Alabama Hygiene Newsletter
Job Network
The Alabama Hygiene Club is becoming your network for jobs! Whether you are looking to post a job for your office or apply for a job, the AHC will help facilitate all of this for FREE. Whether you are the receptionist, office manager, hygienist or assistant, we fill every position within a dental practice. Looking for a job, or filling a position within your practice? Visit the Alabama Hygiene Club!
Featured Product
Bring the power of the new IRIS Intraoral Camera into every operatory. This precision optical instrument features an easy to use 5-point Focus Wheel and unique USB connector that fits in a standard delivery unit. The elegantly streamlined profile has a much smaller, specially designed soft-tip with brilliant 8-point LED lighting and Sony’s Hi-Resolution CCD for the finest picture quality. Best in its class.
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Tips & Tricks
Facebook and Job Hunting
1. Let people know you are looking. Tweet, comment on your status and express your interest in finding a job.
2. Don't be afraid to network on Facebook. It's fun to look at statuses and pictures, but also it's a huge network at your fingertips.
3. Make sure your profile is private. While Facebook can be to your advantage, it can also easily prevent you from getting a job. Pictures and comments need to be protected!
4. "Like the Alabama Hygiene Club" page for important updates on new job openings!
The Workplace
Four Job Hunting Documents
Résumé
This one is obvious. But what isn’t obvious is how it should be formatted. The best format for a dental hygiene résumé is called the functional format. This is different than most résumés you see on the Internet, which follow the more traditional reverse chronological format.
With a functional format, you include your experience and skills in a section of their own, above your work history. And rather than provide duplicate information for each dental hygiene job you have had, you simply list the employer you worked for, their location, your job title, and the years you worked there. Below that you would list your education history, and if you still have room you could include other dental hygiene-related activities (association participation, community service, licensure, etc.).
Cover letter
You are really missing an opportunity to summarize your understanding of the qualifications for the job and how you meet them. Don’t take a chance on an employer matching up what they want with what you list on your résumé. Be specific and address each qualification listed in the announcement in your cover letter.
It’s also an opportunity for you to share your personal brand, and extend to the employer a call-to-action. You should always include a call-to-action at the end of your cover letter, requesting an opportunity for an interview and including methods for reaching you.
Testimonial sheet
It’s helpful when YOU talk about how great you are, but more influential when OTHERS talk about how great you are.
For that reason, I highly recommend that you create and keep on file a document that provides third-party validation of the claims you make about yourself. I call it a testimonial sheet; you would submit this document along with your cover letter and résumé to every hygiene position you apply for.
They are fairly simple to create and consist of a series of three to five short (two to three sentence) quotes from employers, coworkers, and even patients you have worked with over the years. Always get permission from those you are quoting; it’s ideal if you can simply pull the quote from an actual letter of reference.
A testimonial sheet gives you a clean and simple way to share what others have to say about you, and provides it in a format that is easy for a potential employer to quickly review.
CAR sheet
There’s a fourth document I recommend that you include with your résumé, cover letter, and testimonial sheet. I call it a CAR sheet. CAR stands for Challenge–Action–Resolution. It’s basically a series of mini case studies.
Employers engage best with you when they can relate to you through examples and stories. When they can see that you face problems just like them, and work to find solutions just like them, you make a really convincing argument that you are the type of employee they want.
Think of writing a CAR sheet the same way you would approach thinking about examples and stories you can share at your job interview. Everyone gets job interview questions about how they would handle certain situations, and the best way to respond to those is with real-life examples of how you have handled those situations. The CAR sheet is simply a condensed, written form of that.
I suggest that each case study or situation you write about be kept to about five sentences. And just as the acronym CAR indicates, break that up into three sections. Here’s an example:
[Challenge] At All Smiles Dental, I serviced a patient that had an intense fear of dental offices. She had been to several different practices in the last five years and kept changing because she didn’t feel comfortable.
[Action] I could sense her apprehension and decided to give her a little extra attention – more empathy and compassion – and tried to connect on things we had in common to help distract her.
[Resolution] It worked! She became one of my best, most consistent patients (and a great friend). She thanked me profusely when we were done and would only reschedule on days when I was working.
Your CAR sheet needs to be kept to one page and should include at least three mini case studies, although you may be able to fit as many as five or six on a page.
Patient Education
Three words dental hygienists should never say again...
It's easy to get caught in a routine throughout your day and forget every conversation is a selling and coaching moment that constructs lasting images in others’ minds. Attached is an article that might "sharpen your sword" in the the workplace. While clinical skills are extremely important, the psyche of both you and your patient are equal!
Click HERE.
Featured CE Event:
In Office CEs:
Why leave the office for CE? Whether you are finished with CE or need last minute CE before the deadline, book us on the calendar to kick start the next CE year! We have several options. Visit the Alabama Hygiene Club.
Want a topic covered in the next issue? Click HERE.
1. Perry, Doug and Tracie. "4 Job Hunting Documents Every Dental Hygienist Should Have." - DentistryIQ. N.p., 8 July 2015. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.