North Texas Dentistry Volume 8 Issue 3 2018 ISSUE 3 DE

employment news How to Recruit During Low Unemployment by Audra Morris s anyone who has looked to hire skilled dental profes- sionals recently knows, there is quite a bit of competi- tion for those applicants. It is definitely an employee’s job market. The unemployment rate in the Dallas area is at his- torical lows (3.4% for April 2018 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and even lower for the Health Services sector at 2.8%) 1 . Anything under 5% is considered statistical full employ- ment by the Federal Reserve. When this happens, the assump- tion is that anyone able to work has a job. A Qualified applicants can choose among different job offers and select the one best for them based on hours, location, job expec- tations, office dynamics, and a whole host of other variables as wide as there are job seekers. So, how does an office recruit new team members in such a competitive job market? First, try to hold onto existing staﬀ as best as possible. If there are any issues with team members and there is a concern some- one might leave, see if the issues can be addressed and handled so that all team members are happy in their existing jobs and unlikely to be searching for alternate employment. If it has been some time since raises were given, looking in the budget to see what can be offered is another idea. The cost of recruiting and 44 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com training can be expensive, especially in the current job market, and there may actually be a cost savings to giving raises to employees. If you need to hire a team member, word of mouth is going to yield much better results than placing an online ad. Online job postings are not the best at filtering out for skills and qualifica- tions. If an online ad is placed, it is likely best to consider a dental job posting site, like Dental Post. Most other online job postings will likely result in a high number of resumes from applicants without any dental experience or education/training. A good place to start the hiring process is your current team members. Most dental professionals know other dental profes- sionals from their education programs, professional associa- tions, networking events, and continuing education events. See if your current team members may know anyone who is looking for a new job. Current team members can best recruit for their respective practices knowing the day-to-day realities of working in the office and who might be the right fit for the team. Also, consider doing a job listing directly with the local profes- sional associations, like the local components of the Texa

North Texas Dentistry Volume 8 Issue 3 2018 ISSUE 3 DE | Page 44