Job Interview for an Associate Position - In Progress!

So you've got an interview with a potential employer.  How do you prepare and what sorts of questions will you be asked and what should you ask?  Make sure you bring a printed copy of your own resume (maybe also some YELP reviews, and/or a production report from a residency), in case they're one of those really busy dentists who didn't have time to print any of your information out ahead of time.

Questions you may be asked:  (taken from http://www.dentistrysbusinesssecrets.com/interview-questions/)
1. Why are you interested in this position?
2. Why did you get into this line of work?
3. What job experience do you have that would help you in this position?
4. Why are you looking to change jobs?
5. What are your strengths?
6. What are your weaknesses?
7. What do you find most frustrating at work?
8. What gives you the most enjoyment at work?
9. Are you willing to perform job duties that no one else wants to do?
10. Are you willing to do someone else’s job if they fail to do it?
11. Are you willing to work nontraditional hours?
12. Are you willing to stay late after office hours if emergency treatment requires you to do so?
13. Are you able to get along well with coworkers?
14. Would you harbor any negative feelings about coworkers who are getting paid more than you?
15. What are your ambitions within the field of dentistry?
16. What are your ambitions outside the field of dentistry?
17. What are your goals for the future?

Questions I've heard in interviews:

1)  Tell me about yourself.  Chances are they probably haven't studied your resume yet, so take this opportunity to give them a recap about where you grew up, where you went to school, where you are now, and why you're looking to take on this job.

2)  Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?  They want to know if you plan to open your own practice.  Sometimes a dentist wants to hold on to an associate for a long time.  Sometimes they may want to help an associate find their feet and help them open their own practice in about 5 years.  Every office is different.  You choose what you want, and just be honest.

3)  How would you rate yourself as a dentist?  This is a hard question to answer for me.  How can someone say that their dentistry is 100%?  No one can promise that.

4)  Where are you working now?  They may know your other bosses, if you have others.  But they're more interested in what days you're already taken.  

5)  Why did you leave your last position?  Are you a hard person to work with?  Was there a problem at the other office that may resurface again by working here?  Be diplomatic on this one.  You don't know if this  dentist and the last one know each other at all, so don't bad mouth anyone here.  You may just say that and the last dentist saw dentistry differently, or maybe they were selling the practice... just try to be honest without shooting the last horse.

6)  What parts of dentistry do you like?  What don't you like?  Obviously, they want to see what procedures you can handle and what you'd rather refer out.  Make sure you're both on the same page.  And see if the dentist is willing to mentor you and help you reach that next notch in maturity as a dentist if there are procedures you aren't comfortable doing right now.


Questions you should ask:

1)  How much will I be paid?  Most I've seen has been 25% of production with base pay of $500 for an 8-hour day in the SF Bay Area.  A couple exceptions: 1) I used to work 9-hour days for an office for $500/day; 2) Another office I worked 7-hour days with 30% of production with $450 base minimum.

2)  What days and hours do you need me?  Most offices will ask part time at the least liked hours of the week... Saturdays and evenings... some in the South Bay are asking for Sundays.  You'll be lucky if you can land something during the day, and its almost impossible to find full-time, unless you're working for a large entity/corporation/group practice.

3)  Is this position long-term or just temporary?  For how long?  Many older dentists who are thinking of retiring hire on an associate, and keep them stringing along until they're ready to jump the boat and transfer the patients.  Some female dentists are having babies and need to take maternity leave, so they have temporary positions available... if they've just opened their practice or moved to a new one, maybe they're hiring for someone more long-term.

4)  Have you ever had an associate before?  Why did they leave?  Would it be okay to ask your prior associate how they liked working here?
It helps if there's a history of an associate working there.  This way patients aren't shocked when they see a new face treating them at their next appointment.  I hear it's really hard to go from one main dentist to adding an associate, than it is to have one associate already and switch out that associate for another.  It also helps to do a background check on the employer through the prior associate.  Why did the associate leave?  Only by talking to the associate will you get the truthful answer.


5)  What procedures do you do here?  What would you expect me to do?  Do you refer anything out?  Why or why not?
Craigslist will always post that they want dentists who can do molar endo and impacted thirds.  Be honest if you can or cannot do these.  Also, alarms should be screaming if you hear, "We don't refer anything out, and we make sure to keep everything in-house."  If you're in a general dentist office, unless they're hiring specialists to come in part-time, be very skeptical if a dentist says they can do all dentistry.  Do they do molar endo and use a scope?  Do they extract all impacted thirds and provide IV anesthesia?  Do they place all their own implants and take CTs?  Do they do all their own perio surgeries?  Is it ok if you refer out some procedures?  Most employers may only ask you to start out with hygiene and operative, and slowly give you more and more complicated procedures.  It's fine to start with hygiene too, that way you can get to know patients and see the dental work that has been done at the office.

6)  What systems do you use?  Practice management, implants, endo...
The most common software I've seen are Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and EasyDental.  There's a super broad spectrum of implant systems out there, but the most common I've seen being used are NobelBiocare, Zimmer, and Hiossen.  For endo, there's ProTaper, EndoSequence, and LightSpeedLSX.  There are also dentists who use Tulsa Greater Taper (GT) files, and those who still do cold lateral compaction.

7)  What is your policy on redos?  How common are they?  What is your policy for fillings and crowns?
Most of the time, fillings are covered by insurances every 2 years, and crowns are covered every 5 years by insurances.  If the restoration breaks down before those time marks, or if the restoration was not done up to standard, ask how they tell patients a restoration should be redone.  Sometimes the dentist will want you to run a crown redo by him/her before redoing it.  Remember there's time involved, and quite possibly another lab fee.

8)  Is there a dress code?  Can I wear scrubs?  Are there white coats or disposable gowns?
Follow the flow of the office.  I personally prefer disposable gowns because they're cleaner, but sometimes you just have to see what everyone else is wearing to blend in.  You wouldn't want to be the only one wearing something different.

9)  How long has your staff been with you?
It's good to hear from the boss about how he or she thinks they keep a good staff.  Staff retention is important, because it helps maintain the flow of the office.  If a dentist is having problems retaining staff, that should be sending you red flags, because maybe they're really picky (good for quality of dentistry, bad for people?), or maybe they're unreasonable (bad for everyone).

10)  What is your typical patient like?
Find out if the patients are down-to-earth or if they are extremely picky.  Richer areas obviously tend to have patients with much higher expectations, and those areas out in the boonies tend to have patients who are more straight-forward and are appreciative for your services.  See how the dentist answers this question... I've seen an employer take great pride in that his patients are really nice.  "It says a lot about your practice who you allow through the door."

Now that you've landed a working interview, here are some tips to follow:

1)  Bring your Malpractice Insurance declarations insert, CA Dental License, CA Driver's License, DEA License (if you have one), loupes, and a sack lunch!  You don't know if you'll run late or if there's even fast food to grab nearby, so just be on the safe side and bring food and beverage with you!

2)  Dress professionally (no miniskirts, no sweaters!), and bring a freshly ironed white coat (just in case).  Don't wear scrubs until you later verify that it's okay with the employer to wear scrubs.  Wear comfortable shoes, but no slippers.  Definitely no open-toe shoes... completely unprofessional.

3)  Make sure to sign a tax form before you leave at the end of the day.  I've seen a range of W forms.

4)  Talk to the staff when you find a free moment.  Find out how they like working for the boss and how long they've been working there.  If you do this in confidence, then you'll know they're telling the truth.  Ask them what they know of the previous associate too.  I've heard all sorts of crazy stories about how the staff hate their current boss and how they're changing careers because of their horrible situations.  Examples:  security cameras are put everywhere to deter assistants from idling around, minimum pay with long hours, having to be on call after hours for emergencies, not having a good place to park their car (cuz if they park in the parking lot, they've been threatened of being fired!).

5)  Find out what labs they use, and take a look at the lab work that comes back.

---more to come---