If you're anything like me, you probably spend all day seeing patients, from cleaning teeth to correcting cavities. 

And that pile of resumes has been staring at you all day...

Who has time for resumes?

As the front office staff head home, your work is just beginning. If you don't make a hire soon, who's going to replace your hygienist? They put in their 2-week notice, but that's hardly enough time to get through these resumes, let alone interview and hire someone.

And all the while, your family is waiting . . . 

How can you effectively get through the large pile of resumes and short list candidates? 

In this article we are going to give you three tips for doing just that. Let’s get started . . . 

1. Posting Requirements  

The first tip for getting through that pile of dental resumes starts long before the resumes start coming in. 

It starts when your hygienist gives notice. First consider the employee leaving and ask yourself these questions: 

1. What qualifications did they have that you want your next employee to have? 
2. What qualifications or certifications did they not have that you think would enhance the employee/employer relationship this time? 

There are many other questions you should be considering and asking yourself when putting together the perfect job post. We'll talk about those in another post.

For now, consider tailoring and refining your job post. When you do, you increase the percentage of qualified candidates and reduce the number of resumes you end up scanning and placing in the ‘No’ pile. 

This will also decrease the amount of time you will need to go through resumes as the applicants applying to your position will have a clearer idea of what you are looking for as a dental employer. 

Wondering just how to write the best dental position post? We have you covered with our blog on the Top 5 Tips for Posting the Perfect Job Post. 

2. Basic Information and Qualifications 

Once, the resumes start coming in, one trick to moving through and narrowing your candidate stack is to scan for basic information and qualifications.

A candidates ability to effectively communicate through their resume is the first test of competence.

For example, has the dental applicant made it clear and simple for you to know their: 

• Full name 
• Contact information 
• Trainings
• Education
• Experience 
• Certifications  

If the answer is no and you don't see the information you were expecting from the dental applicant, the resume can be placed into the ‘No’ pile.

Remember, you are seeking a competent individual to fill your position. And their ability to communicate effectively through their resume is the first test of their competence.

Scanning for the qualifications that you are looking for will ensure that you will be interviewing applicants in-person or over the phone who all have met your initial qualifications. 

Why is this time-saving? 

Because it provides you focus for the first round of resume cuts, as well as the opportunity to focus on the personality and cultural fit of a dental candidate when on the phone with them or in person and deep in the interviewing process. 

3. Grammar Errors  

The final tip of the day for going through the stack of resumes with increased capacity will help you do two things: 

1.  Increase your chances of getting home to dinner with your family sooner 
2. Decrease the likelihood that your hygienist's two weeks will come and go without you having someone to fill the position

So that's two tips. What's the last tip? 

It goes back to your days in dentistry school and you where handing in mid-term papers . . . 

Grammar! 

As a dental office, from the moment of contact with a potential patient to the time you are completing their dental work, the patient is assessing your staff and asking themselves:

 “Is this dental office competent in caring for my dental needs?” 

This quick checking for grammatical and punctuation errors will lead you quickly to finding a dental candidate who has an eye for detail. And we all know how important that is in this field.

Next week, we'll share 3 Steps for Cutting Down Screening Time and Narrow Down Candidate Selection. Be sure to follow us to see our regular updates.

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