...
I'm registered for my dental nursing course!
Hooray!
It took a bit of time to find one that was workable, but I think it's very similar in structure to when I did an NVQ a few years ago. Essentially, an assessor will come to the dental practice to act as a witness, write a report on what they observe me doing (such as check-ups, mixing materials etc), ask me questions relating to what I'm doing and why, I'll get assignments as we go, and together a portfolio of evidence is made to show that I can do the job.
It's not clear whether I'll still be required to take a qualifying exam at the end of it, but thus far it's looking good!
I've got a few small pieces of 'homework' to do before the assessor comes in for the first time so I'll be cracking on with that next week.
I've also had a blood test today.
Last year I got my Hepatitis B vaccines done - but my doctors surgery failed to mention that I needed a blood test to check that I actually had full immunity. So off to Occupational Health I go! They're the people that look after people who work in 'dangerous' jobs where they're at risk of infections and things like that.
Should I ever have a needlestick accident, for example, I'll be off to see them for a blood test to see if I've picked up anything nasty.
But today was all about taking some blood to primarily check my vaccines have worked but also to test for just about everything else - Hep B and C, HIV, measles, mumps, rubella - you name it, they seem to be testing for it!
It's not just for my benefit but also for patients and work colleagues - no one wants to find out there's someone in the building who has an infectious disease and is spreading it around with the occasional sneeze!
Hopefully I'll be given the all-clear in a few weeks time when the report is posted to me.
Feel like some good progress has been made this week!
Showing posts with label dental nurse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dental nurse. Show all posts
Friday, 19 April 2013
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Probation Period is Up!
...
Good lord - where the hell did the last month go!?
Where do I even start? Oh, right! Of course! My probation period is officially up.
I'm being kept on - woohoo! They like me, they think I've got great potential and more than happy to keep me on.
The past three months have just flown by. Being back in full time work has proven both satisfying and exhausting (although my stamina appears to be gradually improving). I've just done three late nights on the trot ... and pick tonight of all nights to throw a blog post together ... yeah, I'm logical that way.
I've certainly learnt an awful lot - it's almost hard to imagine that I knew sod all on my first day. Now I'm assisting with check-ups, mixing filling materials, helping to make impression molds and lots of other stuff.
In addition to learning the ropes, I've had a promotion of sorts. I was hired as a 'floating' nurse - someone who primarily works at collecting, cleaning and re-distributing used instruments for the nurses who work in surgery full time with a dentist. About a month ago, one such nurse up and quit. Thanks to her, I have now have a surgery all of my own and have been teamed up with a dentist.
Thus I now have more responsibility in keeping the surgery stocked, cleaned and prepped, as well as having a lot more practice at chair-side nursing than I could have hoped to gain whilst remaining a 'floating' nurse.
Now that the probation stint is over, I now have to get myself booked onto a dental nursing course. There are various training centres around the country, but unfortunately for me, none are within a reasonable travelling distance that don't insist on holding the course during work hours - which doesn't help me or (potentially) two other trainees who would need to attend. The dental practice is a business - having two or three members of staff out once a week, every week, for a year, isn't remotely practical.
So I'm looking into correspondence courses at the moment. Contacted a few providers, and at least one of them looks fairly promising. I just need to locate a functioning printer so I can print off the information pack I've been sent.
With any luck I'll be starting work on my qualification before too long.
Good lord - where the hell did the last month go!?
Where do I even start? Oh, right! Of course! My probation period is officially up.
I'm being kept on - woohoo! They like me, they think I've got great potential and more than happy to keep me on.
The past three months have just flown by. Being back in full time work has proven both satisfying and exhausting (although my stamina appears to be gradually improving). I've just done three late nights on the trot ... and pick tonight of all nights to throw a blog post together ... yeah, I'm logical that way.
I've certainly learnt an awful lot - it's almost hard to imagine that I knew sod all on my first day. Now I'm assisting with check-ups, mixing filling materials, helping to make impression molds and lots of other stuff.
In addition to learning the ropes, I've had a promotion of sorts. I was hired as a 'floating' nurse - someone who primarily works at collecting, cleaning and re-distributing used instruments for the nurses who work in surgery full time with a dentist. About a month ago, one such nurse up and quit. Thanks to her, I have now have a surgery all of my own and have been teamed up with a dentist.
Thus I now have more responsibility in keeping the surgery stocked, cleaned and prepped, as well as having a lot more practice at chair-side nursing than I could have hoped to gain whilst remaining a 'floating' nurse.
Now that the probation stint is over, I now have to get myself booked onto a dental nursing course. There are various training centres around the country, but unfortunately for me, none are within a reasonable travelling distance that don't insist on holding the course during work hours - which doesn't help me or (potentially) two other trainees who would need to attend. The dental practice is a business - having two or three members of staff out once a week, every week, for a year, isn't remotely practical.
So I'm looking into correspondence courses at the moment. Contacted a few providers, and at least one of them looks fairly promising. I just need to locate a functioning printer so I can print off the information pack I've been sent.
With any luck I'll be starting work on my qualification before too long.
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Dental Nursing: the career for you?
...
It's not always easy for people to decide on a career path. There's endless options, but sometimes the choices are so overwhelming you don't even know where to start!
Certainly my 'career advice' at school left a lot to be desired! It pretty much consisted of "advisers" (I use that term extremely loosely) asking the same old question of 'What do you want to do?' to which most people answered, 'I don't know' - leaving the advisers at a total loss. Never mind that a few probing questions could have thrown up a few ideas of things to consider.
Dental nursing was never brought up. Nursing in general wasn't mentioned. Medical careers of any description just fell by the wayside.
It has taken me best part of a decade to suss out what I wanted to do.
But perhaps if you are considering a career as a dental nurse - which is a possibility as you are reading my blog! - maybe I can help a little in sharing my experience and observations of what you need to be a dental nurse.
Now, my observations may not be typical of Career Advisers but hey, I'm not going to shy away from the negatives nor the random elements that may never occur to people to mention.
So! Without further ado, let me start with the first thing on my list of Is Dental Nursing the Career for Me?
1. Do You Faint at the Sight of Blood?
I hope you raised an eyebrow at that! If you didn't, think about it. I'll wait.
Are you there yet? Yes? Cool. Yes - the dental surgery is just that - a surgery. It is a medical environment.
There. Will. Be. Blood.
I've been in my job for about a month and already I've had several nurses give me various accounts of more than a few potential new nurses that have come into the surgery, taken one look at the blood that appears during a tooth extraction and they've been flat on the floor in moments, looking pasty and ill.
They have all walked straight out of the door never to return.
To me, that's insane! They've taken the trouble to apply, get the interview, succeeded in getting the job ... and it never occurred to them what they might encounter working with a dentist!?
It makes me think that some people obviously don't think about stuff like this. Hence, it's worth mentioning here! If you can't abide blood, rule out dental nursing as a career right now. There's no getting away from it. As stupid as it sounds, I figure it's a rather important thing to point out.
Are you OK with blood? Yes? Awesome; consider yourself a step closer to dental nursing!
* You know, I'd love to add some images to my recent posts, but Blogger seems to have an issue at the moment and isn't giving me the option. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to add some, brighten up these posts a bit - just looks a tad dull with just text, doesn't it?
It's not always easy for people to decide on a career path. There's endless options, but sometimes the choices are so overwhelming you don't even know where to start!
Certainly my 'career advice' at school left a lot to be desired! It pretty much consisted of "advisers" (I use that term extremely loosely) asking the same old question of 'What do you want to do?' to which most people answered, 'I don't know' - leaving the advisers at a total loss. Never mind that a few probing questions could have thrown up a few ideas of things to consider.
Dental nursing was never brought up. Nursing in general wasn't mentioned. Medical careers of any description just fell by the wayside.
It has taken me best part of a decade to suss out what I wanted to do.
But perhaps if you are considering a career as a dental nurse - which is a possibility as you are reading my blog! - maybe I can help a little in sharing my experience and observations of what you need to be a dental nurse.
Now, my observations may not be typical of Career Advisers but hey, I'm not going to shy away from the negatives nor the random elements that may never occur to people to mention.
So! Without further ado, let me start with the first thing on my list of Is Dental Nursing the Career for Me?
1. Do You Faint at the Sight of Blood?
I hope you raised an eyebrow at that! If you didn't, think about it. I'll wait.
Are you there yet? Yes? Cool. Yes - the dental surgery is just that - a surgery. It is a medical environment.
There. Will. Be. Blood.
I've been in my job for about a month and already I've had several nurses give me various accounts of more than a few potential new nurses that have come into the surgery, taken one look at the blood that appears during a tooth extraction and they've been flat on the floor in moments, looking pasty and ill.
They have all walked straight out of the door never to return.
To me, that's insane! They've taken the trouble to apply, get the interview, succeeded in getting the job ... and it never occurred to them what they might encounter working with a dentist!?
It makes me think that some people obviously don't think about stuff like this. Hence, it's worth mentioning here! If you can't abide blood, rule out dental nursing as a career right now. There's no getting away from it. As stupid as it sounds, I figure it's a rather important thing to point out.
Are you OK with blood? Yes? Awesome; consider yourself a step closer to dental nursing!
* You know, I'd love to add some images to my recent posts, but Blogger seems to have an issue at the moment and isn't giving me the option. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to add some, brighten up these posts a bit - just looks a tad dull with just text, doesn't it?
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Pure Water
...
Water.
Yep - water is the backbone of the a dental practice! Surprised? Well, perhaps you won't find it that surprising when I phrase it like this:
You probably don't think twice about that little mirror, whether it's clean or not - you just assume that it is - and of course it has to be before it goes anywhere near you! It's a clinical environment and the human mouth is a fabulous place for bacteria to hang out in; anything that gets used inside your mouth is either single-use (and gets thrown away immediately after use) or made to withstand the sterilisation process.
But without purified water - nothing is getting sterilised.
Without being able to sterilise things, instruments get used up pretty darn fast and before you know it, the whole practice could grind to a halt because there's no water for the autoclaves!
I don't know how I feel about being primarily responsible for all that. Yes - I'm primarily responsible for ensuring that the water purifier is filled regularly, any purified water decanted into appropriate containers so we have a constant stock of water. We have several autoclaves and they're working most of the day - that's a lot of water we go through.
I imagine no one really thinks about it - certainly not the patients and maybe not the dentists themselves (since they don't have to keep tabs on it) - but like I said, without it, the practice would come to stop rather rapidly.
Water.
Yep - water is the backbone of the a dental practice! Surprised? Well, perhaps you won't find it that surprising when I phrase it like this:
- Purified water is essential for use in the autoclaves - tap water isn't going to cut the mustard here, it has to be purified. Filtered water is not the same thing as purified; it has to be heated to kill off any micro-organisms
- Without purified water in the autoclaves, the machine won't be able to properly sterilise the dental instruments
- Without sterilised instruments, the dentist won't even have a clean mirror to have a nosey around your mouth - let alone do anything else like a scale and polish, a filling or an extraction
You probably don't think twice about that little mirror, whether it's clean or not - you just assume that it is - and of course it has to be before it goes anywhere near you! It's a clinical environment and the human mouth is a fabulous place for bacteria to hang out in; anything that gets used inside your mouth is either single-use (and gets thrown away immediately after use) or made to withstand the sterilisation process.
But without purified water - nothing is getting sterilised.
Without being able to sterilise things, instruments get used up pretty darn fast and before you know it, the whole practice could grind to a halt because there's no water for the autoclaves!
I don't know how I feel about being primarily responsible for all that. Yes - I'm primarily responsible for ensuring that the water purifier is filled regularly, any purified water decanted into appropriate containers so we have a constant stock of water. We have several autoclaves and they're working most of the day - that's a lot of water we go through.
I imagine no one really thinks about it - certainly not the patients and maybe not the dentists themselves (since they don't have to keep tabs on it) - but like I said, without it, the practice would come to stop rather rapidly.
Friday, 7 December 2012
First Week Round Up
...
I have survived completed my first week as a trainee dental nurse!
Boy, am I knackered!!
It's hard enough going back to full time hours after two years of sporadic hours/days, but there's also the early starts (never been easy) and wrapping your head about something brand new.
On the up side, the days are going by fairly quickly and I'm not sat around being bored - there's no time to be bored!
Early Start
I knew exactly what was going to happen. I'd go to bed early with the best of intentions, but be too excited (or nervous, sometimes it's hard to tell!) to fall asleep. I'd eventually nod off around 11 or 12 only to jolt awake in the early hours, slightly panicked and mumbling "Do I have to get up now!?" only to grab the alarm clock and curse at the single digit of 3 or 4 in the early hours. Roll over, bury self in the bed covers and try to get a few more hours of snooze. 7am will roll round, yet somehow I'll still stagger out of bed 'late', throw some tea and toast down my neck, scramble for clothes in spite of laying them out neatly the night before, they'll have moved during the night. Hurry out the house, scrolling through a mental checklist of keys, shoes, textbook etc.
Thankfully, this has got easier as the week has progressed. I may be out of practise with getting up before 8am, but once I'm in a routine it's not so hard.
Journey
Lucky for me, my new employer is not a million miles nor a dreadful journey away. It should take, on a good day, about 15-20 minutes to drive there.
On a bad morning, you can hit every red light there is on route. Or at least it'll feel like every red light on route!
Seems like the only hitches at the moment are the inclement weather. I did invest in a windscreen cover; quite inexpensive but I felt it worth a try. Turns out it works very well at keeping frost off my screen so that's one less window to scrape and it makes a big difference! A little bit of de-icer on the rest of the car works wonders. Doesn't stop my fingers freezing though.
Working Day
Hectic. That sums up my first day. Didn't get much less hectic as the week went by but at least I'm more familiar with the daily routine and helping out with tasks such as cleaning the surgery between patients, setting up at the start of the day and shutting it all down at the end. Essentially all the basic cleaning duties. The more complex work will come later as I build on the basic knowledge.
I will go into a bit more detail on things in my coming posts, hopefully give you more of an insight as to what a dental nurse gets up to on a daily basis and what they need to learn.
Which means I have to start with the absolute backbone of the dental surgery ...
I have survived completed my first week as a trainee dental nurse!
Boy, am I knackered!!
It's hard enough going back to full time hours after two years of sporadic hours/days, but there's also the early starts (never been easy) and wrapping your head about something brand new.
On the up side, the days are going by fairly quickly and I'm not sat around being bored - there's no time to be bored!
Early Start
I knew exactly what was going to happen. I'd go to bed early with the best of intentions, but be too excited (or nervous, sometimes it's hard to tell!) to fall asleep. I'd eventually nod off around 11 or 12 only to jolt awake in the early hours, slightly panicked and mumbling "Do I have to get up now!?" only to grab the alarm clock and curse at the single digit of 3 or 4 in the early hours. Roll over, bury self in the bed covers and try to get a few more hours of snooze. 7am will roll round, yet somehow I'll still stagger out of bed 'late', throw some tea and toast down my neck, scramble for clothes in spite of laying them out neatly the night before, they'll have moved during the night. Hurry out the house, scrolling through a mental checklist of keys, shoes, textbook etc.
Thankfully, this has got easier as the week has progressed. I may be out of practise with getting up before 8am, but once I'm in a routine it's not so hard.
Journey
Lucky for me, my new employer is not a million miles nor a dreadful journey away. It should take, on a good day, about 15-20 minutes to drive there.
On a bad morning, you can hit every red light there is on route. Or at least it'll feel like every red light on route!
Seems like the only hitches at the moment are the inclement weather. I did invest in a windscreen cover; quite inexpensive but I felt it worth a try. Turns out it works very well at keeping frost off my screen so that's one less window to scrape and it makes a big difference! A little bit of de-icer on the rest of the car works wonders. Doesn't stop my fingers freezing though.
Working Day
Hectic. That sums up my first day. Didn't get much less hectic as the week went by but at least I'm more familiar with the daily routine and helping out with tasks such as cleaning the surgery between patients, setting up at the start of the day and shutting it all down at the end. Essentially all the basic cleaning duties. The more complex work will come later as I build on the basic knowledge.
I will go into a bit more detail on things in my coming posts, hopefully give you more of an insight as to what a dental nurse gets up to on a daily basis and what they need to learn.
Which means I have to start with the absolute backbone of the dental surgery ...
Monday, 3 December 2012
First Day
...
Wow.
I am knackered!
First day wasn't physically taxing or anything, but going from doing a few hours each day to a full 12 hours (starting from when I left the house at 7.30am and returning home at 7.30pm) is somewhat draining.
I've had so much happen over the past couple of weeks that I've not had much time to devote to the blog to even cover my interview. Apologises for that!
Not that I'll be back on track any day soon - first week in the new job on full time hours for the first time in two years, plus sorting things out for a holiday I booked shortly before the interview came along ... well, the blog shall remain fruitless for the time being whilst I try to keep up with everything else that's going on at the moment.
But it goes without saying that I'm now quite pleased that this blog will now move into its second, long-awaited phase - of being the blog of a trainee dental nurse instead of someone job hunting for the position :)
Wow.
I am knackered!
First day wasn't physically taxing or anything, but going from doing a few hours each day to a full 12 hours (starting from when I left the house at 7.30am and returning home at 7.30pm) is somewhat draining.
I've had so much happen over the past couple of weeks that I've not had much time to devote to the blog to even cover my interview. Apologises for that!
Not that I'll be back on track any day soon - first week in the new job on full time hours for the first time in two years, plus sorting things out for a holiday I booked shortly before the interview came along ... well, the blog shall remain fruitless for the time being whilst I try to keep up with everything else that's going on at the moment.
But it goes without saying that I'm now quite pleased that this blog will now move into its second, long-awaited phase - of being the blog of a trainee dental nurse instead of someone job hunting for the position :)
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Monday, 19 November 2012
Interview
...
I've got an interview set up for tomorrow.
I found a voice mail on my phone after finishing my shift at work asking me to call them back about setting up an interview. Hooray!
Went home, checked that it was Monday's they are open late, and called.
Then I nearly lost out on the usual circus of trying to fit an interview into their schedule and mine. The dentist is doing 'lunchtime' interviews - the only days I'm available are Wednesday all day and Friday morning of this week. All other days I'm in work. Not an easy thing to swap shifts at such short notice!
It didn't help matters that the woman I spoke sounded quite put out when she explained that they wanted to wrap up the interviews this week. Gee, thanks, that's helpful! Tuesday next week would have worked if that wasn't the case!
I asked what the latest time they could do was - quarter to 2. Right, I finish work at 12.30 tomorrow. I can run home, get changed, throw a mouthful of food down my throat as a substitute for lunch, jump in the car and zoom across town to make it on time.
No problem.
I hope.
Potential employers really don't give much leeway on interview days/times do they? It would be fine if they specified in the job advert that interviews will be held during x week or on x day - then applicants can make arrangements in advance!
Us 'shift-workers' who can't get a day off at a moments notice ... well, that's less than conducive to finding better jobs if we can't be available at the drop of a hat.
Really makes me wonder how many people have to turn down interviews because of their current job. How many pull a sickie so that they can go? Of course, you can't ask for a day off and then 'mysteriously' fall ill that morning - that just looks suspicious to the boss!
Oh, and wanting to wrap up the interviews by the end of the week, you'd think they'd ask for the job advert to be removed from the website I found them on. Someone seeing the advert and applying for it today or tomorrow doesn't have a hope!
I wish I could feel more positive about this right now, but that kind of "well, if you aren't available ..." attitude really annoys me.
I once had a call very late in the evening, inviting me to an interview the very next morning - how is that any good for the applicant? There's no time to prepare. No time to make childcare arrangements (if applicable) and certainly no time to get the day off work to attend! I certainly couldn't attend for that very reason! The response was essentially, 'Oh, well, if you're not available you're going to miss out.' Fine. Good luck phoning people at 10pm for a 7am interview tomorrow morning! (I didn't really want to work there to be frank - it was a 'desperate-I-need-something-anything-application)
It's a catch-22 really.
In employment - I can't attend interviews at such short notice. But being in a job looks good to the potential new employer; recent reference, skills kept current etc
Not in employment - I'm available for whenever the potential employer wants to see me, but I have much less chance of being invited to interviews in the first place because I'm currently unemployed!
*sigh*
Right, outfit set out on wardrobe door ready for when I get home. Bag and car keys ready. Folder with certificates and stuff always ready.
Not much I can do now except re-read the textbook for a refresher.
Let's see how tomorrow plays out.
I've got an interview set up for tomorrow.
I found a voice mail on my phone after finishing my shift at work asking me to call them back about setting up an interview. Hooray!
Went home, checked that it was Monday's they are open late, and called.
Then I nearly lost out on the usual circus of trying to fit an interview into their schedule and mine. The dentist is doing 'lunchtime' interviews - the only days I'm available are Wednesday all day and Friday morning of this week. All other days I'm in work. Not an easy thing to swap shifts at such short notice!
It didn't help matters that the woman I spoke sounded quite put out when she explained that they wanted to wrap up the interviews this week. Gee, thanks, that's helpful! Tuesday next week would have worked if that wasn't the case!
I asked what the latest time they could do was - quarter to 2. Right, I finish work at 12.30 tomorrow. I can run home, get changed, throw a mouthful of food down my throat as a substitute for lunch, jump in the car and zoom across town to make it on time.
No problem.
I hope.
Potential employers really don't give much leeway on interview days/times do they? It would be fine if they specified in the job advert that interviews will be held during x week or on x day - then applicants can make arrangements in advance!
Us 'shift-workers' who can't get a day off at a moments notice ... well, that's less than conducive to finding better jobs if we can't be available at the drop of a hat.
Really makes me wonder how many people have to turn down interviews because of their current job. How many pull a sickie so that they can go? Of course, you can't ask for a day off and then 'mysteriously' fall ill that morning - that just looks suspicious to the boss!
Oh, and wanting to wrap up the interviews by the end of the week, you'd think they'd ask for the job advert to be removed from the website I found them on. Someone seeing the advert and applying for it today or tomorrow doesn't have a hope!
I wish I could feel more positive about this right now, but that kind of "well, if you aren't available ..." attitude really annoys me.
I once had a call very late in the evening, inviting me to an interview the very next morning - how is that any good for the applicant? There's no time to prepare. No time to make childcare arrangements (if applicable) and certainly no time to get the day off work to attend! I certainly couldn't attend for that very reason! The response was essentially, 'Oh, well, if you're not available you're going to miss out.' Fine. Good luck phoning people at 10pm for a 7am interview tomorrow morning! (I didn't really want to work there to be frank - it was a 'desperate-I-need-something-anything-application)
It's a catch-22 really.
In employment - I can't attend interviews at such short notice. But being in a job looks good to the potential new employer; recent reference, skills kept current etc
Not in employment - I'm available for whenever the potential employer wants to see me, but I have much less chance of being invited to interviews in the first place because I'm currently unemployed!
*sigh*
Right, outfit set out on wardrobe door ready for when I get home. Bag and car keys ready. Folder with certificates and stuff always ready.
Not much I can do now except re-read the textbook for a refresher.
Let's see how tomorrow plays out.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Application
...
I wrote to a dental practice about three months ago; it was a general application, just to enquire whether they had any vacancies for a trainee dental nurse.
The reply: sorry, no vacancies, 'but I will keep your cv for future reference.'
Three months later (i.e. now) they are advertising for a ... lo and behold ... trainee dental nurse! Applications to be sent to the very same person I wrote to last time and who replied.
No email. No phone call.
Thanks for keeping my cv for future reference.
I'm applying regardless, but seriously, you don't keep a cv for even three months?
Hopefully I'll get this in the post for tomorrow.
No indication of a closing date, but the advert has only been up since Friday.
On the other hand, it's on a prominent job website - there could be a lot of competition. Still, my Hepatitis B vaccinations are done and dusted - that ought to help.
Here we go again.
I wrote to a dental practice about three months ago; it was a general application, just to enquire whether they had any vacancies for a trainee dental nurse.
The reply: sorry, no vacancies, 'but I will keep your cv for future reference.'
Three months later (i.e. now) they are advertising for a ... lo and behold ... trainee dental nurse! Applications to be sent to the very same person I wrote to last time and who replied.
No email. No phone call.
Thanks for keeping my cv for future reference.
I'm applying regardless, but seriously, you don't keep a cv for even three months?
Hopefully I'll get this in the post for tomorrow.
No indication of a closing date, but the advert has only been up since Friday.
On the other hand, it's on a prominent job website - there could be a lot of competition. Still, my Hepatitis B vaccinations are done and dusted - that ought to help.
Here we go again.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Right Time? Wrong Time?
...
The last few months of the year are upon us. It got me thinking, is there a 'right' time of year to apply for work? Or at least a good or better time?
Oh, sure, there's job advertised all year round, but certainly at this time of year you tend to get mostly seasonal / Christmas temporary jobs.
Around this time last year, when I was still stuck in a horrible two/three day-a-week job, I reached the end of my tether and pounded the streets of my home town, looking for work.
Only Christmas temp work was around, and I was too late to apply for most of them! I consider myself very lucky to have got the job I did and then be kept on after the Christmas period.
So if retail is what you're after, this time of year is certainly a good one to apply. There's always going to be the risk that it is just temporary, but a few get lucky and are kept on.
But what about non-retail companies?
This time of year is busy for most, if not for the product or service you provide but also people booking time off, people fall ill, Christmas events are organised, paperwork needs to be wrapped up for the up-coming end of the financial year etc.
Wherever you are, it's sure to be busier than normal.
Which probably doesn't make it an optimal time to think 'Oh, hey, maybe we need to hire someone for that post.' The people with the power to hire and fire may consider it a lower priority.
Possibly companies will wait until the new financial year - see what the budget is and then consider whether hiring is a viable option.
I've also been pondering whether it's even worth bothering writing or emailing potential employers at this time of year. If you're busy and there's no vacancies, you're probably not going to pay too much attention to a CV that's just turned up. It'll be filed away and forgotten about.
Personally, if I ran a company, if it wasn't an urgent situation requiring the hire of a new person, then I'd say forget it! Busy time of year, not looking to hire at the moment, caught me at a bad time.
I can imagine the odds are even worse if it's a training position you're looking for. Which certainly applies to me!
Who wants to start training a new person at this time of year?
I can't help but think that it's a hassle that people could do without.
So with this in mind, I've reached a decision.
I'm going to continue to check websites, newspapers etc for specific job adverts - if I spot one that's suitable, I'll apply. But I won't be contacting individual companies for the time-being. It just seems rather inconsiderate, doesn't it? 'Hi! I know you're busy and all, but wanna hire me?!' No - not happening.
But I shan't be slacking during the 'break' however - my time spent learning a new language is paying off and I've got my head firmly back in the textbook!
My intention is that by the new year, my language skills will be proficient enough to effectively 'show off' in an interview if questioned about them, and that my basic dentistry knowledge will be more sound.
Keep busy. Keep improving!
Perhaps 2013 will prove to be a more successful year!
The last few months of the year are upon us. It got me thinking, is there a 'right' time of year to apply for work? Or at least a good or better time?
Oh, sure, there's job advertised all year round, but certainly at this time of year you tend to get mostly seasonal / Christmas temporary jobs.
Around this time last year, when I was still stuck in a horrible two/three day-a-week job, I reached the end of my tether and pounded the streets of my home town, looking for work.
Only Christmas temp work was around, and I was too late to apply for most of them! I consider myself very lucky to have got the job I did and then be kept on after the Christmas period.
So if retail is what you're after, this time of year is certainly a good one to apply. There's always going to be the risk that it is just temporary, but a few get lucky and are kept on.
But what about non-retail companies?
This time of year is busy for most, if not for the product or service you provide but also people booking time off, people fall ill, Christmas events are organised, paperwork needs to be wrapped up for the up-coming end of the financial year etc.
Wherever you are, it's sure to be busier than normal.
Which probably doesn't make it an optimal time to think 'Oh, hey, maybe we need to hire someone for that post.' The people with the power to hire and fire may consider it a lower priority.
Possibly companies will wait until the new financial year - see what the budget is and then consider whether hiring is a viable option.
I've also been pondering whether it's even worth bothering writing or emailing potential employers at this time of year. If you're busy and there's no vacancies, you're probably not going to pay too much attention to a CV that's just turned up. It'll be filed away and forgotten about.
Personally, if I ran a company, if it wasn't an urgent situation requiring the hire of a new person, then I'd say forget it! Busy time of year, not looking to hire at the moment, caught me at a bad time.
I can imagine the odds are even worse if it's a training position you're looking for. Which certainly applies to me!
Who wants to start training a new person at this time of year?
I can't help but think that it's a hassle that people could do without.
So with this in mind, I've reached a decision.
I'm going to continue to check websites, newspapers etc for specific job adverts - if I spot one that's suitable, I'll apply. But I won't be contacting individual companies for the time-being. It just seems rather inconsiderate, doesn't it? 'Hi! I know you're busy and all, but wanna hire me?!' No - not happening.
But I shan't be slacking during the 'break' however - my time spent learning a new language is paying off and I've got my head firmly back in the textbook!
My intention is that by the new year, my language skills will be proficient enough to effectively 'show off' in an interview if questioned about them, and that my basic dentistry knowledge will be more sound.
Keep busy. Keep improving!
Perhaps 2013 will prove to be a more successful year!
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Blogs of Interest
...
Going off topic with this post.
Well, the post is actually about going off topic!
Typically, anyone with a blog will maintain a Blog Roll with a list of various other blogs that are similar in content to their own. I have thoroughly enjoyed a series of wait-staff blogs who invariably link to each other, sharing stories of their working life, funny incidents, or general insights into their jobs.
I would have liked to have done that but I've been searching on Google to no avail. Any dentistry related blogs are typically those of a practice; their latest offers, maybe changes in staff. It's more like business announcements to their patients rather than insights into their work.
I also can not find any blogs written specifically by a dental nurse.
Perhaps there are some out there and I just haven't been able to find them. If you do happen to know of one, please share the link with me!
Ultimately, this has led me to the point where, were I to only include dentistry related blogs my list would look pretty darn sparse and boring.
So, I figure why not share the blogs that I actually enjoy visiting in general? I enjoy a variety of topics and if a blog has a great writer then why not share it? So take a gander at my Blogs of Interest (to me at any rate!) list - you may find something you like.
I plan to add to the list gradually with links to blogs on topics such as health, money management, humour and the just plain random! Hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do!
Going off topic with this post.
Well, the post is actually about going off topic!
Typically, anyone with a blog will maintain a Blog Roll with a list of various other blogs that are similar in content to their own. I have thoroughly enjoyed a series of wait-staff blogs who invariably link to each other, sharing stories of their working life, funny incidents, or general insights into their jobs.
I would have liked to have done that but I've been searching on Google to no avail. Any dentistry related blogs are typically those of a practice; their latest offers, maybe changes in staff. It's more like business announcements to their patients rather than insights into their work.
I also can not find any blogs written specifically by a dental nurse.
Perhaps there are some out there and I just haven't been able to find them. If you do happen to know of one, please share the link with me!
Ultimately, this has led me to the point where, were I to only include dentistry related blogs my list would look pretty darn sparse and boring.
So, I figure why not share the blogs that I actually enjoy visiting in general? I enjoy a variety of topics and if a blog has a great writer then why not share it? So take a gander at my Blogs of Interest (to me at any rate!) list - you may find something you like.
I plan to add to the list gradually with links to blogs on topics such as health, money management, humour and the just plain random! Hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do!
Saturday, 25 August 2012
No Answer
...
I'm sure that if you read the title of this post. you will probably be able to guess how I'm feeling right now.
It's the single most horrible thing about job hunting - not getting an answer.
Especially when you're given a timeframe in which to expect the phone call.
Questions go round in your mind - have they actually finished all the interviews? Did someone have to re-arrange? Have any of the people involved in making the decisions been off work ill perhaps? Has the final decision simply not been made yet??
Why tell someone when to expect your call and then not call them?
I now have to try to put this out of my mind until Tuesday.
Wonderful.
I'm sure that if you read the title of this post. you will probably be able to guess how I'm feeling right now.
It's the single most horrible thing about job hunting - not getting an answer.
Especially when you're given a timeframe in which to expect the phone call.
Questions go round in your mind - have they actually finished all the interviews? Did someone have to re-arrange? Have any of the people involved in making the decisions been off work ill perhaps? Has the final decision simply not been made yet??
Why tell someone when to expect your call and then not call them?
I now have to try to put this out of my mind until Tuesday.
Wonderful.
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Still nothing
...
Still no phone call.
I sincerely hope that by tomorrow, all interviews will have been concluded and that decisions for the second round have been finalised so that all that remains to give those lucky people a quick phone call ...
I could do without being driven ever-so-slightly insane with what feels like endless waiting. OK, it's only been a week since the interview and yes they did say they'd call 'towards the end of next week' but as every job hunter will know, the sitting around waiting for an answer period really does a number on your nerves and patience.
Still no phone call.
I sincerely hope that by tomorrow, all interviews will have been concluded and that decisions for the second round have been finalised so that all that remains to give those lucky people a quick phone call ...
I could do without being driven ever-so-slightly insane with what feels like endless waiting. OK, it's only been a week since the interview and yes they did say they'd call 'towards the end of next week' but as every job hunter will know, the sitting around waiting for an answer period really does a number on your nerves and patience.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Nothing yet
...
No phone call yet. I have a long shift at work tomorrow so I'm half hoping to find a voice mail once my shift is up.
God, I used to think I was patient!! The waiting is horrible!
No phone call yet. I have a long shift at work tomorrow so I'm half hoping to find a voice mail once my shift is up.
God, I used to think I was patient!! The waiting is horrible!
Monday, 20 August 2012
Making Time
...
It's quite a mixed bag of opinions over whether being in a job or not is helpful when seeking alternative employment.
Large periods of unemployment certainly don't look good. But the flip side of being unemployed or working only a few hours is that you are available, for the most part, at the drop of a hat to attend interviews at your potential new employers convenience.
If you're in work it may not be that easy.
Sure, it looks good; no or very few gaps in employment, a current reference available, and should the job be something you took on purely for the sake of earning something (or anything at all to pay the bills) it looks like you're determined and not above putting in some hard graft.
HOWEVER ... your 'this'll do' employment may well get in the way of attending interviews. Particularly if you can not get time off at short notice to attend said interviews, scuppering your changes of gaining better employment!
In my case, if I want time off, I have to book it around six weeks in advance. Yes - six weeks! The rotas are varied and I typically get one weekday off per week. And sometimes I get a weekend day off.
I was lucky that I received my invitation to interview just before I had a Thursday off work. Now that I'm waiting on a phone call I'm really hoping to hear back on Wednesday at the latest, because I happen to have this Thursday off as well. With a little luck, I could potentially get my second interview to tie in nicely with my day off.
The main problem I have hit is that if I don't hear back in time, next week is awkward. I have the bank holiday off work, but I imagine that the practice is closed that day anyway. The only other day I have off that week is Saturday. The practice isn't open on weekends.
I can't ask for the day off because the rota is already set.
The only way around that issue is to swap shifts with someone. So I consider myself very lucky that one of my colleagues is quite willing to swap with me - I'll work his Saturday shift and he'll take one of my weekday shifts to free up a day.
That said, I may not even need a full day - if it's not inconvenient for the practice, I could offer to attend a morning one day and an afternoon on another day. Granted there's every chance that that won't be very convenient but it's another option available.
Thus, my initial panic of 'oh my god, I only have this Thursday free' has now been calmed. I have options.
I just have to wait on that phone call and just hope that it's good news. I doubt I'll hear anything today now since they're only open for another hour or so.
Maybe tomorrow ...
It's quite a mixed bag of opinions over whether being in a job or not is helpful when seeking alternative employment.
Large periods of unemployment certainly don't look good. But the flip side of being unemployed or working only a few hours is that you are available, for the most part, at the drop of a hat to attend interviews at your potential new employers convenience.
If you're in work it may not be that easy.
Sure, it looks good; no or very few gaps in employment, a current reference available, and should the job be something you took on purely for the sake of earning something (or anything at all to pay the bills) it looks like you're determined and not above putting in some hard graft.
HOWEVER ... your 'this'll do' employment may well get in the way of attending interviews. Particularly if you can not get time off at short notice to attend said interviews, scuppering your changes of gaining better employment!
In my case, if I want time off, I have to book it around six weeks in advance. Yes - six weeks! The rotas are varied and I typically get one weekday off per week. And sometimes I get a weekend day off.
I was lucky that I received my invitation to interview just before I had a Thursday off work. Now that I'm waiting on a phone call I'm really hoping to hear back on Wednesday at the latest, because I happen to have this Thursday off as well. With a little luck, I could potentially get my second interview to tie in nicely with my day off.
The main problem I have hit is that if I don't hear back in time, next week is awkward. I have the bank holiday off work, but I imagine that the practice is closed that day anyway. The only other day I have off that week is Saturday. The practice isn't open on weekends.
I can't ask for the day off because the rota is already set.
The only way around that issue is to swap shifts with someone. So I consider myself very lucky that one of my colleagues is quite willing to swap with me - I'll work his Saturday shift and he'll take one of my weekday shifts to free up a day.
That said, I may not even need a full day - if it's not inconvenient for the practice, I could offer to attend a morning one day and an afternoon on another day. Granted there's every chance that that won't be very convenient but it's another option available.
Thus, my initial panic of 'oh my god, I only have this Thursday free' has now been calmed. I have options.
I just have to wait on that phone call and just hope that it's good news. I doubt I'll hear anything today now since they're only open for another hour or so.
Maybe tomorrow ...
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
A reply!
...
I actually received a response! Sometimes it feels like such a rarity and I'm sure anyone who is job hunting will appreciate how surprised I am.
Sadly, there are no vacancies at my most recent place of enquiry, but I have just received an email saying that they'll happily keep my CV on record.
That's a result!
I actually received a response! Sometimes it feels like such a rarity and I'm sure anyone who is job hunting will appreciate how surprised I am.
Sadly, there are no vacancies at my most recent place of enquiry, but I have just received an email saying that they'll happily keep my CV on record.
That's a result!
Monday, 16 July 2012
Another Letter
...
Sent another application off this morning. This one is for a private practice not far away - tucked away in a recent development area with plenty of free carparking in the area! Bonus! I would have to drive although I could always consider getting a bike; that's assuming I can find a place to lock it securely. I didn't think to look for bike racks when I scouted the area the other day.
Sent another application off this morning. This one is for a private practice not far away - tucked away in a recent development area with plenty of free carparking in the area! Bonus! I would have to drive although I could always consider getting a bike; that's assuming I can find a place to lock it securely. I didn't think to look for bike racks when I scouted the area the other day.
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Stomach in Knots
[Originally posted on Working to Live, 5th October 2011]
After working quite hard on re-vamping my CV to a more concise and professional format, plus researching dental nurse roles ... I have just applied to a dental practice.
My stomach is giving me the weirdest twisting and flipping feeling.
I have hopes for this one as it seems that most if not all of their dental nurses are in training for their qualification - so what's one more to the team? Plus the post is advertised on their website and it's clearly updated regularly; a new receptionist has been added to the team page, so clearly they are hiring people.
So why do I feel the urge to run away from my PC, nerves jangling uncontrollably?? Just getting my hopes up and fearing the potential disappointment?
I'll admit it's a scary process. It probably doesn't help that I've not applied to anything in for a while, what with being on holiday and busy whipping my CV into shape.
Oh god, I bet there's some idiotic spelling mistake in there somewhere - or else there's a dumb grammar mistake in my covering e-mail letter. "I have an excellent eye for detail ..." yesss, except when extremely nervous about applying for a job I really want, not just a 'job' to get an income but a proper career.
Great. Going to listening out for my phone all day tomorrow, no doubt thinking I can hear it ringing ... done that before, quite often it wasn't ringing at all!
OK - heading out with some friends for the evening - take my mind of this for now, I hope.
Wish me luck people! Fingers crossed for an interview!!
After working quite hard on re-vamping my CV to a more concise and professional format, plus researching dental nurse roles ... I have just applied to a dental practice.
My stomach is giving me the weirdest twisting and flipping feeling.
I have hopes for this one as it seems that most if not all of their dental nurses are in training for their qualification - so what's one more to the team? Plus the post is advertised on their website and it's clearly updated regularly; a new receptionist has been added to the team page, so clearly they are hiring people.
So why do I feel the urge to run away from my PC, nerves jangling uncontrollably?? Just getting my hopes up and fearing the potential disappointment?
I'll admit it's a scary process. It probably doesn't help that I've not applied to anything in for a while, what with being on holiday and busy whipping my CV into shape.
Oh god, I bet there's some idiotic spelling mistake in there somewhere - or else there's a dumb grammar mistake in my covering e-mail letter. "I have an excellent eye for detail ..." yesss, except when extremely nervous about applying for a job I really want, not just a 'job' to get an income but a proper career.
Great. Going to listening out for my phone all day tomorrow, no doubt thinking I can hear it ringing ... done that before, quite often it wasn't ringing at all!
OK - heading out with some friends for the evening - take my mind of this for now, I hope.
Wish me luck people! Fingers crossed for an interview!!
Car Insurance
[Originally posted on Working to Live, 21st July 2011]
My car insurance renewal is coming up - I recieved my reminder in the post recently. I had to phone them up to make a few changes to the policy, including my job which is specified on the policy.
What I didn't realise was that my profession has an effect on the pricing. Whilst I was temporarily working in web development, the price was quite low - my policy was up for renewal just as I'd accepted the job. But now that I'm a shop assistant, the price has leapt upwards! This is because that more shop assistants have accidents than web developers - yet statistically, there's a lot more shop assistants in the country so of course the accident rate is understandably higher given that there's more of us out on the roads! Odds are, we'll be in accidents sooner or later.
I was slightly miffed at that, being judged as a higher risk because of my job. I honestly don't see how it has a bearing on the likelyhood of me personally having an accident. Shop assistants are not auotmatically worse drivers, there's simply more of us.
But then, out of curiosity I asked what it would be if I were a dental nurse.
Surprise surprise, it's at the lower end.
Mental note - change car insurance policy the minute I gain new employment!
My car insurance renewal is coming up - I recieved my reminder in the post recently. I had to phone them up to make a few changes to the policy, including my job which is specified on the policy.
What I didn't realise was that my profession has an effect on the pricing. Whilst I was temporarily working in web development, the price was quite low - my policy was up for renewal just as I'd accepted the job. But now that I'm a shop assistant, the price has leapt upwards! This is because that more shop assistants have accidents than web developers - yet statistically, there's a lot more shop assistants in the country so of course the accident rate is understandably higher given that there's more of us out on the roads! Odds are, we'll be in accidents sooner or later.
I was slightly miffed at that, being judged as a higher risk because of my job. I honestly don't see how it has a bearing on the likelyhood of me personally having an accident. Shop assistants are not auotmatically worse drivers, there's simply more of us.
But then, out of curiosity I asked what it would be if I were a dental nurse.
Surprise surprise, it's at the lower end.
Mental note - change car insurance policy the minute I gain new employment!
Research
[Originally posted on Working to Live, 13th July 2011]
When I first became unemployed I pretty much kept all my options open and applied for any job going. All I wanted was an income - hence the acceptance of two jobs of leafleting and shop assistant.
Now that I have an income, albeit limited, I can actually afford the time to consider what I really want to do. It's a daunting prospect when I think that I'm not far off turning 30 years old. A few years will go by alarmingly quickly. I can't even believe it's been nearly nine months since I was last in full time employment - that's just scary.
So I've sat down, taken stock of what my current skills are, what I'm good at and what I'd like to do. Strange as it sounds, but I do enjoy admin work - I love being organised, typing letters and things being 'just so'. I like order and being professional. I want a job where there are things to learn all the time, where my knowledge and skills are valued and that I'm doing something that benefits others.
As much as I liked my office job, it was endlessly frustrating that people earning 3 or 4 times my salary were so oblivious to things like the filing - it's the freaking alphabet! It's not hard to put something back in the right place! Oh, and that flashing 'no paper' warning on the photocopier? That means you need to reload the paper, not run to me whinging that it's broken and you have no idea what to do. Yet you are an 'officer' with a higher standing and get more respect than the lowly administration team that you rely upon so heavily for everything that you do. That kind of thing drove me up the wall. I want to work with professional individuals who take pride in their work.
This is has all nudged me in the direction of dental nursing. Admittedly a random search result on a job website flagged a vacancy up and that led me to look into it more in the first instance.
I've looked into how I become registered, what's involved with becoming qualified. I've printed off the prospectus for the examination I'll need to pass.
I like what I see. There's a lot to learn and I would be learning on the job and attending a course for some time. There's progression to other areas of dentistry available once qualified. Ongoing learning is something I thrive on. I can't not be learning something new. The first few weeks of unemployment were almost like a nice break, a mini-holiday to relax - but it honestly does not take long for me to start climbing the walls for lack of mental stimulation. I need a regular working pattern (Monday to Friday is ideal) and I need something to focus on, to learn new things.
You can tell I lived for school. I hated the long summer holidays by the end - they were far too long and I wanted to go to lessons! Even now, I'm learning Japanese and new RPG systems purely because I find so much enjoyment in learning.
Dental nursing is becoming a more appealing option to me. It incorporates some administration tasks which is great and the skills and knowledge required are leaving me salivating! I'm perfectly happy to wear a uniform. I'd be supporting a dentist in his role and helping the patients; we all need dental care at some point so it's not like the profession is going to go away - it's all important stuff and I want that kind of responsibility.
I want to learn! Truthfully, if I were rich enough to never need to work I would either spend my life attending courses and reading or else work for free at a job I could learn something from.
Research into the role of dental nurses is well underway. I'm making a contact list of all the dental surgeries in my area and any areas I can travel to. I'm looking into advice on how to write a better covering letter. My CV will need polishing up again.
Ultimately, once I return from my fabulous holiday in September (the blog will go quiet for maybe 3 weeks that month, sorry!) I will be sending out CV's with a covering letter to all the dental surgeries explaining my desire to be a dental nurse. With any luck, even if some don't have any vacancies, there'll be one who will be happy to consider me as a candidate for any post that is or will become available.
I'm loath to send out letters just yet because of my holiday. Been saving up for it since last year and it's being booked now - don't want to contact a dentist only to turn down any interview / informal chat / job offers because I can't attend for a few weeks. That does kind of suck, but then again, I've got to be positive and view the time I have from now until I leave as time to be spent on research and preparing my covering letters and CV's.
Perhaps this method of direct contact will be more fruitful than simply hunting all over for job adverts.
When I first became unemployed I pretty much kept all my options open and applied for any job going. All I wanted was an income - hence the acceptance of two jobs of leafleting and shop assistant.
Now that I have an income, albeit limited, I can actually afford the time to consider what I really want to do. It's a daunting prospect when I think that I'm not far off turning 30 years old. A few years will go by alarmingly quickly. I can't even believe it's been nearly nine months since I was last in full time employment - that's just scary.
So I've sat down, taken stock of what my current skills are, what I'm good at and what I'd like to do. Strange as it sounds, but I do enjoy admin work - I love being organised, typing letters and things being 'just so'. I like order and being professional. I want a job where there are things to learn all the time, where my knowledge and skills are valued and that I'm doing something that benefits others.
As much as I liked my office job, it was endlessly frustrating that people earning 3 or 4 times my salary were so oblivious to things like the filing - it's the freaking alphabet! It's not hard to put something back in the right place! Oh, and that flashing 'no paper' warning on the photocopier? That means you need to reload the paper, not run to me whinging that it's broken and you have no idea what to do. Yet you are an 'officer' with a higher standing and get more respect than the lowly administration team that you rely upon so heavily for everything that you do. That kind of thing drove me up the wall. I want to work with professional individuals who take pride in their work.
This is has all nudged me in the direction of dental nursing. Admittedly a random search result on a job website flagged a vacancy up and that led me to look into it more in the first instance.
I've looked into how I become registered, what's involved with becoming qualified. I've printed off the prospectus for the examination I'll need to pass.
I like what I see. There's a lot to learn and I would be learning on the job and attending a course for some time. There's progression to other areas of dentistry available once qualified. Ongoing learning is something I thrive on. I can't not be learning something new. The first few weeks of unemployment were almost like a nice break, a mini-holiday to relax - but it honestly does not take long for me to start climbing the walls for lack of mental stimulation. I need a regular working pattern (Monday to Friday is ideal) and I need something to focus on, to learn new things.
You can tell I lived for school. I hated the long summer holidays by the end - they were far too long and I wanted to go to lessons! Even now, I'm learning Japanese and new RPG systems purely because I find so much enjoyment in learning.
Dental nursing is becoming a more appealing option to me. It incorporates some administration tasks which is great and the skills and knowledge required are leaving me salivating! I'm perfectly happy to wear a uniform. I'd be supporting a dentist in his role and helping the patients; we all need dental care at some point so it's not like the profession is going to go away - it's all important stuff and I want that kind of responsibility.
I want to learn! Truthfully, if I were rich enough to never need to work I would either spend my life attending courses and reading or else work for free at a job I could learn something from.
Research into the role of dental nurses is well underway. I'm making a contact list of all the dental surgeries in my area and any areas I can travel to. I'm looking into advice on how to write a better covering letter. My CV will need polishing up again.
Ultimately, once I return from my fabulous holiday in September (the blog will go quiet for maybe 3 weeks that month, sorry!) I will be sending out CV's with a covering letter to all the dental surgeries explaining my desire to be a dental nurse. With any luck, even if some don't have any vacancies, there'll be one who will be happy to consider me as a candidate for any post that is or will become available.
I'm loath to send out letters just yet because of my holiday. Been saving up for it since last year and it's being booked now - don't want to contact a dentist only to turn down any interview / informal chat / job offers because I can't attend for a few weeks. That does kind of suck, but then again, I've got to be positive and view the time I have from now until I leave as time to be spent on research and preparing my covering letters and CV's.
Perhaps this method of direct contact will be more fruitful than simply hunting all over for job adverts.
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