Work for brother's business, does it count as work experience?

[FutureDDS_11]

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Hello,

I've been working as a cashier at a gas station that my brother is leasing. I am not an official employee since I just work there to help him during school breaks. Would that be considered work experience? Will I be able to put it in my application and resume as work experience?

 

[8_man]

Experience is experience

(edited)

 

[predental21250]

Why not? What they know is what you tell them.

 

[FutureDDS_11]

Doesn't look good, but experience is experience.

How come it doesn't look good?

 

[8_man]

How come it doesn't look good?

I think me saying that it "doesn't look good" was an overstatement, but theres all sorts of biases against working with/for family members (special treatment, among others). Honestly, it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. Don't worry about it.

 

[Incis0r]

Hello,

I've been working as a cashier at a gas station that my brother is leasing. I am not an official employee since I just work there to help him during school breaks. Would that be considered work experience? Will I be able to put it in my application and resume as work experience?

Sounds like work experience to me.

 

[predental21250]

I think me saying that it "doesn't look good" was an overstatement, but theres all sorts of biases against working with/for family members (special treatment, among others). Honestly, it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. Don't worry about it.

No one is going to care. Work experience isn't a requirement for dental school, and i'm sure many students that get in have probably never held a job in their lives.
I think you working at a gas station is definitely a plus, and you can spin that to your advantage by describing how you are helping your family financially while balancing getting your education. There is absolutely nothing negative your experience. Wear it like a badge, be proud of it, and it will make you stand out.

 

[DentalNucleicAcid]

Actually, glad this topic came up. Not to hijack Ardwan's thread, but I have nearly 3 years of work experience as a cashier that ended on bad terms. I want to include this job experience in my app but I feel like I can't. However, from what I've heard, the entire management has been changed, so they probably wouldn't even know who I am if anybody were to ask. Can I still include this in my app? It honestly really helped me develop people skills and made me learn how to deal with different types of people (like in dentistry). It was probably the best extracurricular I've ever had, although only part of it was done during college.

 

[Incis0r]

Actually, glad this topic came up. Not to hijack your thread Ardwan, but I have nearly 3 years of work experience as a cashier that ended on bad terms. I want to include this job experience in my app but I feel like I can't. However, from what I've heard, the entire management has been changed, so they probably wouldn't even know who I am if anybody were to ask. Can I still include this in my app? It honestly really helped me develop people skills and made me learn how to deal with different types of people (like in dentistry). It was probably the best extracurricular I've ever had, although only part of it was done during college.

Idk what it's like for this year's app, but there was no space on your AADSAS to put supervisor contact info in the 2016-2017 cycle. So I wouldn't worry about it, and I would place your activity on the app (assuming it's the same this year).

 

[Hannah Faulkner]

You should add this to your resume as a work experience....

 

[ncide]

Actually, glad this topic came up. Not to hijack Ardwan's thread, but I have nearly 3 years of work experience as a cashier that ended on bad terms. I want to include this job experience in my app but I feel like I can't. However, from what I've heard, the entire management has been changed, so they probably wouldn't even know who I am if anybody were to ask. Can I still include this in my app? It honestly really helped me develop people skills and made me learn how to deal with different types of people (like in dentistry). It was probably the best extracurricular I've ever had, although only part of it was done during college.

Bro they have 2,000+ applications to go through, they are not gonna call up the manager of your last job to chat about you.

 

[DentalNucleicAcid]

Idk what it's like for this year's app, but there was no space on your AADSAS to put supervisor contact info in the 2016-2017 cycle. So I wouldn't worry about it, and I would place your activity on the app (assuming it's the same this year).

Awesome, that's good to hear. I'll list it then, thanks!

Bro they have 2,000+ applications to go through, they are not gonna call up the manager of your last job to chat about you.

Lmao thanks for the laugh. You're right, I'm just paranoid 🙄

 

[Incis0r]

Awesome, that's good to hear. I'll list it then, thanks!

Lmao thanks for the laugh. You're right, I'm just paranoid 🙄

Good luck 🙂 And don't worry - we all had these concerns when applying!

 

[Apramana]

Bro they have 2,000+ applications to go through, they are not gonna call up the manager of your last job to chat about you.

Awesome, that's good to hear. I'll list it then, thanks!

Lmao thanks for the laugh. You're right, I'm just paranoid 🙄

While I hate to increase paranoia, I believe on the medical side they routinely call our listed activity contacts before they offer an acceptance, so they have substantially fewer applications to check on.

From what I recall, it sounds like the medical school admissions people only check with the contact if an activity looks suspicious, such as with a tremendous hourly count or grandiose description of the activity, but it's good to be aware, I think.

Medical residencies seem to do this as well, so we may want to keep that risk in mind if a similar "activity contact" ever materializes in the dental world.

 

[Medin2017]

Hello,

I've been working as a cashier at a gas station that my brother is leasing. I am not an official employee since I just work there to help him during school breaks. Would that be considered work experience? Will I be able to put it in my application and resume as work experience?

I'll give you some mini wisdom (read: my opinion) on the subject. The hours and content of your stuff doesn't matter after a certain threshold. If you volunteered 1000 hours at a nursing home or went on 20 mission trips and didn't have anything insightful to say if asked about in an interview, you will overall be looked at worse than someone with like 100 hours and 1 mission trip. So whether or not your job counts as work experience, I hope you have a "tale" or some cool thing you got out of that could relate to dentistry or dental school (working with others in a team, becoming more outgoing, etc.). There will be plenty of people with a bunch of random volunteer hours but with not much substance. Stand out by reflecting on your experiences and shoehorning lessons learned into your interviews (as long as it doesn't seem forced).