To help you select a qualified, skilled, vetted, and pleasant-to-be-around aesthetic surgeon, we talked with experts and former patients who know the industry’s ins and outs. Here’s what they suggest you do.

1. Talk to friends, family members, and acquaintances who’ve had work done to get recommendations.

First, consider those close to you. Has anyone had work done? If you’re comfortable, reach out to him or her for advice. Don’t know anyone personally? Ask around for a connection. Start with any friends or acquaintances who may work in health care, for example a nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant.

2. Do your homework by reading up on reviews of surgeons in your area.

As one does this day in age, Issy Ryan, 38, of New York City, took to the Internet before settling on a surgeon to carry out her liposuction procedure. “For me knowledge is power, so I read review after review to get a sense of previous patients’ experiences and help me get to know a little bit about how each surgeon ‘operated,’ both in and out of the operating room,”

3. Make sure to view everything on the Internet with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Golas says that while reviews on Yelp and RealSelf.com, and the social media pages of patients can be great resources, they can also be a source of misinformation. “Anonymous reviews (especially negative ones) may be used by a patient to seek revenge or advance his or her own agenda instead of as a way of sharing knowledge and personal experience with other potential patients,” she says.

4. Check the qualifications of each of your candidates.

Found a few options? Great. Before coming face-to-face with them, make sure they check off all of the important boxes that tell you they’re completely qualified to perform your desired procedure.

5. Ask if your aesthetic surgeon is affiliated with a hospital.

Whether or not the doctors you’re considering have hospital privileges is another qualification box you’ll want to check off. “If the cosmetic surgeon only does surgery at his or her office and doesn’t have hospital privileges to perform the surgery you are considering, that is a huge red flag,”

6. Come to each consultation prepared and ready to ask questions.

Just like you would for a job interview, it’s important to come prepared with a list of questions to ask your surgeon while you’re face-to-face.

This is a good chance to see photos of the doctor’s past work, and find out whether they’re experienced in the procedure you want to have done. It also gives you the opportunity to express your wishes and goals and get a feel for whether they understand and can deliver the results you want.

7. Keep in mind you want a surgeon who is polite and helpful as well as skilled with the knife.

While you’re asking questions, be wary of red flags. An obvious, but important, one is a surgeon’s bedside manner. “If a surgeon seems routinely rushed, pressures you to undergo a particular operation, balks at you seeking additional opinions or delegates most of the care after the procedure to others, beware,” warns Grant.

8. Make sure the office is spotless and the staff is friendly.

You want to feel comfortable where you’ll be having the procedure. Above all it should be clean.

9. Listen to your gut and take your time.

If you feel uncomfortable, even if you can’t seem to pinpoint exactly why, don’t follow through with that office, that doctor or, perhaps, that procedure.

The relationship you have with your aesthetic surgeon is a private and personal one. It takes the right kind of connection and fuse of personalities to create the right match. For this reason, experts and patients agree that taking your time is key.