At TempStars, we want to provide the resources, information and inspiration to help dental professionals find the work lives they deserve. So we partnered with the Canada’s #1 professional resume writers, DocDoctor.ca to bring you the advice you need to get your resume and interview skills in top shape to land that dream job you’re looking for!
Whether you’re a dental hygienist or assistant with years of experience or a new graduate going for your first job interview – it can be nerve-racking! Everyone experiences pre-interview jitters. The key to not letting those jitters get in the way of you acing your interview is to come prepared.
But, how do you prepare for the interview?
If you go into a job interview being able to speak to these four major points from your awesome resume, you are sure to do well.
1. Communication Skills
In the dental industry, solid communication skills are crucial no matter your role. Your interviewer will want to be sure you’ll fit well with the team and keep patients coming back! To highlight your communication skills in the interview, speak about the key employment experiences you’ve had where you worked well with a team or had good patient experiences. Think of a time when a patient, your boss, or a coworker gave you a great review. Or mention a difficult situation that you managed well through great communication. If you’re newly graduated, refer to your schooling experience when you worked on team projects. Mentioning this in your interview will help a lot.
2. Teamwork Experience
Beyond your communication skills, your overall ability to work well with a team is something every employer looks for. In a dental office, your fellow dentists, hygienists, assistants, reception, and other staff want somebody they can work with easily. Even if your previous jobs had a lot of independent work, think of the times you collaborated with others. Identify the positive team dynamics you had in previous roles and what your role was in those teams. Words like “cooperation”, “initiative”, and “positive attitude” will go a long way in showing what type of team player you are.
For those of you who have successfully completed dental temping shifts, be sure to mention how well you work with all sorts of teams as you move through offices!
3. Qualifications & CE Credits
It may seem obvious that you would speak about your technical qualifications in a job interview, but a lot of people fail to mention some of the things that make you really shine! This means sharing any of the unique CE credits you’ve received, any additional qualifications you’ve achieved, or any professional development you’ve undertaken. You may not think that team leadership course you took is relevant to your dental role, but it gives your interviewer a fuller picture of you as an employee. When you mention the qualifications, explain how it has helped you to be a better dental professional and person overall.
4. Skills Learned from Each Job/Placement
Where you worked and how long you worked there doesn’t always matter as much as the skills and lessons you learned from the experience. Take the time to read through your resume and reflect on each job or temporary work experience you’ve had. Identify the skills you gained in your time there that are relevant to your role. As well, reflect on the personal developments you made as a result of situations and challenges that arose in the role. Did a particularly challenging day at work change your personal perspective on something? Did a patient’s unique case make you better at what you do? These are all valuable points to mention to your interviewer, so that they can see you have grown and have the capacity to grow.
If you still need some help sprucing up your resume to land a job interview, check out our recent blog Write A Great Resume – Resume Mistakes and How to Fix Them. And check out www.docdoctor.ca if you want some additional help to really shine!
DocDoctor.ca
As we mentioned, we’ve teamed up with DocDoctor.ca‘s professional resume writers to provide you with these tips. Based out of Ottawa, this awesome team works hard to help all sorts of clients improve their resumes (dental included)! If implementing all of these tips still didn’t make you feel confident that your resume is ready – get in touch with DocDoctor.ca who can help you out.
