How to Leave a Dental Assisting Job Gracefully
Written by: Nicholas Cain, Guest Writer
Whether it’s to pursue a new opportunity or to leave a toxic work environment, there is a right and a wrong way to leave any position. Regardless of the reason, your goal should always be to leave in the smoothest way possible. You never want to burn bridges because you never know when your connections with your former co-workers or employer may come in handy. Here are a few tips to remember when leaving any position.
Write a Letter of Resignation
When leaving any job, you should always present a letter of resignation to your immediate supervisor. In a small practice, this may be the dentist; but in a large practice, this may be the office manager. Be sure you take your time! It should be direct and honest, contain all of the information you want to give and have no spelling or grammatical errors. You want to make sure that you clearly state your last day of employment and that you keep the letter positive, regardless of your personal feelings. Remember, you want to maintain this professional relationship with your supervisor, even if you feel that he or she may not have provided you with the most positive working experience. End the letter with letting your boss know that you are thankful for the opportunities you were given while working the position. This final touch will help create that positive last impression.
Give Them a Notice to Find an Alternative
Be sure to give your notice to your supervisor in person, before you tell anyone else that you are leaving. You don’t want your supervisor to hear about your departure from someone else before you have a chance to tell him or her. Ideally you want to give a two weeks’ notice when leaving a job. If you can give longer, that’s great; however, industry standard is two weeks. This gives your employer time to figure out how they will manage without you within the company. They will need time to properly search for your replacement or to restructure the practice in a way where they can just eliminate your position all together. They could even be taking this time to develop a counter offer in order to keep you with the practice. Many practices may ask for an exit interview to talk about your experience with the practice and explore the reason you are leaving. Whatever the reason, you should always try and give your employer as much time as possible to figure out their next move.
Be Professional as You Make Your Leave
It is totally understandable that you would feel excited about leaving to pursue whatever other opportunity you may have. However, try not to show your enthusiasm for leaving while at your current position. Again, what you don’t want to do is burn any bridges before you leave. Try not to talk about any new opportunity you may have with anyone that works alongside you. Be careful about how you talk about your current job as well. Don’t bash your supervisor and watch what you are posting on social media—you never know what is going to get back to the office. Just focus on working hard and setting the practice up to be as successful as possible once you leave.
Set Up Your Successor for Success
Finally, you may be asked to train your replacement. This is pretty common in a lot of dental practices to ensure the smoothest transition from person to person. Try to not mention anything negative or to disparage the practice to your replacement. They’re embarking on their own journey with the practice so it’s not really fair for you to crush their spirits with a negative perspective. You want to do everything you can in order to make certain that they are walking into the best, most positive possible work environment. In addition, make sure you have completed all projects assigned to you. Try and go through your desk, email and phone to have it nice and organized for your replacement. Finally, remember to turn in any property, keys or information such as passwords to your company before you leave so they can pass it along to the next person. Doing so will ensure a smooth transition for your replacement.
When You Finally Leave
Your biggest goal when exiting any company is to maintain the professional relationships that you worked so hard to establish. Thank all of the people that have helped you while working your position before you leave. You never know when you may need them as a reference in the future!