The job was previously held by an office manager who had been there for years. Because it was the 1st office manager this Dentist had to recruit a replacement for & hire for the 1st time ever, I think there were some very real & unattainable exoectations & feel no matter who the 1st person was to replace the prior manager of 14+ yrs, was never going to succeed until the realization that hiring someone without prior experience in that industry, without experience managing a dental office without any prior experience, was going to fail the unrealistic expectations that were held by a dentist who’d never had to replace his office manager before, & was used to the prev. manager that’d been fulfilling that role for many, many yrs! It didn’t matter how many hrs I worked outside my paid, normal work hrs by my own choice to learn as quickly as possibly, it became nothing more than something I felt I was set-up to fail-not succeed-bc of the lack of work days/hrs I was told I could work-WHILE trying to learn the job-which was far less than the prev. manager was working-which made zero sense?!! I gave so much of my dedication & time during the work hrs I was allowed to actually work (which was 3 days of the wk instead of 4-5 days the prev manager (who again, had been there 14+ yrs??) So I’d often stay after work hrs, on my own free time, just trying to perfect & become familiar & efficient at my job & the many roles it required of me! This job took so much from me after dedicating so much of myself & time to this-which Infelt I was never set up for success! This would’ve been true no matter who they hired after their prev.manager! I feel like employers would benefit far more from investing in employees who have incredibly strong work ethic, a strong desire to become part of making the company a success (even willing to work for free to get past the learning curve!) I believe this whole- heartedly, as work ethic, dedication to an employer &/or success of a company & willingness to do whatever it takes to get where they need to be & help elevate the company.. are all traits, characteristics & qualities you want in your employees that cannot be taught, while everything else about the job, duties required & all the roles needing to be learned CAN be taught!! When employers aren’t willing to invest in people with the key qualities & traits that become the cornerstone & foundation of a company’s success, I feel are employers that do not understand the things that’re so crucial in finding that success & not worth wasting your time working for them knowing there’s no way to succeed at the job you were hired to do!
Thats WAY more info.than asked for re: the interview question I was to provide! However, I think this issue is a systemic problem with professionals who are great at their trade or craft, but do not know how to run the business side of things successfully!! (Sorry…IMO it’s something that again, I feel is a systemic problem- especially among professionals with a trade that’s never taught them great business skills that could be elevated so easily to an understanding of how to help your business become successful,& is definitely something to consider when looking for a job that’s a good fit for a person with excellent people skills,desire to learn the job-no matter what it takes, & has a work ethic that just can’t be taught!
