The difficulty came when I tried to find a short-term replacement for my hygiene position. I wanted to find someone who would care about our patients in the same fashion, and would give them a great experience. It was also important that the burden of my leave not fall on the rest of the team. Because I work in an esthetic-oriented practice, we needed to hire someone with a high skill level. I wanted a hygienist who was aware of how to take care of cosmetic restorations and who was up-to-date on the latest techniques in periodontal therapy.

Dr. Lodding and I decided that we should interview candidates for my leave as if we were hiring a permanent replacement. I was shocked and amazed by my findings, and was really quite concerned about the attitudes that were revealed.

I asked her about her work history and background in hygiene. She seemed nice at first, but I quickly realized we weren’t interviewing her; she was interviewing us. She informed me that if she was going to take this “job,” there were many things we would need to understand.

Her first demand was for at least one hour with each patient. She could not deviate from that, even though she would have a full-time assistant working with her. She also explained that she would not clean her own room or her own instruments. She went on to tell me that “her hands are a commodity and she could not possibly deviate from her own system.” With that, I kindly showed her out and hoped this was a fluke and not the norm.

At first, I was pleased with the second candidate. She was dressed professionally and seemed very friendly. I gave her a quick tour of our office and showed her to the conference room—it seemed like a good start!

I immediately got my hopes up when she told me that she had worked in New York and California. She went on to explain that she had a cosmetic background and was very versed in a cosmetic practice. I began to feel confident that we might have found a fit, until I asked her about her knowledge of “cosmetic polishing pastes” and equipment she was familiar with. My excitement about our great find quickly deflated when I realized she wasn’t quite as impressive as she first came across. I was certain that if she worked in California she must be familiar with lasers and have certification, but that was not the case. I also was certain that if she worked in esthetic practices, she must know that using regular prophy paste would damage these types of restorations. But, again I was saddened by what transpired in the conversation. I tried very hard to keep an open mind, but was really disappointed with the reality that we are not all equal. I told her we would continue to interview and that I would let her know our decision in a few days. Again, we were back to the drawing board.

I felt confident leaving my “family” team with a real caring and competent hygienist. The interview process from beginning to end unfolded just as I would have expected from everyone in this great profession. Her willingness to learn our office systems was most impressive. Her desire to understand how we care for our patients was reassuring. But most of all, her eagerness to help the team was really what made the transition smooth.

The first question that most applicants asked me was how much they would be paid. Instead of asking about salary, hygienists should sell how much they are worth. For those in the profession who are not familiar with the latest technology or up-to-date on some of the cutting-edge concepts, it might be of value to take less pay in exchange for gaining more skills. We also must realize that we can’t go into a practice demanding top scale and then not create value for the practice. It’s important to remember to “work for what you want to get paid, not for what you get paid!”