Checklist and Timeline for Graduating Dental Students

Graduation from Dental School is an exciting time, and there is a lot to do. We’ve put together a checklist and timeline of things to consider when working on your job search. We hope this can help you avoid any delays in kicking off your career as a new dentist.

Checklist for Graduating Dental Students

• FIRST! Set your personal career goals by determining your ideal practice setting and financial needs. Try to plan for the first 2 to 5 years of your career. Trust me, this plan will look completely different in 1 to 3 years.
  
• Resume: sample
  
• Cover Letter: sample
  
• Proof Book or Look Book
  
  • Contains case presentations, before/after photos, letters of recommendations, testimonials, production date, etc.
    
• References
  
  • Needs to be professional, academic, or any non-family member
    
  • Three is plenty
    
• Interview Preparation: complete list of tips
  
• License Applications
  
  • States vary so make sure to learn what they require, especially what Regional Board exams they recognize
    
• Other permits: DEA, state controlled substance permit, sedation permits
  
  Other helpful links: http://www.etsdental.com/dentists-specialists/helpful-links/
   
  Timeline: You will need to budget your time and understand factors that may delay your expected start date with a practice. Ideally you need to plan on not starting with a practice for at least six weeks after graduation. Here are some dates or blocks of time to consider.
  

• Graduation Date
  
  • Late May or Early June
    
• Board Scores
  
  • Take your regional exams as early as possible in order to have your scores prior to your graduation
    
  • Many employers won’t show interest unless you have passed your regional board
    
• Job applications
  
• Telephone Interview
  
  • Plan for this to take place within one to three weeks after you submit an application or resume
    
• Face to Face Interview
  
  • Plan for this to take place within one to six weeks after your telephone interview
    
• Licensing process
  
  • Takes 4 to 6 weeks
    
  • Fingerprints: We recommend doing this as early as you can per the state boards’ rules. Sometimes it takes weeks to mail off your fingerprints and wait for your receipt that must accompany your license application
    
  • Background and credential verification: Some states (notably AK, NM, WY and several others) use a third party service for credentialing that will add 30 to 60 days to your license processing time.
    
  • It’s very important to learn which states require applicants to submit their licensing applications in conjunction with state board meeting dates. For example, AK only meets quarterly, and requires applications to be in the office 45 days before that meeting.
    
• Insurance credentialing
  
  • Once you have the license, the job, and a start date, you may still be delayed on production if you must wait for insurance or medicaid credentialing processes. This could take a couple of weeks to several months depending on the state and the insurance companies
    
    

Typical Timeline for a New Doctor to Start Employment
Step	Dateline
Build resume, cover letter	February 1, 2015
Start submitting applications to practices	February 1, 2015
Telephone interviews done	February 28, 2015	1 month
Face to Face Interviews completed	April 20, 2015
Receive offers	May 1, 2015	2 months
Accept Offers	May 9, 2015
Graduation	May 23, 2015
License application completed and submitted	June 1, 2015	3 months
License issued	July 1, 2015
Start employment	July 6, 2015	4 months
Insurance/Medicaid credentialing completed	August 17, 2015	5.5 months
5 to 6 months from starting your search to reaching full capacity as a newly employed associate

Other timeline factors to consider:

• Job search is in rural areas or across the country: Add weeks or months to your search since timing of interviews will likely be determined by your ability to travel and breaks in your school schedule
  
• Spouse or significant other’s schedule
  
• Kids’ schedules
  
• Delays in your clinical requirements completion
  

Written by Carl Guthrie, Senior Account Executive/Dental Recruiter at ETS Dental. For more information, contact Carl directly at 540-491-9104 or cguthrie@etsdental.com

CareerBuilder’s Annual College Job Forecast: New Grads Must Step it Up

Do you know someone graduating this spring (and no, watching the “Donna Martin Graduates” episode of old-school 90210 doesn’t count)? Chances are if you do, you’ve sensed or outright listened to them rant about heard their trepidation about entering the “real world” and throwing their hat into the current job market ring. Because, well, the environment right now is not exactly what it used to be for soon-to-be or recent grads. Things are a little tough out there.


The class of 2009 will face the most competitive job market in years, as companies continue to proceed with caution amid economic uncertainty, according to CareerBuilder’s newly released annual college job forecast.The percentage of employers planning to hire recent college grads is roughly half of what it was just two years ago. Only 43 percent of employers plan to hire recent college graduates in 2009, down from 56 percent in 2008 and 79 percent in 2007.


2009 Salaries


Along with the economy, entry-level salaries have taken a bit of a dive. Among those employers planning to hire recent college graduates, more than one in five (21 percent) said they will decrease starting salaries for recent college graduates in 2009 as compared to 2008. But there’s hope! A whopping 68 percent of employers plan to keep initial salary offers the same as last year, and 11 percent will increase them.

• Thirty-three percent of employers plan to offer recent college graduates starting salaries ranging between $30,000 and $40,000.


• An additional 17 percent will offer between $40,000 and $50,000


• Fourteen percent will offer more than $50,000


• Thirty-six percent will offer less than $30,000

“While recent college graduates are facing a highly competitive job market right now, there are still opportunities out there,” said Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America.

“The biggest challenge is showing relevant experience, which employers say is one of the most important factors they look for in applications from recent college graduates. This isn’t limited to professional work experience, so don’t get discouraged. Class work, school activities and volunteering also qualify as relevant experience and can be included in your resume as well.”

So how can new graduates differentiate themselves in the current job market, and what are the absolute faux pas that today’s candidates need to be aware of — and steer clear of? Employers who participated in the survey weighed in below.

Relevant work experience?

I’m pretty sure grads (and candidates in general) should leave that week-long stint with a cult or the Britney Fan Club honorary board member award off their credentials. But with that said, what activities qualify as pertinent work experience for recent college grads to include on their resumes?

• Internships


• Part-time jobs in another area or field


• Volunteer work


• Involvement in school organizations


• Class work


• Involvement in managing activities for sororities and fraternities


• Participation in sports

Hey new grads, don’t do this:

Employers also shared their opinions on the biggest mistakes new grads make when applying and interviewing. Wearers of Spandex unitards and lovers of keg stand Facebook profile pictures, take note:

• Acting bored or cocky - 63 percent


• Not dressing appropriately - 61 percent


• Coming to the interview with no knowledge of the company - 58 percent


• Not turning off cell phones or electronic devices - 50 percent


• Not asking good questions during the interview - 49 percent


• Asking what the pay is before the company considered them for the job - 38 percent


• Spamming employers with the same resume and/or cover letter - 21 percent


• Failure to remove unprofessional photos/content on social media such as social networking pages, Web pages, blogs - 19 percent


• Not sending a thank you note after the interview - 12 percent

CareerBuilder’s Annual College Job Forecast was conducted from February 20 to March 11, 2009 among 2,543 hiring managers and Human Resource professionals. Get the full press release here.