 Hello, everybody, Andrea here with Dental L. Are you excited for your new adventure in the dental profession? Whether you are going to be a dental hygienist or a dental assistant, or a dental assistant, you should be super excited. Do not let other people tell you or other dental hygienists, other dental assistants tell you this is not a good profession, because it's truly amazing. I have been in the dental profession now for almost 18 years. I am now currently a mobile dental hygienist with my own practice, where I go to clients' homes and I teach and tutor dental hygienist and dental assistant students. But some key points I want you guys to keep in mind when you're looking for a new job, when you're looking for that dental office to work for, okay? So the first thing I'm going to talk about is money. Asking for the appropriate amount per hour. Please do the research for your area. What is the appropriate amount? It's going to happen where you're probably going to be offered a lot less than what you want. I suggest negotiating. Depending on when you're watching this video, right now, any dental professional can 100% absolutely negotiate for a better hourly rate, because offices need dental hygienists and dental assistants. And they're looking for new dental hygienists and new dental assistants, because you're still going to make less than somebody who's been in practice for 10, 20 years. It makes sense, right? You're going to start off lower than somebody else, but you still make an amazing amount per hour. When I first became a dental assistant 18 years ago, there were so many out there. It was so hard to find a job. I was lucky. And then when I became a dental hygienist, same thing. There were so many out there, I basically took what I could get. Now you are lucky where you can ask for the appropriate amount per hour. Of course, you're probably thinking, Andrea, I just want to work somewhere. Honestly, if they want to pay me less, I'm okay with that. That is up to you. And I say no problem, but then talk to them about negotiating in three months time for a higher hourly rate because you'll have more experience. But if you were to ask me, typically that never happens, life happens, things get busy. You might be uncomfortable asking. So it's three months now. Can we talk about a raise? You probably will. So get the rate you want before you get the job. If for some reason you have gone through six interviews and nobody wants to pay you your hourly rate, then you might be asking for something too high. Feel free to reach out to me, by the way, if you guys have any questions. Another thing that I want you guys to keep in mind is your first office may not be the office for you, or your first office may be the perfect office for you and you're there for the next 20 years. I do not want you guys to work for an office where you're miserable. I've been there, done that. Some offices just aren't a good fit. If you feel like the staff there doesn't like you or they're treating you like a child or they're talking to you in a way they shouldn't be, maybe they're rude to you in front of patients. Maybe the dentist is rude to you. Maybe the dentist is rude to patients. Maybe they yell at you for, I don't know, something. Do not work for an office that doesn't appreciate you. Something is wrong with that office. It's not you. Even if you're brand new and make a ton of mistakes, there's a right way to go about it and there's a wrong way. If you're being yelled at after you've had no training, how can they expect you to not make mistakes? So please work for the right office for you. That's a very important point. I know you have to make money. So if you're not happy with your office, look for another office right away. Do not quit until you have a job somewhere else, but please keep in mind it is a good idea to give two weeks notice. Okay, so please keep that in mind. You might want to leave right away, but it's still the proper thing to give two weeks notice unless of course they're horrible to you. I shouldn't say this, but walk out of there. Who cares about two weeks notice? Just walk away. People do it all the time. Not that it's right, but if you're being mistreated, I mean, I hate that I even have to say this, but it happens so often you guys. So please keep that in mind. Work for the right office. Last but not least, I want to talk about the basics, but I feel they're often forgot about. When you start working for an office, show up early. Do not show up right at nine o'clock or whenever your start time is, you're going to need to go through the charts, you're going to need to get situated. I do have a lot of videos on my channel where I talk about your first day. So that's kind of another video. So watch that one, do a search if you want to know all about your first day, things on what to expect, how early should you show up? What should you ask the office manager before you get there? What should you be wearing? So I kind of talked about that in that video. So definitely look at that, but just the basics for this one is, show up early, not on time, offer help whenever you can, you guys. If for some reason you have a patient that doesn't show up, don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs, go to the front desk, see if they need help. Go to another assistant, go to another hygienist, see if they need help. You might be new, you might not know what you can help with. Trust me, they will let you know. Please offer help and never be the first one to leave. I'm not saying you have to be the last one to leave, but it's the same thing. Don't be the first one to leave. If you're done, ask anybody else if they need help, because they would really appreciate it. I hope this helps you guys, good luck. Please comment below on how things went when you started working in an office when you're brand new. So good luck you guys, this is super exciting and I'll talk to you very soon.