The New Dental Job Seeker Season is Now

With the entire world thrust into COVID-19, how have dental job seekers rolled with the waves of uncertainty this year? Let me give you my perspective as a dentistry resume writer. My observations are based on my dealings with nearly 500 dentistry professionals who have come to me for help since March of this year.

Roller Coaster of Dental Job Seekers & Openings

Just like COVID-19 infections, the number of job seekers and job openings have been a wild ride of spikes, dips, and surges. The year got off to a good start in January – my resume client load was up about 10% from the previous year. But as we all know, March was an unprecedented game-changer, and my work suddenly lightened by about 50% through April. 

Around that time, I used social media to implore dental professionals to leverage the time off for some serious career evaluation, training, and goal setting. We all knew that investing time in professional reflection is sensible and important. My pleadings echoed by many in the dental industry, and I think that message got through.

Massive Rush of Dental Job Seekers

As the economy began to re-open in May, there was a massive rush of job seekers ready to make a move. The stories seemed to fit within two or three common themes. Many shut down their businesses or furloughed their staff from the uncertainty of when or if they would be back. Others were ultra-concerned about safety or whether they could manage the use of new PPE protocols. 

Dental professionals, while filled with uncertainty, found moments of clarity and the impetus to make bold career moves. And, more broadly, it was the beginning of a massive job market shakeup that continues to this day. I’m certain resumes will indicate some type of change in 2020 or 2021 for a significant number of clinicians.

Resetting Employment and Careers

Unprecedented numbers of dental clinicians are pressing the reset button on their employment and careers. 

Even though some clinicians are jumping to non-clinical work, I still see many doubling down on their passion. Pandemic be damned, they continued caring for people on the front lines – educating, treating, and loving their patients. That’s inspiring and a wonderfully perfect career objective.

While the resume-writing business typically slows down in fall, this year has been consistently strong. And most recently, I am seeing yet another surge that started in late October. This is noteworthy given that we usually see job seekers and employers slow down their searches and gear up for the start of a new year.  However, this year, the surge is continuing through the holidays as job seekers and employers alike are working to get ahead of the curve.

Unemployment Dropping

With the economy looking surprisingly good and unemployment continuing to drop, I expect yet another surge in the normally busy span between January to June. There are still many employers who have held back on hiring that I think will pull the trigger on some bold moves of their own in 2021. There have been far too many businesses that have gone under. However, I believe opportunities will come back as the economy stabilizes with the demise of COVID-19. 

Dentistry job seekers and employers this year genuinely encourage me. Making lemonade out of lemons, the laborers of dentistry are harvesting a yield of opportunity and career satisfaction that will pay big dividends for themselves and those they serve for years to come.