If you've ever interviewed for an opening in your practice, I'm sure this thought has entered your mind. I am currently interviewing for a roving office assistant and I am disheartened by the attitudes of the applicants I've been interviewing.
To begin with, I can remember interviewing for positions when I wanted a job. I tried to present my skills, abilities and willingness to be an integral part of a team. I never asked what the position benefits were until we were clearly negotiating my employment. Once I was hired, I understood that if I wanted my salary to increase, my skills and value to the practice would have to increase first. I didn't expect to be paid more for being nice, or funny, or for just existing. I knew that I'd have to take on more responsibility, find ways to improve what we were doing, and be an overall asset in terms of my physical, personal and psychological presence in the practice.
Let's break it down. When I say my physical presence, I mean I have to work. If a patient cancels and I'm an assistant, I have to find other things to do, even if it's just wiping down shelves or straightening the supply closet. I have to offer my help to others in the office. It doesn't mean sitting in the break-room with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. The dentist is already losing money because of the cancellation, I'm not going to rub in the fact that he's paying me to read Ann Landers. This holds true for any position in the office.
When I talk about personal presence, I'm referring to the mood you create around you. I try to be upbeat and optimistic, try to help my co-workers and look for ways to help them stay on time and relieve stress for them. I don't wait to be asked, I don't act like a request is an imposition and I don't feel like they owe me something if I help them. It's all work, it all needs to be done, and I'm getting paid to work; seems like a no-brainer. Everyone knows they can come to me for help and I like that.
Finally, having a healthy psychological presence in the practice is so important. We've all worked with people who bring their baggage to work with them. They seem to define themselves by their quirks and expect others to find it endearing. It's not, it's usually annoying. They seem to think that it's their God-given, legally protected right to be weird, and if we are unlucky enough not to catch it in the interview, we're stuck with them. If we really can't take it and we let them go, we're going to end up paying unemployment while they sit home watching The Price Is Right. They may even manage to seem fantastic during the interview process, only to unleash their poor work ethic, entitlement attitude and generally unacceptable personality flaws soon after beginning to work. All of which would have been huge red warning flags slapping you in the head if they hadn't so carefully hidden them while they were sitting in your office convincing you that if you just gave them the chance they'd be a dynamic part of your hard-working team.
What I am finding, despite the poor economy, are people who want to spend the interview time telling me what I'll need to do to make them feel cherished and happy. They are applying for an entry level position, but want to tell me what responsibilities they will assume, rather than show a willingness to progress by learning what we want to teach them in the time-line we have developed. I'm sitting there listening to what they apparently consider the thoughts of a genius, and thinking, "Where are all the normal people hiding?" Sometimes I even wonder if my boss has set up a hidden camera somewhere in my office, but I think Candid Camera has gone off the air. I have developed an interview system that usually saves us from making hiring mistakes, but it's arduous and time consuming.
I've heard that this is a great time to be hiring because there are a lot of talented people available due to cut-backs and lay-offs. What I'm really seeing are people who are willing to take a job outside their area of interest until something they really want becomes available. During the interview, if you ask them why they want to work in a dental office after attending nursing school, they'll tell you that they realized they don't like working in a hospital, but really love the dental environment. Two months later, they may tearfully hand you their resignation when a nursing job is offered. I understand that people need to do what is best for them, but it's made me harder to convince when the next person comes along.
I want to interview someone who will show an interest in becoming a hard-working member of a fantastic team. I want someone who will not damage the culture of our practice with bizarre behavior and unreasonable attitudes. In other words, someone with a great work ethic, a desire to serve our patients, and a pleasant and caring personality. Anyone like that out there? If so, click on comment, I'd like to interview you.

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