A dental professional can be perfectly qualified for a job and still never be seen by the person doing the hiring.

That should bother us.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about job seekers adding hidden instructions to their résumés—tiny white text designed to influence the AI systems screening applications before a human ever sees them.

Some people call it cheating. I think it points to a bigger problem.

Why have we created a hiring process where qualified people feel like they have to trick a machine just to get in front of an employer?

Dental professionals already spend years developing very real, very human skills.

A hygienist can have incredible chairside manner, put anxious patients at ease, communicate beautifully with a team, and provide excellent clinical care.

A dental assistant can be organized, dependable, anticipate what the doctor needs, keep the day moving, and completely change the atmosphere of an office.

None of that fits particularly well into a keyword filter.

Technology should make it easier for people to find each other. 

And yet increasingly, applicants in many industries aren't competing only against other candidates. They're competing against the software standing between them and the employer.

That was something I never wanted us to create at Princess Dental Staffing.

When a dental professional creates a profile, we don't use an AI screening system to decide whether an employer should be allowed to see them.

Their profile is available directly to dental offices looking for professionals.

No AI screener that weeds out certain candidates.

Employers get to see the dental professionals on the site and the professional gets a chance to be considered by the employer.

That may sound incredibly simple. But maybe hiring needs a little more of that.

Technology should make it easier for people to find each other. It shouldn't become a gate that keeps quality professionals from being seen.

---