Vital Summer11 Pg Cover Story

8/6/2019 Vital Summer11 Pg Cover Story

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Recruitment company

director Kelly Haggett

has come an awfully

long way since flipping

burgers in small town

New Zealand and

is now proud to callEngland home.

COVER STORY

Iwas brought up by my mother in

Whangarei, New Zealand. I have never

met my ather and at times it was a

struggle or us as a one-parent amily.

I developed a strong independent

streak which led me to drop out o

school aged 16 and rent my own place. Up until

the age o 19 I raised the money or ood and

rent by singing in bands at the weekends andthe occasional handout rom the government.

Whangarei had high levels o unemployment

at that time so it was quite a depressing place

to live.

‘ This business fills me wiTh

pr id e ’


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COVER STORY

I worked at a ew ast ood

chains and did not enjoy it one

bit; but then at 19 I heard about

a position available at a dental

practice through a riend who

was a dental nurse. I carried

out work experience or ree

and was then oered a position.

It gave me a heightened sense

o purpose in work and in lie

which uelled me to keep going

and carve out a career.

Age 21 saw me living in New

Zealand’s ‘big smoke’, Auckland,

a ew hours south o Whangarei.

Tere I worked as a receptionist

and also dental nursed at a lovely

dental practice, Geddes akapuna,

right on the beach. Te team

would take their lunch on thebeach and it was quite idyllic.

At 23 I le to check out London.

Although I have never met my

ather, he is English and I elt a

strong tie to this country. en

years later I still do and now call

England home.

I worked as Head Dental Nurse

at Q Clinic on Harley Street (where

the photographs or this article were

taken). I discovered that I could

manage people and make goodbusiness decisions, which again

uelled me to go urther. I stayed at

the Q Clinic or ve years and gained

my dental nursing qualication.

It was during this time that I met

my husband Daniel, a photographer

– we have now been together or a

blissul nine years. He encouraged me

to do something crazy like drop out

o work or a ew months and learn

a sport. In 2007 we took a break and

did a ski season in Chamonix, France.

We have recently bought property in

Chamonix and will be renovating it

this summer.

In 2008 we moved to Sydney,

Australia together to see another

country and experience a dierent

culture. I worked at the Australian

Dental Association while I was there,

organising postgraduate courses or

dentists and CPD courses or the dental

team. Tis is where my passion or dental

education really came into play.

It was an exciting time or me and Idreamt o starting my own company in

recruitment and dental education. Daniel

and I decided to return to Britain to get

married and so that I could set up shop.

educaTion really came inTo play.’

‘This is where my passion for denTal



COVER STORY

Being with Daniel lls me with the energy I

need to get stuck into work.

Dental Angels

I started my recruitment company, Dental

Angels, in October 2008, working rom home

with an old laptop and a mobile phone. As thecompany grew we moved to a small oce in

London’s West End but are currently in the

process o moving to bigger premises a ew

streets away. My team o one has grown to our

and we are in the process o hiring more due to

Dental Angel’s success.

Recently I have hooked up with Chris

Barrow, consultant, trainer and coach to the

dental proession. I consider Chris to be my

mentor and Dental Angels has made huge

progress through his coaching. Our prots

have soared and our team is better and stronger

than ever beore. Chris has played a crucialrole in helping us become a better business

and team.

At the moment we are working on a whole

new business model or Dental Angels. Dental

recruitment in the UK has some way to go

yet beore it can cater to all clientele. At the

moment there is the typical bricks-and-mortar

recruitment company with a set price or a

company that is ully online that doesn’t give

much support to the client by way o screening

candidates. Both o these business models can

present large pitalls which we aim to avoidin our new business model. o say that I am

excited is an understatement.

Our dental nurses

Dental Angels only employs GDC-registered

dental nurses and we also vet all o our

temporary dental nurses beore we oer them

employment. We visit dental practices, meet our

clients, screen CVs and interview candidates –

which not all recruitment agencies do.

Dental Angels don’t just match skills on paper

then deliver a mountain o CVs to a client’s desk

that they then have to si through. We do the

screening, in other words, the time consuming,

tough part o the process. We understand the

close relationship a dentist has with his or

her support sta; this is where our talent or

knowing which personalities will gel together

and which will fourish come into play. By

meeting the candidate and going to the practice

we can do this eectively. We understand that

all practices are dierent; a buzzing ten-dentist

practice will suit a dierent type o employee

to a quieter single-dentist surgery. For some

dental practices the dental nurse may also bethe receptionist and the sole support sta and

thereore the ace o the practice. Tat one

person might need to answer phones, meet and

greet and even sell treatments.

Acorn Dental Training

People oen complain (past and present) about

the availability and quality o temp support

sta, especially nurses, so we realised the only

way to solve this problem was to start a training

centre and one that people can get to in Central

London. Tere were no colleges in Central

London and the market was crying out or a

central location with a antastic level o teaching.

When I started Dental Angels I knew

agencies had a bad rap about the quality o

temps, and I thought I could get better nurses,

and get it right.

I set up Acorn Dental raining with Michelle

Pearson, who also runs a recruitment agency,

in 2009. Acorn oers the National Certicate

or Dental Nurses and courses in orensics or

the dental team and cross inection control.

Setting up this business lls me with pride and

satisaction. I love nothing more than meeting

a trainee dental nurse totally new to his or her

proession and lled with so much excitement

because I remember being like that mysel. Our

courses are sell outs and this comes down to

sheer persistence and hard work.

Changing times

In the our years I have been working in the

world o dental recruitment a lot has happened

in the industry. GDC registration has meant

that ewer dental nurses are available; since 2008

all dental nurses have needed to be registered

to work legally in the UK. Tis has prevented

Australian and New Zealand dental nurses, orexample, landing here and working immediately.

Tere is a lack o dental nurses to go around, so

i you are a practice who has a great dental nurse

then treasure them; they are like gold dust.

Dental Angels spends a lot o time

advertising and we do a weekly giant

mail-out to our large database o screened

candidates, which enables us to nd the best

dental nurse or a job. It is hard gra nding

good support sta at present and out o the

hundreds o CVs we receive, only a handul

get on to our recruitment list and go on to

our database.

Good temps are also like gold dust and

demand rom clients is high.

Dental hygienists used to be very busy and

hard to nd; then with the recession there

was a drop in people going to dentists or allbut essential work and oen dentists carried

out hygiene treatments themselves. In recent

months this has shied and hygiene work is

slowly coming back in. In just the last two

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www.nature.com/vital vital 25

months we have seen a shi at Dental Angels

and we are now placing dental hygienists again.

Our database is jammed ull o hygienistslooking or work.

Change is constant and we must all move

with the times. From a business perspective I

think that we must always be evolving or the

business won’t survive. I have lots o plans or

Dental Angels and Acorn Dental raining

which I am condent are just what the dentalindustry needs. We will always listen to reviews,

comments and eedback rom our customers. I

am in no doubt that by listening to our clients

we will continue to be successul.

For more inormation on dental nurse

or dental team training, go to www.

acorndentaltraining.co.uk or email ino@

acorndentaltraining.co.uk.

Dental Angels is constantly seeking amazing

new candidates or employment: dental

nurses, dental hygienists, dental therapists,

dental technicians, dentists and treatment

coordinators. Go to www.dentalangels.co.uk or

more inormation or email your CV to ino@

dentalangels.co.uk. Dental Angels also oer ree

confdential weekly job newsletters containing

all o the latest positions available throughout

the UK. To receive weekly updates just email

your CV and request to ino@dentalangels.

co.uk.

Kelly and her team were photographed at the

Q Clinic and at Dental Angels’ new location in

London. Many thanks to everyone involved.

Then Treasure Them; They are like gold dusT.’

you are a pracTice who has a greaT denTal nurse

‘There is a lack of denTal nurses To go around, so if



COVER STORY

26 vital

1. Make an AMAZING first impression. Research

suggests that the first 30 seconds of a job interview

– the handshake and first hello – is all it takes for the

dental practice manager/principal to decide if you

have the potential to work at their dental practice.

Dress smartly, make eye contact and SMILE – it’s

only an interview and if you do these things you

will definitely stand out as a good candidate. Who

knows, you may be asked to come back for a trial

day, which in our experience is an indicator you are

90% there to being offered the role.

2. PREP PREP PREP. We don’t need research to suggest

anything here. Find out who is interviewing you

and see if you can learn about who they are and

what the dental practice does differently from other

dental practices.Check out the dental practice

on Twitter and Facebook and read their website.

The more you know about the practice the more

confident you will feel about yourself and about the

pending interview.

3. Ask questions. Be absolutely clear on what you

can offer the dental practice. There are too many

times we interview people and before we have

even got going with the interview process they are

asking about salary, hours and holiday pay etc

without selling themselves first. Sure you can askthese questions but first you must sell yourself as an

outstanding employee first.

4. Do not complain about your last employer.

Do not slag off your last employer, this does

not look good no matter how friendly and well

dressed you are. It will leave a bitter taste in

the mouth of the potential new employer. We

all want and deserve a positive environment

to work in so your first impression should show

that you can contribute positively to the

environment inside a practice.

5. Stand out! Your CV is your calling card; it is

the thing that will get you a foot in the door

leading to the interview. Make sure it’s well set

out, and well thought out. Don’t be scared

to list your hobbies and interests too, the

employer wants to know who you are. Also

don’t be afraid to spend quite a lot of time

on your CV: the hard work will bring rewards.

6. Imagine you have been hired. Some

positive thinking/visualisation has been

proven to bring results. Imagine you are

the person they have hired, you have all

the right skills to offer, and it’s the place

you want to work in. Remember you

wouldn’t get an interview if you were not

in the running for the position. Pat yourself

on the back when you are asked to beinterviewed; this in itself is an achievement.

by Kelly Haggett

interview success Six tips for

have hired, you have all The righT skills...’

bring resulTs. imagine you are The person They

‘posiTive Thinking/visualisaTion has been proven To

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Vital Summer11 Pg Cover Story