Salt Lake City

Why is Networking Important?

Career Opportunity, why networking is important

Have you taken the time to branch out and network with other professionals? Sometimes we find networking to be awkward and uncomfortable, so we tend to shy away from meeting new people.

But…it’s part of the job.

It’s expected to happen; to meet new people and know more about the market, business, and industry. On the job, we have to be able to connect and communicate with others whether they are colleagues, managers, supervisors, or other professionals in different departments. Networking with people helps you build a knowledge source of professionals with experience and expertise.

So, what’s the importance of networking?

It allows you to build and gain insight into the market and also opportunities. We’ve compiled a list of the importance of networking and why you should be active.

Advantageous to Job Searching

  • Part of the job search – most job positions are filled through word of mouth rather than employment advertisement.
  • Finding opportunities – lending or willing to help others within your professional network can open new opportunities. Lend others a hand, and they can lend you theirs when you need it.

Beneficial to Career Advancement  

  • Have access to a hidden job market – also known as the informal job market. Before a job position goes public through employment advertisement, your network can provide you with informal opportunities others don’t have access to immediately.
  • Staying visible – whether you have the job or not, staying visible is essential and a skill you want to master. Visibility helps you gain opportunities and stand out from the rest because people know who you are. These opportunities can come in the form of new positions or meet new people who are influential and can help advance your career.

Building Professional Relationships    

  • Developing connections – building relationships and connections with others in the company gives you understanding, insight, and knowledge of others and the different areas of the business. It makes it easier to collaborate and support one another to achieve and succeed together.
  • Building a foundation – a common factor in connecting and developing relationships is, others within your network have to “know, like, and trust you.” Why? This basic foundation in your connections allows you to gain access to career advancement opportunities, recommendations, guidance to the desired career, and the potential of meeting other professionals.

Source of Knowledge

  • Knowledge is shared – through your network you have a source of knowledge and expertise from others experiences. They can offer you a range of perspectives, wisdom, and insights on a specific area of a business or industry.
  • Provide guidance – your network can provide you with assistance and advice in your career. It can become a professional asset if you nourish your relationships.
  • Exchange of Ideas and Opinions – building a network of professionals within the same business, market, or industry allows you the ability to exchange ideas and opinions about it and to discuss current issues and solutions. It becomes a place where you can ask for help, ask questions, and get to acquire more knowledge and insight.

Networking is part of our every day and is a critical part of our careers. The people we meet and build professional relationships can always lead us to new opportunities in our jobs where they didn’t exist before. The more you broaden your network, the more insights you get and potential opportunities that are offered to you. Networking doesn’t take place in the workplace but anywhere, even when you volunteer your time and service.

Grow your pool of professional experts within your business, market or industry; you never know where your network can lead you to.    

Transferable Skills and Their Importance in Changing Careers

Whether you’re looking for a new job or switching to a new career, one of the aspects we have to evaluate is our skill set. Our skills are critical when making a change because, like any other job, employers seek specific skills that define our ability to work for their company.

Our skill set is defined by our knowledge, abilities, and experience we have that are often categorized into hard skills, soft skills, and transferable skills. They all play a role in the career we have now and will in the future depending on the direction we choose to take. If we plan on switching careers, we need to assess our skills and which of them are transferable skills.

But first, what are transferable skills?

They are skills and abilities that are relevant and transferable across different areas of our lives mostly our professional life. Often they are referred to as “soft skills” or “core skills” since they apply to any career and situation. Transferable skills are categorized into interpersonal, communication, technical, and organizational skills.  

They’re skills we acquire through schooling, internships, work experience, and voluntary work which demonstrate we’re adaptable and can fit the job regardless of previous experience if it isn’t relevant.

So, why is it critical to have transferable skills?

With how workforce and industries are changing, we need to have more than knowledge in our field of study. We need to have skills and abilities that demonstrate we can adapt and communicate in work environments and function effectively and efficiently within a team and also individually. It is a skill set showing our competency in a business world where we’re expected to communicate, network, team build, and have leadership.

These skills are becoming valuable and essential to have and develop since employers not only look into finding employees that fit the job, but also fit in the work environment and the work culture that has been created. It lets employers know what you can bring to the table, what you’ve learned from other work experiences, how quickly you learn, and if you’re an asset. Having transferable skills indicate you can be an asset to a company regardless the experience if you are planning on switching careers.

Taking a few minutes to assess our skills and which are transferable from one career to another is critical to pinpoint in marketing ourselves to the profession and industry we want to work for. It lets us know what we need to work and improve on and what other abilities we need to acquire whether through schooling or on our own.  

 

Why Soft Skills Are Important to Your Career

When you’re searching for a job or have a one, you need to have the hard skills known as technical skills that determine specific knowledge and skills, skills that can be measured and taught through programs, courses or schooling. But in addition to needing hard skills, you need soft skills to succeed in a job.

What Are Soft Skills?

They’re intangible skills that determine your interpersonal skills. Mostly, they are the attributions, personality traits, social cues, and communication skills we need to succeed in a job. Soft skills are harder to define and evaluate since they’re skills that can’t be taught in a course because they take time to develop over time and have to do the person’s character.

Why Are They Important to Acquire?

Unlike hard skills, soft skills promote human connection. Skills needed to build and maintain human relationships and career advancements. In any job profession, you will be interacting with people whether it is a co-worker, manager, boss, client, or customer. The way you communicate with others is crucial to how your relationships build over time, how others interact with you and how you approach life. Not everyone has a set of soft skills and some need to improve on them.

Today, companies and businesses are becoming more dynamic and in need to interconnect and be flexible which is why soft skills are critical to have. Having soft skills are what ensures having a productive, collaborative, and healthy work environment. There are skills hiring managers, companies, and businesses look for to improve leadership, build a work culture that’s meaningful and encourage employee retention.

When you work in the medical field, this includes the dental field, having soft skills is crucial. You work with the patients, dentists, and other clinical staff. The way you communicate and your attitude is everything! To having patients come back, share concerns and questions, to trusting you, and having dentists and clinical staff work alongside you to collaborative teamwork to efficiently understanding the medical diagnosis, treatment plans, and medical records.

Various soft skills contribute to advancing your career and maintaining human connections. Skills such as

  • Oral and written communication
  • Leadership
  • Collaborative teamwork
  • Problem-solving
  • Critical thinking
  • Adaptability
  • Critical observer   
  • Dependable
  • Independent
  • Compassionate

These are just some of the skills you can learn or improve on since they are skills which are easily transferable to any job. We are always interacting with people and the further we develop on our ability to communicate, work together, and be personable, the better chances we have to advance in our careers and be a great asset. Not only will help us in our professional lives but personal because they are skills we continuously use. If you want a review on how soft skills are impacting your career and the dental field here is an article to read.      

5 Things to Know Before Changing Careers

Have you been thinking of a new career? There is a lot to consider when making a big decision such as changing careers because more than one area of your life will be affected. Changing profession can be daunting and sometimes we don’t always get the support we need from those in our profession.  

A career change can be great move to take since it can lead to finding or working in the profession of your choice or in a business that aligns more with your core values and what you seek in a job. But what do you need to know before changing your careers?

Here are five things you should know before making a career change. We’ve come up with five things, or tips, you should know before making a move to a new profession. Research is critical in making this big step.

  1. Invest time. Investing time on yourself and research is crucial to the process of making the change. What do we mean? Take the time to know what you want professionally, what your core values are, what kind of environment you would like to work in, your strengths, and skills you have. This is the first initial step you want to take to in gathering as much information as you can on yourself and understanding the assets you can bring to your new career and industry.
  2. You don’t have to know so much yet. Going into a new profession means, you may not know everything right away, and that’s okay. However, you do have to have some knowledge of the industry such as the obstacles the industry faces and the company, how you can offer solutions from previous experience, skills, and knowledge you may have. There will be moments when you may not know something, however, having an eagerness to learn and having a humble attitude is important in transitioning careers.
  3. There will be disappointments. You’re everyday tasks, and responsibilities will change and with them, the application of skills and knowledge you have. There will be challenges and obstacles you’ll need to navigate and ask yourself how you will overcome them and be willing to learn. Keeping realistic expectations of the job is important to have when entering a new profession.
  4. Create an action plan. A plan that is detailed and clear for you to outline into achievable steps and what has to be done first. An action plan you will be able to execute and carry out over the time you are transitioning to a new career.
  5. Overhaul your resume. This is a given, but we don’t mean tweaking your resume just on a few sections. You’ll have to rebuild your resume to fit into the industry you want to work in, and that demonstrates your skills and knowledge are transferable. Take the time to know what the industry is looking for in a candidate and how you better display your skills and experience in that new industry.

Changing careers is a more common now than it was before years ago. There are more opportunities in the workforce that allows us to grow professionally and transition into a career we can see ourselves working in for years. Before making a change, we have to ensure it is the right move and what it is needed to make that move possible.

Research is a critical component of understanding and gaining more knowledge of what the new industry is about and what you as an individual need to make a career change. What steps are you taking to make the transition to a new career?

 

New Career Possibilities Beyond Call Centers

Discover new career opportunities beyond being a call representative at a call center. We can offer you the chance to experience a new career in 12 short weeks through our Dental Administration course.

Worried about entering into a career of Dental Administration? Don’t be! You have the skill sets to be a successful dental administrator. As a call representative, you have a professional and friendly demeanor which is necessary when helping patients and working with others as a team. You’ll be able to do more than just answer calls from customers and research a solution to their concerns or complaints. You have the opportunity to do other tasks within an office environment and learn marketing and branding, the business aspect of a dental office.

You’ll still be in the business of catering to the needs and wants of people and the ability to interact with a variety of people. Entering into the career of a dental administration will open your career options to more than just one position. With our dental administration training, you’ll be able to apply to be a scheduling coordinator, dental office manager, account manager, financial treatment coordinator, human resource manager, and marketing specialist. Options to explore and to discover the career you want to be part of!

No more sitting at a desk long hours with a headset attached to your ears. Experience the freedom you have of taking on new tasks, sitting in your office or standing to alleviate your back or release some stress. If you’re looking to do more and get more from your career, consider the opportunities you can get from training in dental administration, in just short 12-weeks.

Just think in a couple of months you can start a new career in dental administration. A job that opens you to a new profession, flexible schedule, and will allow you to apply skills sets you already have to the field of dentistry. Get more from your career by training in dental administration. Apply the skills you already have while gaining new ones to expand your career horizons. Reduce the time you spend sitting, attached to a headset by becoming a dental administrator today.    

Contact Kathy at [email protected] today!

Massive Fire Nearly Destroys Dental Office

Massive Fire Nearly Destroys Dental Office

David L. Steed

One year ago, a massive 4-alarm fire erupted in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The fire was set by an electrician working on the construction site adjacent to The Center of Dental Professional’s downtown offices at around 6pm. Salt Lake City fire fighters responded to several calls from neighbors and set up a defensive perimeter around the burning building to keep other businesses and homes safe from harm.

The fire continued to burn for several hours as emergency crews battled the blaze. Temperatures became so intense that a construction crane overlooking the inferno collapsed into the building remains. With several onlookers taking pictures and video, the fire was safely contained with very little damage done to surrounding structures.

One year later The Center of Dental Professionals is still doing business. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the Salt Lake City Fire Department, the dental offices suffered very little damage and caused our staff to only miss a single day of office appointments.

fire

fire2

 

To see additional images of the fire visit Fox 13 News.

Please visit The Center of Dental Professionals in Salt Lake City, Utah.