Questions to ask potential employers

[Pre-Dent Jeff]

What questions should soon to be graduating dental students be asking:
1.) When they reach out to show interest in an available job opening (wether it's by email, phone, or stopping by the office)?
2.) When they have a formal interview?

I have 163 days until graduation, but who's counting? I'm going to dental school in the midwest, but I'm looking for a job back out west where my family is from. I don't have a lot of networking opportunities due to the distance. So i'll probably be sending out quite a few emails. I'm just looking for a casual way to show interest in an opening. Then I'm looking for ideas on things I need to ask when I actually interview.

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[Cold Front]

What questions should soon to be graduating dental students be asking:
1.) When they reach out to show interest in an available job opening (wether it's by email, phone, or stopping by the office)?
2.) When they have a formal interview?

I have 163 days until graduation, but who's counting? I'm going to dental school in the midwest, but I'm looking for a job back out west where my family is from. I don't have a lot of networking opportunities due to the distance. So i'll probably be sending out quite a few emails. I'm just looking for a casual way to show interest in an opening. Then I'm looking for ideas on things I need to ask when I actually interview.

1. Ask if there will be a senior dentist at the office. Someone who can help you clinically as a new grad/mentor.

2. Ask for monthly incentives/bonus if your production numbers exceed the office goals.

3. Ask if there is a sign-on bonus and relocation related cost reimbursement.

4. Ask what type of procedures you are expected to do. One of my former classmates took a job and was asked to do a frenectomy during her first week - which she had 0 experience in. She still did it, not sure if I would want to be that patient!

5. Ask if you can order your own clinical supplies. Some offices just force you to use what they have... which can slow you down and can eventually lower your production numbers.

6. Always end the meeting with - “Let me get back to you in couple of days”. Never commit to any job during the interview process. You want to make sure the job is right for you. This also allows you to ask follow up questions after the interview.

Good luck!


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[charlestweed]

Two months before graduation, I looked at the job ads on the latimes.com website and I saw 4 corp job listings. I called all 4 to set up job interview appointments. At the end fo the interviews, 3 of these 4 corps offered me jobs (10 days/month at corp #1, 12 days/month at corp #2, and 1 day/month at corp #3). The manager at the 4th corp office didn’t show up and she didn’t return my phone calls either.

Like the OP, I did my ortho residency in the midwest and my plan was also to move back to my home state, CA, to work. I preferred working for the corp offices because according to my former dental classmate, who finished his ortho residency a year before me, corp offices usually paid better and offered more workdays than private ortho offices. As a young grad with student loans, I needed as many workdays as possible. Since I was young, healthy, and had no kid, I didn’t care about the corp’s heavy workload..... I just wanted to make as much $$$ as possible. Another reason I preferred working for the corp was I’d much rather have a boss who has a HS diploma is clueless about clinical orthodontics. Because they were clueless, they gave me the full autonomy in making all the treatment decisions. I didn’t want to work for another ortho boss who may have different tx philosophy than mine….who may want me to treat the patients his/her ways.

The corp offices set their own policies (patient scheduling, assistant hiring/firing, shift work hours, Saturday hours etc). There are not a lot of questions you can ask. You either accept their policies or look for a different job elsewhere. At one of the interviews, the manager told me I would work 10 days/month, I would have to travel to 3 different offices, and my pay would be $800/day+ bonus. I asked her if she could raise it to $850/day. She said no because she knew I was a clueless new grad with zero work experience. I smiled and signed the contract at the end of the interview. About 2 years later, I gave this corp office my 90-day notice because another corp office offered me $1350/day. When the manager learned about my decision to leave the company, she called me and asked “doctor, what can we do to keep you here with us?” This phone call made me realize how important I was to the company. I decided to stay with this corp because they agreed to match the other corp office’s offer + they also gave me bonuses + the offices are closer to my house.

 

[Saddleshoes]

Will this job be as...
1)...a contractor? (IRS Form 1099)
2)...an employee (IRS Form W2)

It is very, very, very important that you know that piece of information!!!! (And understand the difference!)