I have written nearly 60 columns for the Weekly Villager since June, 2008. The focus of my articles has always been patient centered. Equipping my readers with topical subjects makes them better patient/consumers and, by extension, happy, well-cared for patients. This time I am going to step out of my role as writer/educator and into company hiring manager in need of advice in finding “a few good employees”.
First of all let me say that I am extremely fortunate to work with a couple of very talented, hard working and dedicated colleagues. Dr. Tom Pesarchick, my business partner is an excellent and dedicated clinician and businessman. Kaytee Tudor, our dental assistant is one of the most conscientious, reliable and competent young ladies I have had the pleasure of working with in a very long time. So what’s the problem? As “they” say, what’s with the “long face”? The issue is our dental practice is expanding and growing and as a result we need to add to our staff.
You would think that in today’s economy and tough job market that hiring another dental assistant to work for us would be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, I am getting a pretty rude awakening.
Oh my gosh, you can’t imagine what we have gone through in the last 6 months to find another employee. There are a number of dental assisting programs and schools that place externs in dental offices so that the students can acquire real world dental assisting experience. So, Dr. Tom and I thought this would be a terrific avenue to identify potential up and coming talent. Not the case.
One extern basically stood around and did nothing. Another extern who we had for 1 month called off sick no fewer than 5 times and then did not show up to work on St. Patrick’s Day. Another extern just stopped showing up and never called. The last extern went to lunch and never came back – no call, no courtesy.
One applicant came in for her interview in blue jeans and a tee shirt. Whatever happened to professionalism? Another applicant thought she was the official greeter for the practice and proceeded to carry on protracted conversations with patients during her working interview without bothering to assist. I asked one interviewee for a professional reference and she asked if she could use her father. Some made appointments for interviews and did not bother to show up. Really? I could go on and on but you get the point.
A number of local businesses have been kind enough in the past to allow me to put up “help wanted signs” in their stores. I put up a sign on the front door of our practice. Several classified ads have been placed in the Weekly Villager (By the way, there is one in this week’s edition). An ad is currently running in Monster.com. This is actually the second time I’ve done this. The first time I guess our ad was so desirable that a lady in the Philippines wrote and said she would relocate to Garrettsville for us. This time we had an applicant tell us she would move from Glendale California.
So, what is the take home message? Simply, we need help… an experienced, part-time dental assistant. See the ad in this week’s edition of the Weekly Villager and if you or someone you know fits the description of who we are looking for please contact us.
Dr. Richard Behrman and Dr. Thomas Pesarchick are co-founders of University Dental of Garrettsville, Inc. Please contact Dr. Behrman at 330-527-3368 with any suggestions for future column topics.
