Opticians, Dispensing

What the job really is

Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.

At a glance

• Sector: Healthcare Practitioners
• O*NET-SOC code: 29-2081
• O*NET job zone: 3 — medium preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
• Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
• Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
• Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
• Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
• Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
• Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
• Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
• Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
• Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
• Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
• Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general.

Tools and technology

Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Word, Angling pliers, Autorefractors, Bracing pliers, Bushing pullers, Cash registers, Chain nose pliers, Cold-bend pliers, Compulink Eyecare Advantage

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians
• Optometrists
• Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
• Ophthalmic Medical Technologists
• Endoscopy Technicians
• Medical Equipment Preparers
• Pharmacy Technicians
• Pharmacy Aides

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 3 (medium preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Opticians, Dispensing — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.