From dental assistants to dentists, your employees’ abilities affect the patient experience and profitability of your practice. When hiring new team members for your dental clinic, it can be tempting to get the hiring process over with as soon as possible, but speeding through it can have consequences.

We’ll provide six dental staff recruitment tips to help you find qualified dental professionals who will help your clinic grow. To learn more about developing your practice, read how to increase dental production to raise the value of your clinic.

1. Make the Job Description Specific to Your Needs

Whether you’re searching for a dental hygienist or an associate dentist, your job description should express your needs and wants for the position. Provide a concise, easy-to-read explanation of what the role involves and what you expect from potential candidates, including:

• Details regarding their daily responsibilities
• Standard procedures in your dental practice
• Required dentistry qualifications
• Performance expectations

By using a precise job description that highlights your requirements clearly, you significantly increase your chances of receiving applications from qualified candidates. You might be sacrificing time writing the description, but it will save you a lot more during the hiring process. 

2. Don’t Hire Too Quickly

Staffing issues hurt your practice but filling a position out of desperation can have worse consequences. You might hire the first person who applies without ensuring they’re the right candidate, which can negatively impact your team’s work ethic and the patients who have to see them. Starting the hiring process over again will be costly and time consuming.

To avoid selecting an unqualified applicant, you might require a working interview, where the candidate spends a day working with your dental team. This practice allows you to assess their abilities before hiring, and you can include a probationary period for more security. Check your state’s laws on working interviews before adding them to your hiring process.

3. Post on Dental Job Boards

Dental job boards are online recruitment sites where you can post open positions to attract qualified candidates, specifically in the dental industry. While posting on major job boards like Indeed will help you find a large number of candidates, posting on an industry-specific site can help narrow down the applicants and increase your chances of hiring someone who’s a good fit for your clinic.

Online job boards let you advertise outside your local area, helping you find experienced applicants willing to relocate from other parts of the country or start working as soon as possible. 

4. Contact Local Dentistry Schools

If you need to fill positions in your dental clinic, consider contacting schools to inquire about graduating dental students who would like to work at your practice. As long as you’re comfortable hiring someone just out of school, you can find quality candidates for various roles in your clinic and give someone their first experience in the dental field. 

5. Provide Referral Incentives to Current Employees

Your current employees can be a valuable resource when you start hiring because they might know the perfect candidate for the role. Your employees are familiar with your practice’s work culture and procedures, meaning they can recognize whether someone would be a good fit. 

You can offer incentives like gift cards, bonuses, vacation days, etc., to encourage your team to refer candidates for open positions. 

6. Evaluate Your Practice’s Image

When advertising for a position at your clinic, remember that the applicants will also be judging you. Employees want to work in clean, modern surroundings, so the appearance of your clinic can affect a candidate’s motivation to work at your practice. A sleek, up-to-date clinic will attract more qualified applicants than a dull, outdated one.

You should also evaluate the appearance of your website, ensuring it reflects your practice’s professionalism and personality. A stylish, well-designed website shows candidates your dental practice is innovative and constantly growing. Updating your brand image can be costly, but the amount is worth the increase in capable applicants and improved patient experience.

Set Your Practice Up for Success

Wading through the talent pool for the perfect candidate is tedious, but you can make the dental staff recruitment process easier and attract higher-quality applicants by focusing on your clinic. With Dental Intelligence, you can bring your dental practice into the modern landscape with innovative scheduling and communication software and in-depth analytics tools. 

Contact us to schedule a demo to try Digital Intelligence for your practice. Check out our dental staff meeting ideas for more ways to improve your dental clinic.

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