Finding great employees is one of the hardest parts of running a dental practice — and most dentists are doing it wrong. In this episode, Dr. Dill and Toria break down their complete hiring system, from where to post job listings all the way to getting an on-the-spot answer from a candidate who wants to go home and think about it.
The big idea: stop treating the interview like you're looking for a spouse. You can't determine in 15 minutes whether someone is your unicorn employee. What you can do is spot the obvious red flags, hire fast, and let performance tell you the rest. Hire fast, fire fast — and the math works out better than holding a position open for months waiting for the perfect candidate.
Toria also shares the story of one of their best long-term employees — someone they almost didn't hire because of skill set alone — who asked at the end of the interview if she could volunteer just to get experience. They hired her on the spot. She's still there years later.
Hire fast, fire fast — the cost of a bad hire held too long far outweighs the cost of a few quick misses.
If multiple candidates pass the red flag test, hire them all. You can't determine a unicorn in a 15-minute interview.
Never throw out a job offer before you're ready to receive an answer — use the right framing to get a real answer on the spot.
Your best recruiting tool might be your dental supply rep. Take care of them — they know every office in town.
Unicorns aren't born, they're made. Hire for attitude and willingness, train for skill.