after I graduate in December up until I start dental school (hopefully in August). I am looking for some ideas of jobs I could do during this time that could be useful to me as a future dentist. (I don't have any certification, but I do have customer support experience.)

Thanks in advance for your ideas!🙂

Try to get a dental assistant job. I know some dentist hire assistants who are not certified and train them themselves. But I guess it depends where you live. I think that's the best job you could get if you want to stay in the dental field. But in all honesty, you are only going to be working for half a year so if you get acceptances I think any job will suffice as long as u can save some money but also relax.

ps. That's what i'm doing this whole year. I just graduated this past may and I've been assisting at an endo office. Pretty cool job if you want to learn things you might not get from shadowing.

 

[Dent22519]

Getting a job as a dental assistant/receptionist has been hard. I've applied to 8 positions so far and got only 1 interview. Maybe you're luckier to than me. The main reason they didn't hire me is because they didn't want to only have me for 9 months and invest all the time to train me. They said on average, it takes 4-6 months to get the dental assistant to a level they are satisfied with. So now, I'm just working to land ANY job, which is difficult seeing as how there's so few jobs out there right now. So I would just advise you to get any job you can get. If dental related, great. But if not, then at least you'll be making money.

 

[OMF_HNS]

If not a job, why not volunteer at a clinic or hospital? I'm a cali resident and was fortunate to be trained as a DA since last Dec and am now working part time. But before that I volunteered at the veterans affairs hospital in long beach. If anything just remain focused by being interactive in the field of health care. Good luck and search up various volunteer dental clinics. I believe if u are a socal resident there's a place called bright smiles that provides free dental care.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[UltimateHombre]

I don't think being a DA will really help you tremendously in dental school. I mean you will learn everything you would learn as a dental assistant in a matter of 2 weeks in the sim clinic.

The most ideal job, IMO, would be working at a small business in some type of management or clerical work. You will get real life experience on what it is like to run a small business: employee management, book keeping, payroll, training, marketing, sales etc. All those things would be invaluable insight into the future of running a practice.

I would just get the highest paying job you can find and save money. With your college degree, i would imagine you should be able to find a job paying 30-40K with relative ease. I would suggest looking into: retail banking, sales of some type, retail management, government jobs, etc.

If you are wanting something in the healthcare field (beside DA) you could look into: medical assistant, pharmacy technician, optician, entry level hospital job, or maybe personal training.

Good luck!!!

 

[Djdents]

With your college degree, i would imagine you should be able to find a job paying 30-40K with relative ease.

HAHAHA ya right.

 

[UltimateHombre]

HAHAHA ya right.

Just about every job i listed pays somewhere in that range.

$15 an hour at 40 hours a week is 30K

Then again, i have had jobs since high school, so maybe someone with no work experience would have a harder time. But either way, i don't think it would be that hard.

 

[jeffity]

The trouble is finding something that's okay with you sticking around only 6-8 months. I suppose you could leave that part out at some places, but not any dental-related places.

Hombre: I'd be a little upset if I couldn't pull $30K with a degree.

 

[deleted487471]

The trouble is finding something that's okay with you sticking around only 6-8 months. I suppose you could leave that part out at some places, but not any dental-related places.

Hombre: I'd be a little upset if I couldn't pull $30K with a degree.

I'm not too sure about how the U.S. market is, but I can tell you that in my area of Canada, a basic science (bio, chem, life sci, etc.) degree is more little more than paper to employers. I'm working a job I could have done out of high school, as are many other grads I know. The few I know who have better job usually got them through some connections.

 

[MBlue16]

FIND A RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITION! That's what I did, and I am currently working at Stanford Otolaryngology department.

I think this will greatly enhance your resume. My PI wrote me a really good recommendation letter too. Just imagine how big of an impact this would make on my resume: Excellent reference letter from Stanford PI.

The pay is okay, but the community and the opportunity makes it worth it. After all, this is just temporary..., your main focus is dental school, not making money, right? Perks including: gym access. LoL!

I know there are plenty of labs recruiting new hire at the moment. They need people to take care of mice and other stuff during the holiday, you should definitely check it out.

 

[lilpucal0v3r]

You can also look into tutoring. Just tell them how well you did on your DAT. DA full time position isnt going to work with 6 months. I'm in cali too. I've applied for so many DA jobs saying I will stay for 1.5 years but after initial phone interview there was no call back. Maybe you can send letters out for a dental internship for less pay if you want the experience.

 

[two thirty]

If I don't get in this cycle, I plan on trying to find work in either research at my university or tutoring or something. A lot of my friends are going to be super seniors and my life at home would be terribly boring(not to mention no jobs that would be relevant toward my goal).

 

[jellyfishpizza]

I graduated this spring, with a degree in pharm and tox, and haven't found a job related to my major. i did try to find dental assistant jobs ( about 20-25) on craigslists, but have had no luck as everywhere asks for experience. I also was looking for research positions at hospitals in NYC ( where i live), but many of those positions need connections or are looking for current students who will do the job for free. Currently i'm working for almost minimum wage as a stock person at a independent pharmacy, i think the job's scheduling is flexible which is a pro when it comes to interviews and also i'm taking driving lessons and my managers accommodates for those days which is nice. I passed my pharm tech exam so im hoping to move to the back of the pharmacy, and im also getting interviewed for a dental shadowing at a hospital in december.