|
|
 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
   
Location: Pacific Northwest | There is a job that just opened up in my town that I would love to get. It's a front office position at the dentist office, full time, M-F. I have my AA but I've only ever worked retail jobs. I don't know how to convince this place to give me a chance even though I don't have prior office experience. They ask for a cover letter. Do I basically just talk about myself and all my great customer service skills?
I want a job with weekends off SO bad, I can't even explain it. I never get to do anything with my horses OR my friends because I'm the only one still stuck with a retail (well, sorta...it's a feed store) job working weekends.
I am fully capable of being a receptionist. I have really good customer service, I can work computers quickly and multitask while on the phone. I also know how to look clean and professional, we had to wear dress clothes at Macy's and I obviously had to dress nice when I worked at the bank. The only thing that keeps me from getting these jobs is I don't have the experience on paper to make them want to call me in. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1857
| in your cover letter let them know that you are aware that you may not have the experience in a dental office however your recent capacity as such and such and past experiences have given you great customer service skills, phone, computers, stress, etc. State that you are confident that you would be a great fit for the position because.... and then write why. Sell yourself to them. |
|
| |
|
 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| Customer service transfers into office work a lot more than you know. Many people, myself included started once upon a time in retail and moved into an office setting. It will depend on your experience with programs/software. Make sure you brush up on your excel skills. Make sure you bring those things to light, I am sure you used those skills in college. Focus on all the skills you do have vs the ones you dont. Retail, you are usually the first person people see when they walk in, which will be the same for your office job. Bring those similarities to the table.
Practice the basic interview questions... where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are your strengths? Weaknesses? Practice summarizing your experience in the best way to compare with the job applying you're applying for.
Dress the part, slacks... blazer, simple heel... only wear simple jewlery if you want to wear some.
Cover letter should be summary of your experience and how it relates to the job in question. Sell yourself.
Research the company, know about it. How many dentists, techs, etc. Get as much info on the place as possible before the interview.
Hope that helps. GOOD LUCK |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| Like the others said, use the cover letter to explain why you are qualified for the job.
Also - I'm sure some people will flame me for this, but if you have a friend or know anyone that works in an office that would it would be believeable that you worked for them, fudge your resume some.
For example - I was in college to get my AS in Accounting, but while I was in school all I ever worked was retail/restaurants because of the flexible schedule. I have a friend that is the CFO for a company. I put on my resume that I worked for her part time off and on doing clerical office assistant work. Filing, answering phones, coding invoices etc. Because she was listed as a previous employer they always called her as a reference. She is the one that suggested I put her down as an employer because she knew me, she knew I was more than qualified for an office job, she knew I was smart enough to learn, and possess the basic common sense to get me through once I got the job. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 214
| When we hire we don't want to read a whole life story, hiring is a time consuming process to begin with but adding lengthy resumes and 45 page cover letters get irritating. Write the cover letter to pertain only to the dental office receptionist job don't be vague and add things that are off the wall and could be for any job (they will think you might print off 20 copies of this letter and hand out, make it obvious you took the time to write this one specifically for them).
Tell them why you are the candidate they should choose, you have a very strong background with customer service in your current job. You love working with people and are excited about the opportunity to work in their office etc.. Tell them about your computer skills, phone skills, how professional you are etc. Don't mention anything about how you know you don't have "office" experience, working in your current job setting does translate to office work in some aspects. Be confident in yourself and put that confidence into your cover letter and resume.
Do NOT fudge your resume.... think about the consequences should that false information come out. I know I wouldn't want to hire someone who lied on their resume and if we found out down the road we would have to think long and hard about if we wanted to continue to employ someone who was dishonest from the beginning. It sounds like you have the tools and knowledge for this type of job, be confident through the whole process :)
Good Luck, hope you get it! |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | The biggest thing most business are looking at also is will you show up every day. Tell that you do not miss work by all the weekends that you have had to work. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 883
Location: Southern Indiana | The purpose of a resume is to ask for an interview. So you want to ask to get the chance to further discuss the position and explain why you would be a good fit. If the posting lists any desired skills you need to address those in your cover letter. It sounds like to me you did a good job at explainIng your skills just now and how you have the ones necessary to be a successful candidate.
I feel your pain I had a hard time after college finding a job because I had nothing but an internship. I lucked out by finally going through a temp agency and that job helped me get a better one. I guess what I am getting at is if you don't get this one maybe try a temp agency and see if they can find you an office job to build up your resume. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1718
Location: Southeast Louisiana | Do not fudge your resume. In this day and age, it is too easy to check such things like work history and that is something that could potentially follow you for the rest of your life. Some employers really do verify everything you put in your resume. Stay honest, in this and everything else you do, it will pay off in the long run. |
|
| |
|
 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | You sound perfect for a receptionist job. Shame you aren't in Florida, I am going to be looking for someone just like you in a year or so and am dreading it. Finding someone with a good work ethic, who knows how to dress professionally is a nightmare in this day and age. That you have an AA degree is also impressive, it shows you have commitment and drive. Have more confidence in yourself and point out your good qualities, a lack of experience can be a good thing, you haven't learned any bad habits. Kinda like buying a horse that is well started on barrels, sometimes you have to spend more time untraining them that you would have spent on an unstarted horse. |
|
| |
|
I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | Thank you so much for the advice everyone! I'm going to work on my resume and cover letter, it doesn't say anything about emailing it so I think dressing nice and dropping it off in person might help my chances of getting an interview :) |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1257
Location: Colorado plains standing on a goat head! | I know it should be a given, but be sure to triple check your cover letter and resume for typos, spelling and punctuation. That is where we start when we receive documents. If people can't prepare their resume correctly, it does not bode well for their attention to detail in the work they do for us. I am sure you have that covered. And yes it is importatnt to dress well even if only dropping off information. Good luck! |
|
| |
|
 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | I actually just recently had to hire someone new for my office (optometry office). I got quite a few resumes and here's what impressed me:
-Having a 1 page cover letter that is actually addressed to me and the job position, and not a generic cover letter
-Having a 1 page resume that highlights work history and skills
-If you get an interview, send a hand-written thank you card. This really goes above and beyond.
-Listing real references. RAther than saying "references available upon request".
Personally, I am perfectly fine with email, as long as you address your email with a salutation, body, and ending like you would a real letter.
Things that annoyed me:
-a 5 page resume
-generic cover letter "I am sending this to apply for your position." .... (What, you can't even take the time to type WHAT position we are hiring for?)
-Do not call me withint the hour that you send your resume to see if I got it. It is fine if you want to check, but wait 1 or 2 days.
-Actually tell the person you are listing as a reference, that you are listing them as a reference!
Yes, experience is important BUT personality is even more important than that. I can train someone to do their job. I can't train them to have a good personality. Front desk is especially important to have someone reliable with a good attitude.
Make sure to express that you love working with people, have a friendly personality, etc (provided you DO have those things) because that is what makes a good front desk person.
|
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 372
| Be a stripper
money is good, hours are flexible and you can't be the fringe benefits.
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 12
| Ask them if you could volunteer in the office. If they like what they see you could have the position sealed up in a couple of hours. Good luck! |
|
| |
|
 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | forbes had a great article on this about a year ago.... i;ll see if i can find it.
other then that, if you google it you can see samples of adequate cover letters. I refer my candidates to these when its asked for.
ETA: here it is. http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2014/02/06/the-cover-letters-...
Also everything r_beau said, remember hiring managers have to read 100 of these, don;t write a book. edit your resume to address the specific bullet points of the position in the order they were listed on the job description.
Edited by Crowned Image 2015-08-01 7:12 AM
|
|
| |
|
I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | arion - 2015-07-31 3:10 PM
Be a stripper
money is good, hours are flexible and you can't be the fringe benefits.
It's crossed my mind  |
|
| |
|
Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| livexlovexrodeo - 2015-08-01 5:58 PM arion - 2015-07-31 3:10 PM Be a stripper money is good, hours are flexible and you can't be the fringe benefits. It's crossed my mind 
don/t laugh i barrel raced qwith several never knew they stripped for a living till they said something hey if you got use it.. i they dressed conservative a shows did not have tats or swear io was stunned but they made good money |
|
| |
|
 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Stress that you are punctual and don't miss work. So many people nowadays show up for work when they feel like it. Seriously. Also, highlight the skills that you are good at that would apply to the job. Don't mention that you like weekends off. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | The biggest problem with young people is getting them to just showing up for work. |
|
| |
|
Location: Not Where I Want to Be | why are you folks replying to a 7 year old thread? |
|
| |
OT I need help getting a big girl job.