Module 10: Professional Development and Career Pathways

#1, NEVER put your resume on computer paper. Use resume paper ONLY and NOT white resume paper, use an off white or beige… Once you have your resume ready and are ready to get out there and find your dream job then it is time to find out what your radius is.

Are you willing to drive 20 miles to work 30 miles to work or more? Or do you want to stay close to home? Once you have determined how far you are willing to drive then go online and Google every doctors office in your radius. I want you to see how many doctors are in your radius, you will be surprised how many doctors will be in it. Then it is very important To Google every doctor and clinic and find out as much as you can about every location.

You want to find out how long they have been in practice, where they graduated school etc. This is very important because you need to know details like that for your interview. Dr.’s love it when you tell them that you googled them and that you love all the reviews. They do not see you as being a stalker it is totally fine, and they find it flattering but, it’s just very smart to educate yourself on who you could be working for.

I’m not talking about doing a background check, I’m just talking about learning about the practice and the Dr., that way you are not thrown off-guard if they ask you what you know about the practice.

Now that you have educated yourself on every clinic and Dr.’s office in your radius it is time you need to make a list of the Dr.’s that you will be going to drop off resumes to. Be efficient with your time. You may have to take a day off of work or even 2 days.

It is OK to look for jobs on sites such as indeed but do not count on those because 90% of the Dr.’s do not even advertise. If you do happen to apply online for a job, make sure you go there as well and take a resume. There is nothing like old school job hunting, it has a better impact.  You must look an act the part. If you want to be in a professional field, you must look and be professional! There is no way around it. It is not like you’re applying for a job at Walmart or McDonald’s. This is a whole different kind of ball game. I have had so many Drs tell me what they like me to teach my students and this is a big one.

When you decide on where you’re going to drop off your resumes it is important to list the doctors in a row numbers one through whatever you have and go to each of them in that exact order, that way you won’t be too overwhelmed and you will stay on track. let’s start off with doctor number one, you will go there, and you will walk to the front desk with your resume in hand and introduce yourself to the person sitting there. Do not ask for the office manager or the doctor. If they happen to be at the desk and they see you and want to talk to you that is one thing but do not disturb them by asking for them.

OK this is exactly what you need to say so here we go, you walk in, you talk to the person at the front desk and you say to them “hi I’m Jane Doe and what is your name?”, then reach out to shake their hand, introduce yourself, repeat their name to them so if they say to you their name is Jill then you say to them, “hi Jill, it is nice to meet you, I just came by to drop off a resume”. If they’re wearing a name tag, then please don’t ask what their name is, you won’t look very bright, but you would do the same thing except you don’t have to ask what their name is. It is always good to compliment something about the office even if it’s a picture on the wall or if you think that the building itself is beautiful.

Never ask if they are hiring! That is a big NO NO! If they offer you that information, then that is fine. Some places really are not hiring but could be hiring in the near future, in the medical field you just never know, things turn very quickly. Some people want to go into other areas of medicine sometimes people just move but they will hold on to your resume if they feel that you were professional. They also will send you to a Dr. that they know is hiring if they like you. You have got to have a little bit of personality that is a big deal.

If you walk into an office all hunched over with terrible posture and not looking the person in the face and your awkwardly mumbling or using poor grammar then that screams out that you will not be a good fit and therefore they most likely will not be holding on to your resume beyond the moment you close the door behind you on your way out.

Make sure you look them in the eye and smile and compliment something about the office or even compliment something about the person if you notice that she has earrings on that you like then you can say i really like your earrings there’s nothing wrong with that. Now it is very important that you find a way to shake that person’s hand that’s why I always just stick my hand out and say it’s really nice to meet you it works every time I’ve ever had to do it and I’ve been teaching to do this for over 20 years.

This is why it is so important when you touch someone whether it be on their arm or their hand and you repeat their name back to them with a smile on your face it gives them a sense of knowing you it causes a chemical reaction in the brain that a person would get after seeing their best friend. if you’ve had any psychology classes you already know this. So, when you turn around to leave, they’re going to like you and they’re going to make sure that that doctor or the office manager sees your resume whether they’re hiring or not because at any time they could be hiring. Now do you think they really know that they like you. Most likely there just having an experience of chemical reaction in the brain, but does that help you in the long run? Absolutely! After you have taken your resume in dropped it off everywhere that you wanted to then go and buy a package of the small thank you cards, you want them to be blank on the inside you can get those at most any store . They are very inexpensive.

You will want to wait 2 or 3 days then mail those to every Dr. that you took a resume to. This shows a few things to the doctor. It shows that you are persistent, and it shows that you are very interested in working there and it also shows that you go that extra mile. This is what you will want to say inside of the card. Dear DR. John doe, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to review my resume. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at, then write down your email a phone number and sign your name. Do not sign love or sincerely. By doing this it makes you look very professional. just a little trick of the trade that I’m sharing with you.

Let’s go over how you’re supposed to look. I will go over if you are a male or female what your appearance should look like. Let’s go over a male administrative assistant. Men should have your haircut relatively short; it doesn’t have to be super short, but it does have to look fresh cut, clean and styled. Please be freshly shaved. Make sure you are dressed appropriately. I always suggest everybody to go online and to look at pictures of business casual dress.

No jewelry on the face or in the tongue. You can wear one necklace, one ring on one hand not on both and a watch or a bracelet on one wrist not on both. For women you must wear a little bit of makeup, for those of you that hate makeup once you’re in the fields you won’t have to wear it, but you will need to look professional. This is like an audition you have got to look the part so you have to wear makeup you do not need to look like you’re going out to a party you want to dress business casual with minimal makeup meaning a little bit of powder so that your skin isn’t shiny and some lipstick or lip gloss and a little bit of mascara it goes along way. If you are good at applying makeup, then I suggest you wear your makeup the way you normally do if it’s not too much.

As far as jewelry goes let’s discuss that for a moment you cannot have a tongue ring or any facial piercings except for a nose stud which needs to be very small. With earrings you can have one set of earrings on and they need to be small stud earrings no dangle earrings. Necklaces; you can wear one necklace just one, one finger can have rings, but you cannot have again just on one hand one finger. Bracelet; one bracelet or a watch on your wrist but not on both wrists just one or the other. Shoes, you want to make sure that your toes are not exposed. No stiletto shoes and you want the heels to be very minimal. If you like to wear flats that is fine just make sure no matter what shoes you wear your toes are never exposed, I don’t care how cute your little pedicure is and how much you want to show it off.

OK so let’s talk about hair and fingernails. They are walking magnets for germs so they do not want to see your nails long and your hair has to be neat and clean like you just went to a stylist you don’t want your roots showing or any hairs out of place if you wear your hair up it still has to look like you spent time on it if you wear it down it has to look fantastic but you absolutely have to go the extra mile make yourself look extremely professional. This is exactly how you will look when you go to drop off resumes you will look the exact same way when you go for an interview as well, obviously you don’t want to wear the exact same clothing. Fingernails; not only do they need to be short, but they cannot be painted any color other than a soft natural color or a clear coat. It is OK to have your nails done with a French manicure but if you want to use color it has to be very soft natural like a very light beige color a taupe color or a very pale pink color.

The reason why it is so important to look this way while dropping off a resume is because number one you’ve got to make a really good impression with the person that’s at the front desk #2 because very often a doctor will pull you into the back and give you an on the spot interview so you must be prepared! During an interview you must sit up straight look the doctor or the office manager in the eye when speaking to them or when they’re speaking to you. Never cross your arms in front of you it makes you look like you are on the defense. When you cross your legs cross them at the ankle and tuck them underneath your chair, do not cross them and stick them out like you were at home relaxed. You can choose to sit that way with them crossed at the ankle or put together side by side like you would sitting straight up in a chair. Make sure you answer any questions very clearly you want to say yes or no, not yeah. I always like to teach everyone to say yes Sir no Sir yes ma’am no ma’am. It just shows respect and goes a long way!

Make sure that you practice what you are going to say ahead of time. You want to have all that down before you even start dropping off resumes because you do not know if you will be called into the office for an on the spot interview. They will often ask you what your weaknesses are in your strengths are practice those. If you have not received a call back for an interview or hired within 3 months then that is a sign that you need to backtrack and review everything. You want to look at your resume make sure that there are no issues with that, is it something about the way you are doing your hair or dressing or in the way you are speaking to somebody at the front desk, what is it?

Most of my students find jobs relatively quick but I always tell them if you don’t hear anything or get a job within 3 months then it is time to reevaluate everything. I’ve had some students take as long as 6 months but that was without constant dedication. You must be consistent you must make sure you’re doing everything step by step. You absolutely must have a professional looking resume. They will often ask you during an interview about your children, most people have children but you need to reassure your future boss that you have a wonderful support system and that you will be on time every day and that you will not be called out during the day to go pick your children up at daycare or school. You can tell them that you have a wonderful support system from your family or your friends and even if you do not have one then you go and you find one go ask your best friend if he or she will go and get your child from preschool or daycare or wherever so that you won’t have to leave work for those first 90 days. Those first 90 days are crucial it is important that you are 15 minutes early every day and you are the last to leave every day and that you never call out or leave during work hours. You can always bribe your friend and tell them if it happens, you’ll give them $50 or whatever. When you go on interviews make sure that you are 15 minutes early as well.

After you have an interview do the same thing you did with the thank you cards except send a thank you card saying that you enjoyed meeting them and that you appreciate them taking the time to interview you. Stop! This is another big plus… they know when they call you for an interview that you do not have experience in the general field they know that you are educated without the experience so when you go for an interview if for some reason they tell you that they’re looking for someone with experience then I can guarantee you it is their nice way of saying no thank you. If you get told that then you immediately must rethink everything about the interview. Obviously, the resume is good because you got the interview and obviously you did very well dropping off resumes but that means something did not quite go right during the interview.

In this section we are going to discuss negotiating your salary. One thing I have found about being in the dental field is that all salaries are negotiable. Some Dr.’s require multiple interviews. On the first interview you will find out if a second one is required. During the first interview you do not want to bring up salary you want to leave it to the doctor to bring that up. They sometimes will ask you how much you were wanting or expecting to make or sometimes they will tell you that they start their new people out at a certain amount. That is a way to try to get you to agree to a lower amount. So, here is what you do; if they say to you what were you looking to make, your answer should be honest except for the fact you want to bid one dollar higher then what your bottom number is. If they say to you how much do you want to make in your bottom line is $15 then tell them $16.00 then they might come back with an offer of $15 thinking that they got a dollar deal. That would mean that you are making your bottom line.

Some will come back a little lower than that they might offer $14.00, if that happens and you definitely want to make at least $15 an hour then you could always say to them that $14.00 an hour is OK for now but it won’t get you by for long an ask what you need to do to get a raise after 90 days. Just remember anytime you are expected to give an answer about your salary to tell the doctor it’s negotiable Sometimes they will just come out and say that they start new people out at a certain amount of money and that is fine if you don’t mind making that amount but remember it’s all negotiable no matter what they say.

You never want to discuss your salary any other coworkers. Doing so is grounds for termination. The reason for that is somebody working there could have been there for 10 years and not received any raises or very minimal at best and then they would go running to the boss complaining that you are making more money which puts your boss in a terrible predicament. He would end up paying more salary to avoid somebody quitting on spot and leaving him hanging. That is just going to make your employer very unhappy and once again he will probably fire you. It really is none of anybody’s business what you make what benefits do you have. Here is an example; I was new to a practice after working somewhere else for link the time And I got along with everybody well, but I remembered not to talk about my salary or my benefits with any of my coworkers. When I went on my interview, salary was brought up. He asked about my 2 weeks’ vacation And I told him that I’ve had that amount of vacation every year for many years and that I did not want to start over again with a year vacation after one year in 2 years vacation after 2 years so I asked him if he could give me the 2 weeks after one year and he agreed. I never did tell any of my coworkers because I didn’t want them to run into his office in complain that they didn’t get that. Of course, everyone found out when i got back from my 2 weeks In Florida.

It is essential that you build your self-confidence. You might be asked during your first interview to come back and do a working interview. This is how you doing working interview and job shadowing they’re both exactly the same. You want to be in scrubs, hair pulled back and off your face, be 15 minutes early, offer to help everybody including the front desk people and the hygienist if there is one, don’t put your hands in your pocket behind your back or crossed on your chest . Those are huge no- nos. Do everything you can to keep busy, ask the Dr. when you get there if he minds that you ask questions. Ask him if he wants you to ask questions during a procedure or wait and ask after the procedure. It is helpful to bring a little writing pad so you can take notes.

Here’s a little tip to get on everyone’s good side, bring a dozen fresh hot donuts! I’m totally serious, it works!

We are now going to go over the entire process of resumes and getting a job. Let’s start with the resume. If you do not know how to create a professional resume it is always best and highly recommended to pay for a professional to do your resume. Being in the dental or medical field is a highly sought-after career it is not just a job. It is very important that your resume look and be very professional. It is very important that you look and be very professional and it is very important that you understand exactly all the steps that are required to achieve your goals.

Resumes should never be printed on white paper you may read somewhere that it’s okay but believe me it is not. Resumes should never be printed out on computer paper they should only be printed on resume paper. I highly recommend getting a resume folder to place your resume in, along with any certificates or letters of recommendation that you might have. You will want to put the resume on the left side of the open folder everything else on the right side. Make sure that you make copies of everything and that you do not hand out the original copy of anything. It is totally acceptable to put any copies on computer paper but resumes absolutely must be on resume paper. With those folders you will carry the envelopes for the folders to fit into. This looks much more professional then the old-fashioned way of folding resume into a trifold and shoving them into an envelope. If for some reason you cannot obtain folders, then second choice would be to place them in a matching resume envelope. Whatever you do, do not place the resume in a regular white envelope.

Now that we’ve talked about what type of resume paper and envelopes let’s talk a little bit about what needs to be on the resume. It is very important to add any volunteer work have done whether it was cooking at a homeless shelter or volunteering at your child’s school for activities, or even volunteering at the Humane Society. Church activities that require volunteers are also good have on the resume. What doctors are looking for is stability. They want to see that you have had minimal jobs in a short period of time. For example, if you have worked somewhere for 3 months and then somewhere else for 3 months, another place for 2 months, and another place for 3 months all within a years’ time frame that won’t look good or pleasing to an M.D.   They want to see that you have worked somewhere and stayed put. If your background is such as what I was describing, then you will want to leave off any real short duration jobs.

It is best to have voids of time off and explain that as just taking time off work and you could come up with whatever reason you would like versus looking like you have any issues staying at a job. It does not matter what your background is they just want to see that you can deal with people.

To work at a daycare, you will be highly considered because that shows you have patience with children and adults as well because you have to deal with their parents and it also shows that you are caring and that you enjoy being around people. If you work in fast food or if you work in the restaurant industry as a server, they view that as highly desirable because it shows that you have people skills and that you are able to deal with the public. If you work at Walmart or any other department store it shows once again that you have patience and can work under stressful situations. I myself worked in retail and in the food industry and it is extremely difficult to please certain kinds of people. So once again it shows that you are patient and you are a people person. They know that you do not have experience working as a medical  assistant when they call you in for an interview because they have your resume and have viewed it and they are interested in you enough to call you in for an interview.

Personal characteristics that are required to be a medical assistant such as honesty and dependability are the foundation of our personal character.

If you do not already possess the following important personal characteristics, work towards making them part of who you are both as a person and as a healthcare professional!

Dependability and punctuality:

Your team members and patients expect you to be there to help them. If you miss work or are late others will have to do your work in your absence.

Maturity:

Receiving constructive criticism without becoming defensive. View it as an essential part of learning so that you can do a better job. Remain calm in emergencies and do what you can to help.

Accuracy:

Your patients and the doctor depend on your accuracy and close attention to detail. Mistakes can be very costly to a patient’s health and to the reputation of the practice. A mistake could even result in legal action.

Positive attitude:

Be confident in your abilities as a health care professional. Be a team player! The success of patient care depends on team effort. Work with minimal instruction and supervision. Stay busy even if there are no patients. There is always something to be done in the office, don’t wait to be told what to do, take the initiative to do needed tasks.

Tactful communication: 

Do not discuss your personal problems with patients or with colleagues in the office. Choose your words very carefully in casual conversation or in front of a patient. Be very careful with discussing a difficult treatment situation. The right words can make a great deal of difference to your patient and colleagues.

Honesty:

You make a mistake, admit it immediately. Never blame your mistakes on others. Do not use office resources or time for personal business. Empathy: in difficult situations try to see things through your patient’s eyes. Try to imagine how you would feel in that same situation. Help ensure patients that need care, even if they are frightened or in pain.

Patience and courtesy:

Always graciously welcome all patients who come to you for care. When asked to explain procedures speak slowly and remember to use words and an explanation a patient can understand. Calmly repeat yourself if necessary or choose different words to explain.

Professional appearance:

Numerous details go into maintaining a professional appearance, but they are not time consuming or difficult. Remember that maintaining a professional appearance shows your patients and colleagues that you take your work seriously and value the professionalism of the health care field. A messy or unkept appearance gives coworkers and patients the idea that you might not care about the work you are doing. In addition, uncleanliness in a medical office carries implications for infection control and prevention of disease. Maintaining a professional appearance includes personal cleanliness, good grooming, and appropriate clothing. A daily bath or shower is required, and you should use deodorant and maintain good oral hygiene including your own fresh breath. Clothing: You must wear a uniform to the office, and it needs to be freshly washed and ironed. Old uniforms are not acceptable. Unclean garments can harbor pathogens that can pass along illness and disease. Shoes should be clean and polished and make sure your laces are clean. Makeup and fragrances; wear makeup at a minimum. lighter colors are appropriate. Scented products such as body lotion or perfume should be barely noticeable or avoid them all together because a lot of times patients and co-workers are not able to tolerate strong scents and may have an allergic reaction. Avoid using tobacco products of any kind. Fingernails; keep fingernails short. Nails should be neatly manicured. Nail polish should be clear colored, or you can even have a French manicure. Fingernails can rip through gloves, they also harbor pathogens. Keep jewelry to a minimum and tasteful. Earrings should only be a single pair of small studs. Remove all body jewelry. If you’re going to wear rings, wear them on one finger and wear them with caution because if the ring sits high it will tear gloves or interfere with procedures. Professional attitude: Your education provides you with necessary skills and knowledge to do your job well and a professional attitude shows in several ways. Timeliness is important to your colleagues and to patients that are counting on you. Respect the office as a business. Do not waste supplies and be professional.

Attention to Details:

Take the time to do your job well and maintain a positive and respectful attitude. Take initiative and follow all office policies and procedures.

Communication with health professionals should always be proper and never casual. Health professionals depend on tech’s for information! That allows for them to provide quality care to patients.

Never call a healthcare professional by his or her first name.

Always call a physician ” doctor.”

Be professional when you are communicating with coworkers. Regular conversations should be done during lunch or break time .

Speak with confidence to health care professionals so that you sound respectful and not incompetent.

If you do not know something, then be honest about it. It is always better to ask than to assume. Never assume!

Telephone skills are extremely important. Techs must use the phone as a way of communicating with patients, insurance companies and pharmacies along with other dentists and physicians.

You should always try to answer incoming calls on the first ring if possible. No later than the third.

Identify the office and yourself and then always ask may I help you?

If a call comes in during the middle of another call ask the person you are speaking with you can place them on hold for just a moment then answer the other call.

Explain to the second caller that you are on the line with another patient and that you will put them on hold for just a moment and that you will be right back.

You never want to put anyone on hold if an emergency doctor calling to speak to another doctor.

Remember when speaking on the phone to always be friendly and have a positive tone!