If you have just qualified from a two to four year Dental Hygienist course you are now looking at getting your first Dental Hygienist Job position. However before you go job hunting make sure you are licensed to practice in your state by passing a state licensing exam. Then you are good to find a position in a field of work that has become one of the most sought after occupations of today. The following is some advice on how to get your first dental hygienist job position and where to look.

Preparing your resume

First of all you need to make sure your resume is up to date and ordered correctly. When hiring people look at resumes first usually and sort them into yes and no piles based on simple things like spelling errors, unclear layout, too much detail. List your education achievements starting with the most recent first and be sure to list any experience you have in the field or linked to the field. Keep your resume succinct and make sure you have job references named there. A direct resume is more likely to get you a job than one that is 5 pages long. When listing skills, stick to the important ones.

Qualities looked for in a dental hygienist

Obviously the better academic background you can boast of, the better your chances at getting the employment you want. Also important is that you have taken advantage of any opportunities to get work experience or any clinical background. Other qualities you need to be able to demonstrate include:

• Excellent time management skills
• A key team player
• Adept at handling a number of dental tool items and equipment
• Excellent communication skills and people skills

Where to look for your first dental hygienist job

With the internet at your finger tips job hunting opens up a whole new world of opportunities. There are many job sites online you can register with and use to job hunt, and this is especially useful if you are looking to work further afield than the town or city you are already in. Another option is the school you graduated from. Some clinics keep schools abreast of new job opportunities and some schools even offer graduates placement assistance. This is a great way to get your first position and get started on building on your career. At the least colleges sometimes have a job board where positions are pinned for graduates to browse through.

Another option is to join a temporary placement agency and this is also a great way to get immediate work experience. You would temp as a dental hygienist which essentially means when an office has a member of staff call in sick or go on vacation they would hire a temp agency that would send someone on their books like you to fill the position for that short period. This is a good thing to do to earn an income while you search for full time work, and it gets other offices and clinics to see you and your ability. If you do well and they liked you, they are likely to remember you and call you up if a full time position opens up.

Finally there is the more traditional manner of job hunting which is looking through classified advertisements in professional publications, newspapers and magazines.  You can also send in application letters attached to your resume to larger organizations and hospitals who might be hiring, or who might keep you in their files for future need. Dome job hunters get lucky and only send out a few applications, others send out many. It doesn’t matter how you look for your first dental hygienist job just that you get one!