Job Interview Questions

[eight143]

Hello,

I am a graduating senior and am having an interview coming up. I was wondering if someone can shed some light into what kind of questions I should be asking after the interview. I know it's tacky to ask about wages and vacation time, but what about benefits, etc.

Thanks for your replies.

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[DrJeff]

Hello,

I am a graduating senior and am having an interview coming up. I was wondering if someone can shed some light into what kind of questions I should be asking after the interview. I know it's tacky to ask about wages and vacation time, but what about benefits, etc.

Thanks for your replies.

It's not tacky at all to ask wage, benes, vaca time, etc at all.

Things to DEFINATELY ask/get out in the open(in no particular order)
- Compensation (salary vs. %production or % collection)
- Continuing Ed allowances (both time and $$)
- License fees (who pays them)
- Lab fees (who pays them)
- Vacation (how much, paid or unpaid)
- Future buy-in potential? If so, try and get a set time as to when a written partnership contract will be on the table, and how the practice will be valued for buy in purposes
- Patient selection - will the owner take all the "good stuff" and leave you with the "leftovers?"
- Hygiene checks, will you get compensated for them, and if so how much (i.e. all the exam fee, a % of the exam fee, etc)
- Restrictive covenant upon leaving?
- Treatment philosophy of the owner Doc(s)
- # of new patients per month average over the last 2 years
- Why is the owner doc(s) looking for your help(too big a practice now, Senior doc "slowing down", satellite office, etc)
- What is the gross revenue of the office over the last 5 years (gives you a good trend as to what the "health" of the practice is
- Previous associates? and if so why did they leave? (if this office has had many associates who've left after a shortish amount of time, that's not a good sign
- New technology/instruments for you and what basic materials do they currently use?

All these may seem a bit "invasive" to ask on an interview, but as an owner doc, personally I wouldn't have a problem answering any of them, and I did ask just about all of them back when I was interviewing. These are just basic things that you need to know to make a solid business descision!

 

[Lesley]

Hello,

I know it's tacky to ask about wages and vacation time, but what about benefits, etc.

Ditto. It's not tacky to ask questions about wages, vacation time or benefits. Dr. Jeff laid out a great list for you to copy and ask. Don't hesitate to take it with you. Better to ask before you take a job than regret not asking later. Make sure if there is a restrictive covenent, which is likely, that it's something reasonable, no more than a 3-5 mile radius. Also, how is scheduling handled? Will you have control of your schedule? Will you be able to detemine how much time you are allotted per patient or per procedure or will they? Will you be able to refer procedures you are not comfortable performing? How often will you be paid? How do they keep track of production and collection? Will they give you written confirmation? How often? How much advance notice do they require for vacations? Are there any restrictions regarding vacation or sick time?Are you allowed to take additional unpaid leave? How much per year? Do they allow you to order certain supplies like burs? Are there any restrictions? I'm sure I'll be adding to this list....Congratulations and Good Luck!

 

[Lesley]

Will you be assigned an assistant? 100% of the time? Are the assistants certified to take x-rays, impressions, make temps? If you have to stay late, will the assistant and front desk stay late too? How are emergencies handled during office hours and after? Lunch/Dinner breaks?

 

[Lesley]

Very important, is it a fee for service practice (very good) or close to it only paticipating in good plans such as Delta (also very good), or do they participate in lots of PPO's, HMO's or capitations (bad)? If you are working on a percentage basis off your production/collection and the office participates in these types of plans that offer discounted fees to plan participants, you will making less per dental treatment than the office fee schedule states. If you are paid per diem, it won't make a difference in your pay, but you may be seeing a lot more patients per hour.