Apprentice Optical Assistant

As an apprentice, you'll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You'll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff. This is a fantastic and unique opportunity to embark on a journey towards a great career.

Starting as an Optical Assistant apprentice with future opportunities for career progression, you will be supported with loads of great, fun, and interactive training. You will use these exciting new skills in your day-to-day job, where you will gain customer service skills, knowledge in optical support, and develop behaviour suitable for working in an optical practice.

Those with a flair for fashion will love the new frames coming in, and if it's your forte, you may even get involved in meeting frame reps and helping choose the new ranges. If you are more technical, you will get to learn lots of information about lenses and measurements, then transform that information into jargon-free, easy-to-understand, customer-friendly language.

It's all about teamwork in an optician's practice. There are many roles, but you support each other to ensure your customers get the best experience possible. Optical assistants are a very important part of any optical practice and crucial to the customer journey. Individuals with a real passion for both healthcare and retail thrive in this role, as it's perfect for those who love to make a real difference in other people's lives.

The duties within this role include:

• Greeting customers in a professional and friendly manner as they enter the practice.
• Interpreting and understanding a clinically issued prescription, its effects on the eye, and the customer's vision.
• Helping customer's select spectacle frame(s) that are suitable in terms of comfort, looks good and fits lifestyle requirements.
• Be able to explain the features and benefits of particular frames, using non-technical customer friendly language.
• Measuring the frames and ensure they are a suitable size for a customer and can accommodate their lenses.
• Adjusting customers spectacle frames using the correct tools to ensure stability and comfort.
• Basic frame repairs.
• Have a good knowledge of Ophthalmic lenses, tints and coatings to be able to meet visual / lifestyle requirements.
• Ordering prescription glasses and contact lenses in for the customer.
• Correct completion of NHS paperwork and written records in-line with company procedures.
• Making follow up appointments for customers.
• Use a focimeter to find the prescription from spectacles.
• Communicate contact lenses suitability, features and benefits.
• Carrying out pre-screening tests such as retinal imaging and pressure and visual field testing.
• Explaining offers and products to customers.
• Taking payments from customers.
• Being able to problem solve with basic optical concerns.
• Understanding business KPIs and how they affect the practices profitability.

4 days working and one day online learning per week paid apprenticeship with view to progressing further into a degree and possibly to become an optometrist.