what do hiring dental practices look for in fresh graduates?

[drilledit]

such as in a resume. What should i be doing during my time in dental school (just started) to make me stand out so I can get the best job/widen my options. For example, should i focus on community service, leadership in clubs/class, GPA, research, etc.

on a side note, what should i focus on if i want to specialize (ortho or oral surgery).

I would love to hear thoughts from anyone- especially if you own your own practice and have hired dentists.

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[mmc12]

I honestly don't think they care about community service, clubs, etc.... Based on my experience as an associate, they mainly care about how much you can produce, including how long it takes you to do a molar root canal.

 

[drilledit]

I honestly don't think they care about community service, clubs, etc.... Based on my experience as an associate, they mainly care about how much you can produce, including how long it takes you to do a molar root canal.

But what makes a hiring dentist choose one over the another in a stack of resumes? Assuming they have the same amount of experience

 

[Boat on the Chesapeake]

But what makes a hiring dentist choose one over the another in a stack of resumes? Assuming they have the same amount of experience

For private practice, personality probably makes a bigger difference than what activities you did in school. Even if you tend to be an introvert, you have to be good at talking to patients, interview well, and at least *act* like a confident adult. You’ll do more dentistry within a few months of graduation than you did in all of dental school so they may not be too concerned about your graduation requirements.

 

[ibuprofen400mg]

My personal preference but in my opinion,
Production/Quality of work > Personality > Education.

You can be the best Harvard graduate dentist in the world but at the end of the day you have to produce money. No money equals no paycheck. Personality matters but as long as you are a decent human being and socially acceptable, you should have no problem keeping your job.

 

[charlestweed]

such as in a resume. What should i be doing during my time in dental school (just started) to make me stand out so I can get the best job/widen my options. For example, should i focus on community service, leadership in clubs/class, GPA, research, etc.

Like most here have said, the practice owners want to hire an associate who can produce for them. This means that they prefer to hire an associate dentist who:
1. has at least 2-3 years of experience.
2. is not bossy and gets along well with the staff.
3. is not picky and can work with the supplies the owners provide.
4. has solid clinical skills. Must be good at diagnosis and tx planning. Being able to peform difficult procedures and refer fewer cases to the specialist offices. One commom complaint I have heard from my GP friends and the corporate office managers who hire associates dentists is "they are too slow, they don't know anything....and they want to get paid a lot."
5. is willing to work on the days that the boss doesn't want to work...ie Saturdays and Sundays.
6. treats the boss' practice as if it is his/her own practice. Being willing to stay late to take care of walk-in emergency patients, instead of going home and dumping the patients to a nearby endo, os or perio office.

There's no way for the employers to know how good you are from reading your resume, especially when you are a new grad with zero work experience. In saturated areas where the owners have no problem looking for associate dentists, they will try you out for a few months to see how well you perform clinically, how fast you can do a molar endo, and how well you get a long with their staff etc. And after the try-out period, they'll either let you go or they agree to pay you the salary amount that you want.

Having worked for the corp for 15+ years, I've seen a lot of associate dentists who were fired because they lack the above qualities and I have also seen good associate dentists who were promoted to the managing dentist positions.

on a side note, what should i focus on if i want to specialize (ortho or oral surgery).

You should focus on doing well in all your classes so you can earn good class rank. Do things that most of your classmates hate....ie doing research, studying for the ADAT or CBSE, studying during the weekends and holidays etc. With good class rank + test score + other extracurricular activities, you'll have more options to pick the specialty that you want to pursue and have better chance of getting accepted to the specialty program of your choice (ie the one that pays you).

 

[ibuprofen400mg]

Like most here have said, the practice owners want to hire an associate who can produce for them. This means that they prefer to hire an associate dentist who:
1. has at least 2-3 years of experience.
2. is not bossy and gets along well with the staff.
3. is not picky and can work with the supplies the owners provide.
4. has solid clinical skills. Must be good at diagnosis and tx planning. Being able to peform difficult procedures and refer fewer cases to the specialist offices. One commom complaint I have heard from my GP friends and the corporate office managers who hire associates dentists is "they are too slow, they don't know anything....and they want to get paid a lot."
5. is willing to work on the days that the boss doesn't want to work...ie Saturdays and Sundays.
6. treats the boss' practice as if it is his/her own practice. Being willing to stay late to take care of walk-in emergency patients, instead of going home and dumping the patients to a nearby endo, os or perio office.

There's no way for the employers to know how good you are from reading your resume, especially when you are a new grad with zero work experience. In saturated areas where the owners have no problem looking for associate dentists, they will try you out for a few months to see how well you perform clinically, how fast you can do a molar endo, and how well you get a long with their staff etc. And after the try-out period, they'll either let you go or they agree to pay you the salary amount that you want.

Having worked for the corp for 15+ years, I've seen a lot of associate dentists who were fired because they lack the above qualities and I have also seen good associate dentists who were promoted to the managing dentist positions.

You should focus on doing well in all your classes so you can earn good class rank. Do things that most of your classmates hate....ie doing research, studying for the ADAT or CBSE, studying during the weekends and holidays etc. With good class rank + test score + other extracurricular activities, you'll have more options to pick the specialty that you want to pursue and have better chance of getting accepted to the specialty program of your choice (ie the one that pays you).

Well said.

 

[schmoob]

Like most here have said, the practice owners want to hire an associate who can produce for them. This means that they prefer to hire an associate dentist who:
1. has at least 2-3 years of experience.
2. is not bossy and gets along well with the staff.
3. is not picky and can work with the supplies the owners provide.
4. has solid clinical skills. Must be good at diagnosis and tx planning. Being able to peform difficult procedures and refer fewer cases to the specialist offices. One commom complaint I have heard from my GP friends and the corporate office managers who hire associates dentists is "they are too slow, they don't know anything....and they want to get paid a lot."
5. is willing to work on the days that the boss doesn't want to work...ie Saturdays and Sundays.
6. treats the boss' practice as if it is his/her own practice. Being willing to stay late to take care of walk-in emergency patients, instead of going home and dumping the patients to a nearby endo, os or perio office.

There's no way for the employers to know how good you are from reading your resume, especially when you are a new grad with zero work experience. In saturated areas where the owners have no problem looking for associate dentists, they will try you out for a few months to see how well you perform clinically, how fast you can do a molar endo, and how well you get a long with their staff etc. And after the try-out period, they'll either let you go or they agree to pay you the salary amount that you want.

Having worked for the corp for 15+ years, I've seen a lot of associate dentists who were fired because they lack the above qualities and I have also seen good associate dentists who were promoted to the managing dentist positions.

You should focus on doing well in all your classes so you can earn good class rank. Do things that most of your classmates hate....ie doing research, studying for the ADAT or CBSE, studying during the weekends and holidays etc. With good class rank + test score + other extracurricular activities, you'll have more options to pick the specialty that you want to pursue and have better chance of getting accepted to the specialty program of your choice (ie the one that pays you).

I agree that associates expectations should be managed. But owners should have reasonable expectations from new grads as well. If they want the associate to produce more, get faster, etc there should be at least some level of mentorship.

 

[charlestweed]

I agree that associates expectations should be managed. But owners should have reasonable expectations from new grads as well. If they want the associate to produce more, get faster, etc there should be at least some level of mentorship.

The owner will be reasonable, as long as the new grad knows that he's slow, is willing to learn to improve his clinical skills, and doesn't expect to get paid the same as the associate dentists, who graduated 2-3 years before him. When the owner sees his associate is capable of producing and gets along well with the staff, the owner will do whatever it takes to keep this associate....if not, there will be plenty of other places that want to hire this associate dentist.

Differrent owners want different things from their associates. Some owners want to work less and spend more time with their family. So they they don't want a new grad. They want someone who is just as good as them, who can produce, and is willing to work on the days that they don't want to work (ie Saturdays and Sundays). Some owners are too busy to handle the current patient load but only have enough patients to hire part-time associate. These owners are probably OK with hiring slower new grads. They can assign easy cases to the new grads so they can have time to focus on more productive cases such as implants, bridges, veneers, 3rd molar extractions.

 

[ldomfs]

As an OMFS from eastern Europe, in practice for 8 years now, would like to inquire about opportunities of reaching Oral Surgery field in the States, upon graduation from US dental school as a GP.
In other words, how realistic is to anticipate to find a full time job, limited mostly or solely to OS procedures, having in mind the only employement option would be corporate dentistry (not a green card holder).
Assuming volume of OS cases in an average office is not high enough to get busy 40 hrs/wk, moreover I might not be the first choice on the job market (many US trained OMFS looking for same, even in remote areas)...
Alternatively, is combining 2 or more offices technically possible at all (as a fresh grad) without breaking trust or ethical rules by referring my check ups or complications to other colleagues with less or no surgical experience....
Having no plans on additional training, the private loan has to be payed off.
Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Many thx!

 

[TanMan]

When I first contacted a recruiter getting out of dental school, I told them I want to make as much money as possible and I have no problem making money for them. Say it in confidence. If you say those magic words, you're pretty much in as long as you're not a child molester.