 Hello everybody, Andrea Trouska here with Dental Tutoring. Let's talk about how to ask for your salary or how to ask for your hourly wage because there is a right way to do it and there's a wrong way to do it. Now, I'm a good person to talk about this with you because I'm not afraid to talk about money. I'm not afraid to ask about money and I'm not afraid to talk about it. So let me tell you exactly my tricks of the trade to get, I guess, the money that I feel that I deserve. Now, this conversation might go a little bit different depending on if you're an experienced dental professional or if you're new to this. If you're new with no experience, you absolutely should not make more than somebody who has 10 years experience. Does that make sense? If you wanna work full-time, you will be making a different wage than somebody who, let's say, works once or twice a week. If you are available Monday evening, Saturday, Sundays, you will be making something different than somebody else. But I guess let me first, I guess, talk about it this way here. Let me just move my webcam for a second here. So if you're new, it's a good idea to ask around how much other new assistants or new hygienists in your area are making because you need to know sort of what to start off as. And even if your teachers in school tell you one thing, they honestly don't know unless they're working in an office. They just simply don't know what offices are paying. I was in one office for many, many years making a certain amount. I thought I made pretty good money, but apparently I could have made at least $10 more per hour. I'm not exaggerating, but only in a different city. So it depends on where you live as well. I moved about an hour away and my salary has gone up huge because I asked just how much they pay in that area. So you do have to be careful of where you are too because it does make a difference. But for newbies especially, you might be wondering, well, how can I ask somebody how much they're making? I don't know anybody. I've never been in an office before. The best thing to do, and that's what's so nice about 2018 is that we have social media. There are many dental hygiene groups, pages on Facebook. Don't be afraid to post saying, I live in Kitchener, Ontario. I'm a new dental hygienist or a new dental assistant. Is there anybody here who lives there and can tell me about maybe a starting up point of what I should be asking for? Because you could be thinking that you can make $20 per hour, yet somebody else could tell you, well, to start off, you'll probably make 18. Or they could tell you, well, starting off, you could make about 28. So it's good to know because you don't wanna ask for something too high or something too low. I think it's worse to ask for something too low because then once you start working, you'll be like, oh, geez, I should have asked for something a lot higher, right? Once you find out what the other staff members are making and people talk, no matter what anybody says, people talk. And you would feel pretty bad if the other newbie assistant or the other newbie hygienist made $5 more per hour than you did. You'd be thinking, oh my gosh, well, we do the same thing. So it's good to have an idea. Now, if you have many years experience though, it's kind of the same thing. Ask around to see what other people are making because even if you're working in the same office, you might think you're making good money or you might be thinking you're not making enough money. But you never know. It depends on the office, depends on the city and depends on experience. As an example, as a temp hygienist or a temp assistant, you should be asking more per hour because you don't have insurance. You will not get sick days, holiday pay, none of that. So it makes sense for you to ask for more. Plus you would likely be available on short notice. Whereas if somebody's working full time, they might not be available on short notice. So you should ask for more. And also if you are interviewing at an office and may only offer you part-time, you should also ask for more because you're not making a full-time income. If you work part-time, they probably will not offer insurance, sick days, holiday pay, none of that. So always think about things like that. And honestly, you guys, don't be afraid to talk about money. Even if you're anxious to talk about it, please still talk about it because that's not something they will talk about, you know. No office will ever say to you, you know what, you can do a great job. I'm going to give you a raise of $3 per hour. Nobody does that. They will wait for you to come to that. There might be offices out there that do do that, but I've never been in one, you know? So you have to not be afraid to make sure that you are getting a raise. Every year, by the way, every year. I know so many hygienists, so many assistants, so many office managers who haven't had a raise in five years. Five years, that's crazy, you guys. If that's you, ask for a raise right now. Don't simply say I want a raise. Say, can I please speak to you about my performance? Can I talk to you about my performance evaluation, maybe? You know, say something like that and let them know that you haven't had a raise in a while, that you love what you do and you are asking for this much. Always ask for at least $2 more per hour, because they will likely offer you $1 more per hour, but that's still better than nothing, right? And I posted a video about this a while ago, but I did say that if you do ask for more money, or if you're asking for a certain hourly wage and they say no, then say to them, well, this is what I want. What can I do for this? What do I need to do for you to pay me this amount per hour? Or what do I need to do for me to get that $2 raise? Ask them that, because then they'll probably say to you, like, oh, geez, I wasn't expecting that. You know, I don't know what you can do better. Then you can say, well, see, so I must be doing a pretty good job if you can't think of anything. So let's try this again. I would love to talk about the raise. See how that works? Yes, it seems forward, but it works, you guys, and hey, money is money. The offices always get paid more per year. The cost of living will go up. You should be paid accordingly. Any questions, you guys, please let me know, and good luck, and let me know how it goes, and please feel free to share your experiences about asking for money and what has worked for you and what maybe has not worked. Okay, so let us know, you guys, and I will see you guys in the next one. Bye.