Getting a Job: What are Your Options, and What Should You Expect?
Jeff Sullivan
A number of prior articles have excelled in highlighting various aspects of practice purchases, associate positions, and partnerships, but in this piece, I will provide you with some broad-based ideas on what you can realistically expect after graduation. To keep everything as consise as possible, I will deconstruct each point to its most basic form.
When you graduate, assuming you don’t continue into a residency, you will initially take one of four career paths:
1) Associate to Partnership Track
2) Associate in a Corporate Environment
3) Purchase a Walk-Away Practice
4) Start from Scratch
Each opportunity has its own advantages and disadvantages, and each provides different levels of compensation for the incoming recent graduate. In the following paragraphs I will discuss each option in a little more detail, and give you some things that you may want to consider. My primary focus will be on the first option, as it requires a bit more due diligence on your part and it is the most popular track.
Timing
When should you start looking for a job? Well, I know its cliché, but “the sooner the better”. You do not want to be stuck in the situation of searching for a job last-minute and either not finding anything or settling on something that is certainly not ideal. With your dental school boards monopolizing much of your time towards the end of your fourth year, it is very easy to put off your job search until the eleventh hour. Below is a table showing how soon you should start looking based on what type of area you wish to work in.
Associate to Partnership Track
I find that this is the route most often taken by new graduates. An associate-to-partner option can be loosely defined as; working full-time as an employee for an established dentist with the expectation to become an equity partner in the business within the foreseeable future. The typical compensation for an associate on this track will depend primarily upon experience and location. A dental school graduate with no GPR or AEGD training and no working experience can expect a flat salary of $7,500-$9,000 per month. I highly recommend obtaining a flat salary at first, so that you can assimilate yourself into the world of private practice in a relatively stress-free manner. An associate with GPR or AEGD training and/or working experience can expect a flat salary of $10,000 per month or $9,000 per month plus a bonus. The bonus will depend upon the productive ability of the new hire.
The most common error for new graduates seeking an associate-to-partner track is to focus too much of their efforts on finding the opportunity with the highest initial salary. The true benefit of this route is not the salary you receive for a couple of years, but rather ownership in a business that has the ability to pay you significantly more than your expected associate salary. In other words, don’t base the success of your entire career on your income over the next 18 months…you may miss the perfect opportunity.
When analyzing your various opportunities you MUST select a practice that presents you with a well-thought-out method of bringing you in as a partner. A handshake deal with a promise to sell a piece of the pie to you sometime in the future or “Hey, come on in, I’ll pay you a percent of your production and then we can talk about partnership in a couple of years” is what you want to avoid at all cost! Such opportunities typically lead to a perpetual associate position or an ugly separation because there is no plan. There MUST be some form of a well-thought-out plan to bring you, the new graduate, into the business as a partner. On top of that, the practice must be profitable enough to support a second full-time dentist. I typically find that a Solo GP practice needs to be producing at least $900,000 of dentistry to support a full-time associate that plans on becoming a partner. This is assuming that the hiring dentist intends on continuing to work full-time. Naturally there are exceptions to the $900,000 mark, but I am writing in generalities. Prior to accepting any associate-to-partner opportunity, you MUST review the financials of the practice (tax returns & income statements) to justify its financial ability to support hiring you and to confirm that it is the type of business you want to purchase.
I have spoken with thousands of established dentists, hundreds of dental students, and reviewed most every possible form of practice transition. More often then not, a failed associate-to-partner situation has nothing to do with the individuals involved, but rather the lack of a plan to achieve the goals of the individual buyer and seller and a lack of due diligence and consideration by both parties. You may have to review a dozen different opportunities to find the right one, but after analyzing the location, hiring doctor’s personality, and practice financials you have greatly increased your chance for success.
Associate in a Corporate Environment
This is the most straight-forward option. There is typically no ownership opportunity in the corporate dental world, but the pay can be markedly better than it is when associating in a private practice. A new graduate can expect to earn a salary of $10,000 per month with possible bonuses based on dental production. An associate with GPR or AEGD training and/or working experience can expect a salary of $10,000-$12,000 per month with possible bonuses based on dental production. Most corporate opportunities will pay some variation of a percent of production compensation package. The salary you initially receive is a “floor” meaning that it is the minimum you can make, regardless of your production. However, this “floor” typically goes away after 3-6 months and you begin to eat what you kill. If you have a great month, you get great pay. If you have a terrible month, you don’t make much. The corporate environment is a great option for initial pay, if you don’t know what you want to do right when you get out, if you want to increase your hand speed, or if your ultimate goal is to open your own practice. If your intentions are to become a partner in a private practice, then starting in the corporate environment does nothing but delay you reaching your goal.
Purchase a Walk-Away & Start from Scratch
I’m grouping these two together because neither of them is an immediate option for new dental school graduates. In today’s lending environment, banks require at least eight months of “working experience” before they will consider lending you money to buy or start a practice. Any form of dental residency counts as “working experience” and obviously any form of dental employment you obtain upon graduation counts as well. Often, graduates wishing to start from scratch or buy a walk-away practice will work in the corporate environment for about a year because of the increased pay and flexibility.
In summary, the single most important consideration in looking for employment is identifying where you want to be. Always provide yourself flexibility, but you need to have a pretty good idea as to the general location that will make you happy. Remember, you can always turn down options that are presented to you, but you can never accept the option that you didn’t entertain. As such, be very open to all possibilities but don’t let money alone draw you to a location you will hate in 18 months. Begin looking for options as early as possible. If you find what may be a good opportunity, get professionals to help you analyze it. I’d be happy to help you in this regard for free. ■
Special Thanks: I’d like to thank National Dental Placements for confirming and providing certain employment statistics: salary data & prefer search time frames.
Jeff Sullivan spearheads business development and new client services at Cain, Watters & Associates, P.L.L.C. (CWA), and is a registered Investment Advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His role is to speak with new and potential clients prior to them engaging the firm as to best determine the financial opportunities within their current situation and the appropriateness of hiring CWA. Jeff has shared his knowledge with the dental community by writing articles for national dental publications and sitting on expert panels for dental schools. This includes helping individuals analyze the viability of various associate and practice purchase opportunities. Since 2007, Jeff has been instrumental in the creation of CWA’s 1to1 New Doctor Program which has since helped more than 75 dental professionals start their practice from scratch. Jeff Sullivan can be reached at Cain, Watters & Associates, P.L.L.C.,www.cainwatters.com, and at jeff@cainwatters.com