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Jobs After Graduation
Started by pandaig
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GPA has NOTHING to do with jobs. The only thing that matters is how fast you can work. Period.
It depends a lot on where you are looking for jobs and also the state of the economy in my opinion. It can also depend on what type of environment you are looking to work in.
If you live in a smaller city or rural area, there are likely going to be fewer jobs available. If you are looking for jobs in a larger city, it can mean more jobs available, but it can also mean over-saturation of the area with dentists, meaning fewer jobs. It will be a case-by-case basis.
With the struggling economy, there are dentists who are hesitant to hire associates. If the economy is causing business to be slow, dentists are going to be weary about hiring an associate. If you are wanting to start up on your own with a struggling economy, I anticipate it being very difficult until the economy picks up. There are also some dentists who want an associate, but don't really know whether or not the practice is capable of having an associate. I have heard from many of my classmates, and I include myself in this group, who started working in July in private practice, and business is slow. The senior dentist is going to get the patients if business is slow. Some days I see 8-10 patients, and others I see 2. It is not because I am not capable, it's just there are not the patients flocking through the door to keep the dentists and hygienists busy. One of my classmates has really busy days, and then sometimes she is told to stay at home because she has no patients. There is also one of my classmates who has not found a job yet-- which brings me to my next point.
Depending on what type of environment you want to work in can really dictate how quickly you can find a job. If you do not mind working in corporate, there are a lot of corporate jobs available. But if you really have no desire to do that, it can be a little bit harder to find the type of job you are looking for. So for some, if you are picky or have your mind set on something in particular, it can take longer to find a job.
If you live in a smaller city or rural area, there are likely going to be fewer jobs available. If you are looking for jobs in a larger city, it can mean more jobs available, but it can also mean over-saturation of the area with dentists, meaning fewer jobs. It will be a case-by-case basis.
With the struggling economy, there are dentists who are hesitant to hire associates. If the economy is causing business to be slow, dentists are going to be weary about hiring an associate. If you are wanting to start up on your own with a struggling economy, I anticipate it being very difficult until the economy picks up. There are also some dentists who want an associate, but don't really know whether or not the practice is capable of having an associate. I have heard from many of my classmates, and I include myself in this group, who started working in July in private practice, and business is slow. The senior dentist is going to get the patients if business is slow. Some days I see 8-10 patients, and others I see 2. It is not because I am not capable, it's just there are not the patients flocking through the door to keep the dentists and hygienists busy. One of my classmates has really busy days, and then sometimes she is told to stay at home because she has no patients. There is also one of my classmates who has not found a job yet-- which brings me to my next point.
Depending on what type of environment you want to work in can really dictate how quickly you can find a job. If you do not mind working in corporate, there are a lot of corporate jobs available. But if you really have no desire to do that, it can be a little bit harder to find the type of job you are looking for. So for some, if you are picky or have your mind set on something in particular, it can take longer to find a job.
Many new grads temp as hygienists around here. It's sad, really, because you don't get paid more for being a DDS. But, hey, a job is a job. I would just skip the associateship and buy a practice straight out of school. At least that way you'll be your own boss.
Read Hammer's "Let's Buy a Dental Practice" thread.
Read Hammer's "Let's Buy a Dental Practice" thread.
buy a practice straight out of dental school? you mean like an ESTABLISHED practice? thats gonna cost you minimum 500k to over 1 million..... what crazy loan officer is going to lend a new graduate (whom might have 250-400k college debt) that kinda loan?
Today's banks aren't just opening their doors and welcoming borrowers, they've gotten very strict. I highly doubt any of us (new generation dentist) can buy an existing practice anytime soon after graduation.
If your talking about establishing a brand new practice (rent place, and set it up yourself).... this is more doable, 100-150k would be needed as startup capital and Im sure thats not gonna be too difficult to obtain.
I do agree with you on the bank lending part. A bank will be weary of loaning 500k for a practice loan on top of any school loan debt. However, not all practices are going to be 500k. It depends on where you want to work (city vs. rural), type of equipment in the practice, number of patients, the type of practice (high-end cosmetic vs. bread and butter), among other things. It can also depend on the practice broker if the dentist selling is using one. From what I have heard, they tend to try and take advantage of both parties involved (buyer and seller). I do know of someone that graduated in 2010 bought an established practice straight out school for about 300k. And then I know of another person who graduated in 2009 who bought an established practice for around 400k after doing an AEGD for a year. It really all depends. Knowing what I know now, I think I would rather buy an established practice assuming I could get the funding, rather than start up my own. The cost to start up my own practice and not having a ton of patients doesn't sound all that appealing as it once did. There is no telling how long it can take to build up a patient base, and I would feel much more comfortable knowing I was able to pay the bills, staff salaries, etc.
That sucks. I have no problem doing hygiene if I am working as a dentist in a practice that does not have hygienists. But to only be able to find hygiene jobs as a dentist... that seem pretty unreal to me.
DW,
Believe it or not, you CAN buy a practice with that amount of student loan debt and there are many established practices than go for less than 500K. There are more dentists of retirement age than dentists coming out of dental school you just have to be willing to move to an area that isn't over-saturated with new grads (AKA cities without dental schools).
You should really read Hammer's thread.
Believe it or not, you CAN buy a practice with that amount of student loan debt and there are many established practices than go for less than 500K. There are more dentists of retirement age than dentists coming out of dental school you just have to be willing to move to an area that isn't over-saturated with new grads (AKA cities without dental schools).
You should really read Hammer's thread.
