The face-to-face interview
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Associate Dentist Interview Tips
The face-to-face interview
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Hiring the Right Staff
It is easy to make a hasty hiring decision. Sometimes you will get lucky and they will work out. However, that is not always the case. You are much better off to learn the candidate's personality and skillset to ensure that they are a long term match for you and the practice. Here is a great, short article from Dental Economics with some basic tips to assist you in the hiring process.
Posted by Tiffany Worstell, Dental Staff Recruiter at ETS Dental. You can reach Tiffany at (540) 491-9112 or tworstell@etsdental.com.
ETS Dental specializes in locating and placing Dentists and Dental Staff with independent practices across the country.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Choosing Where to Practice - The Golden Dilemma in Dentistry
I just want to reiterate the fact that you must research the area you want to live and work in. Many doctors will give you the advice of "move where you want, then find a job." That is a terrible idea in most cases. This economy does not afford many people the opportunity to just move to Seattle, for example, and then start knocking on doors. Look up the dentist to population ratios, average production per dentist, etc. Speak with recruiters, supply reps, brokers, dental CPAs, etc. They can give you some localized insight into the demand for dental practitioners in the area.
Don't simply trust the advice of a few classmates or internet boards. Many of which never even lived or worked in the area(s) you are looking into, but are rather offering advice based on what they have heard through the grapevine. I speak to doctors everyday in most major metro areas across the Western United States. I have a good idea what the various regions are like. If I don't know, I will tell you that, and I will point you to the right person.
Do your research. Being close to family, friends, and lots of activities is great, but it is hard to enjoy all of that if you are not in a position that offers you a fulfilling and stable career opportunity. You need to maintain a healthy family and career balance as a dentist. Be thorough in your research. Don't let emotion control the entire thought process. You need to include a lot of hard facts into deciding where it is you want to live and work.
Helpful links:
- Relocation tools (includes community search, cost of living, salary comparison, moving cost estimates, and more)
- Dentistry Trends
- Use Census.gov for population estimates and sites like Google maps or superpages.com to locate the current dentists in the area
Carl Guthrie is the Western U.S. Account Executive and Recruiter for ETS Dental. He can be reached at cguthrie@etsdental.com or 540-491-9104. ETS Dental is a Denatl Recruiting firm specializing in finding and placing General Dentists, Dental Specialists, and Dental Staff throughout the United States. www.etsdental.com
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Team? What Team?
No dentist practices alone. Your profitability, your patients’ comfort, and your own pleasure in your practice are tied directly to how well you and your staff operate as a team.
But did you know? Many dentists believe that if they hire the best people for the job (and there’s no getting around the need for that!) and bring them all together under one roof, they will have a team. And not just any team, but a great team! Then they wonder what went wrong when their practice dreams don’t come true. Who’s to blame? What hiring mistake did they make? Which person wasn’t a star after all?
Well, maybe there were no hiring mistakes. But if that’s true, how do you fix the problem of your disappointing practice numbers – your distress at going to work every morning to a practice that feels like it’s stuck in glue, where people work at cross purposes and get on each other’s nerves? And where you aren’t making any money! There has to be something you can fix, or you’re doomed to continue as you are. What’s wrong with your team???
The answer may surprise you. The fact is, you may not actually have a team. A collection of talented individuals and a team are not necessarily one and the same.
Think about it. In sports, people dream of an All-Star team – of what a team with the best hitters, the best pitchers, the best fielders, or maybe the best quarterback and the best running backs and tacklers could do. Some sports actually have All-Star team competitions at some point in the season. But the games don’t live up to the hype. Why? Because these ad-hoc “teams” aren’t really teams at all. They’re just a collection of stellar players that somebody called a team. But just calling a group, no matter how talented, a team, does not make it so.
Have you noticed how two brothers or two sisters on a team can play circles around the other players? Or two friends from the same high school on a college team? Or a quarterback and his favorite receiver? That’s because they have something going between them that puts them at an advantage over other players. This something forms them into a mini-team, and when you have teamwork going for you, you’re hard to beat.
A real team made up of average players can probably beat a random collection of star players any day, because a team is greater than the sum of its parts. And what you may have is not a team at all but a random collection of star players.
So now you may ask, jis there something I can do about this? kHow do I take my “random” collection of star performers and make them into a real team? lAnd if I can, how will I know I’ve succeeded? mWhat difference will I see on a day to day basis? nIs it too late? And ois it worth it?
Excellent questions.
The short answers are 1) yes, 2) it’s hard, 3) you’ll love going to work and you’ll be making money, 4) work will flow smoothly and there will be lots of it, with no infighting, 5) no, and 6) yes.
Getting started is simple. Just as you do an exam on a new patient, you and your team can examine team skills by taking a simple survey. The results can guide your actions. To request a survey for your team, email me at dana.ackley@eqleader.net. I’ll send you a link to the survey that is unique for your team, along with complete instructions. Then, you and each of your care team members fill it out online. When we get all the responses, I will send you a written report, summarizing your team’s results and offering ideas for improvement (I will send your report to you at the email account from which you request the survey, unless you indicate otherwise.)
Dana C. Ackley, Ph.D, EQ Leader, Inc.
ETS Dental Industry Insight, December 2009
Dana C. Ackley, Ph.D. is president of EQ Leader, Inc. A psychologist, he has years of experience coaching dentists and their teams. Dr. Ackley has been a guest lecturer at the Pankey Institute and published numerous articles in Dentistry Today and Dental Economics. He is an internationally recognized expert in emotional intelligence.
Posted by Mark Kennedy, Owner/Director of ETS Dental. You can reach Mark at mkennedy@etsdental.com or 540-491-9103. To find out more about ETS Dental, check us out at www.etsdental.com.