As many of you who are interested in working overseas have noticed, our ‘dentlynx’ website has not been very active over the last months. Many applied to the dental hygiene position that was posted for Switzerland with no success. This dentist did contact some of the candidates and was pleased with some of the interactions but still felt it in his best interest to hire a local candidate. Some of his feedback was understandable but left us in a quandary as to how to meet some of the demands of an international dentist like him. It seemed neither in our best interest nor in the best interest of our job seekers to continue following the same informal method of simply forwarding over resumes in the ‘American’ way.
Another dilemma was how to meet the changing demands of a European market that is built upon catering to its own professionals. As many of you may have heard, since the early 2000’s, European hygienists from the various countries in the EU take precedence over non-EU nationals when applying for open positions. In addition to this, with the changing worldwide economy, we have also gotten requests from non-North American trained hygienists seeking positions in Europe. This leads us to believe that with fewer jobs being offered worldwide and the ability of other foreign nationals to relocate, this job market will be increasingly more competitive.
Lastly, some hygienists have contacted us with questions on how to proceed with negotiations with an employer they are in contact with from other sources. Hygienists who have discovered positions abroad via other mediums still seem to be ill-prepared on how to proceed even after they have discovered some interest. This is naturally because each country follows its own protocols for applying for positions and marketing oneself effectively. Unless you have lived in any of these countries, these procedures are likely foreign to you.
We understand that the desire to live abroad for many of you is real and that it can be frustrating when it seems like your attempts only lead to disappointment. This is why we are reorganizing our efforts in attempt to assist you more effectively. Our new format will be designed to help prepare you for an international market. Many of you are as qualified, if not more qualified than your EU counterparts but the key is to market yourself as such. It is our hope that our new design will put you on equal footing with your foreign counterparts, if not by nationality, by presentation.
Please bear with us as we make these changes over the next few weeks. We will keep you informed as we progress. Also, for those who are still sincerely interested in working abroad, these changes will imply effort on your part; much more than simply forwarding your credentials to ‘dentlynx’ and allowing someone else to be the medium for your job search. You will be much more involved in the success of your job search and it will hopefully enable you to grow into an autonomous international dental hygiene candidate for the future.
Thank you for your patience.
The Team @ Dentallynx International
Dentallynx International 