There are a lot of factors that come with hiring an administrative assistant for your office. Your expectations should be high, given that this person will reflect you and your dental practice as soon as someone calls or walks in. That is why is it imperative that there are certain questions you ask in order to ensure you are making the right choice. Here are just a few:

1. How do you work with others?

This is going to be extremely important because your administrative assistant will be dealing with your staff, as well as your patients, and you want to know that they are treating everyone with the same respect that you treat them with. They need to be friendly, easy to ask questions to, and very approachable.

It can be surprising how many patients you can lose because an assistant turns people away, or treats them in a way they don't feel is inappropriate for a business atmosphere.

2. What is your work ethic like?

People who have a good work ethic will always have a positive answer to this question. Once they have described their work ethic, ask them to provide a specific example of a time that they performed at their peak. This will allow them to reflect on the spot, and in turn will give you the most honest answer.

3. Are you compassionate?

You want an administrative assistant who understands the needs of your patients so those patients never feel self-conscience. They need to be able listen with an open heart to the staff as well, so everyone's needs are taken care of in the most positive and efficient way possible.

4. How detail oriented are you?

In the dentistry industry you will need someone who is very focused on the little things, as well as the big picture. There is a lot of data to enter, and many little details that can be missed. You want to prevent this from happening when you hire someone as your assistant. When your assistant knows your procedures like the back of their hand you will see more positive results and stress-free workdays.

5. Are you organized?

This does not only mean being organized at your desk, this means being organized when you file documents on the computer, emails, calendar dates, and more. While technology is here to make everything easier, if you don't know how to use it, it can make life even harder.

6. Are you willing to learn?

No matter how experienced people are, when they enter a new job, there is going to be a learning curve. You want to be sure that even though they have worked in another office in the past, that they are willing to learn the way that your dental office is run, and they are willing to adapt to it.

Positive change can be a good thing, and suggestions for improvement should always be welcome, but knowing that when you hire someone new, they are willing to adapt to the efficiency that is already in place and get comfortable with that before trying to change too much.