(no subject)
After my internship I’m getting the option to continue working at Gabe’s permanently. I decided to do a comparison between working in dental hygiene and working in fashion with Gabes. I was offered a position with Gabe’s that pays a little bit less than what I was making in hygiene before I left to go back to college. Technically the pay is the same, but I only worked 30 hours a week in hygiene and I’ll be working 40 hours a week at Gabes. So yeah, pay the same, but I’m working 10 more hours. That was kinda a bummer until I started weighing out the positives and negatives between each job.
Dental Hygiene: I worked 30 hours a week. This was Monday thru Thursday and Thursdays and Tuesdays were the late days working from 1pm till 8pm. I also worked in Waynesburgh, Pa. That was a 45 minute commute each way. Therefore, I spent at least 4 hours a week commuting. Gas prices were soaring when I left my position and I was paying 40 dollars a week in gas to get to work. I say I worked 30 hours a week, but that was never guaranteed. Patients cancelled, weather gets bad making patients cancel, or not many patients called and my schedule was light. This means that regularly I would get finished ahead of time and leave work an hour early. This was a normal occurrence. If I had a family of 4 scheduled for the end of the day and they all decided to cancel, then I was going home 2 hours early. This was a part of life. This is how the general medical office worked. So I did not always get 30 hours. So, at the best, I was dedicating 34 hours of week of my life working and driving to work, plus spending 40 dollars a week on gas. There is also no advancement in the career. I am a dental hygienist and I will always be a hygienist. You don’t get promoted to dentist after a few years. The amount of money that I earn an hour will be the same forever. You never get raises. You many get better perks, more vacation, or a bonus, but the hourly wage doesn’t change. You are the same hygienist forever.
However, I liked the job. I like to work with my hands. I honestly enjoyed removing calculus (tarter). Gross? Yeah, whatever. I liked it. I got to blab to my patients all day and no one could complain. How could they, my hands are shoved in their mouths. I also got to work with a lot of children, which was good and bad. When you have been trying to get pregnant for 10 years, seeing children every day start to have its toll. That’s why doctors advised me to find a new career. I was suffering from depression that didn’t really have anything to do with hygiene, it just to do with the environment hygiene was located in.
Dental Hygiene: I worked 30 hours a week. This was Monday thru Thursday and Thursdays and Tuesdays were the late days working from 1pm till 8pm. I also worked in Waynesburgh, Pa. That was a 45 minute commute each way. Therefore, I spent at least 4 hours a week commuting. Gas prices were soaring when I left my position and I was paying 40 dollars a week in gas to get to work. I say I worked 30 hours a week, but that was never guaranteed. Patients cancelled, weather gets bad making patients cancel, or not many patients called and my schedule was light. This means that regularly I would get finished ahead of time and leave work an hour early. This was a normal occurrence. If I had a family of 4 scheduled for the end of the day and they all decided to cancel, then I was going home 2 hours early. This was a part of life. This is how the general medical office worked. So I did not always get 30 hours. So, at the best, I was dedicating 34 hours of week of my life working and driving to work, plus spending 40 dollars a week on gas. There is also no advancement in the career. I am a dental hygienist and I will always be a hygienist. You don’t get promoted to dentist after a few years. The amount of money that I earn an hour will be the same forever. You never get raises. You many get better perks, more vacation, or a bonus, but the hourly wage doesn’t change. You are the same hygienist forever.
However, I liked the job. I like to work with my hands. I honestly enjoyed removing calculus (tarter). Gross? Yeah, whatever. I liked it. I got to blab to my patients all day and no one could complain. How could they, my hands are shoved in their mouths. I also got to work with a lot of children, which was good and bad. When you have been trying to get pregnant for 10 years, seeing children every day start to have its toll. That’s why doctors advised me to find a new career. I was suffering from depression that didn’t really have anything to do with hygiene, it just to do with the environment hygiene was located in.