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Opticians, Dispensing Occupation Detailed Description

Opticians, Dispensing career

General Job Description and Education/Training Levels for Opticians, Dispensing

The main tasks and work activities of Opticians, Dispensing are to measure the physical or physiological attributes of patients, fabricate medical devices, recommend types of assistive devices, fit eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other vision aids. In general, for the Opticians, Dispensing, speaking, active Listening, reading Comprehension, critical Thinking and other 10 skills are required.
Opticians, Dispensing Job Description
EducationMost occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Related ExperiencePrevious work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Job TrainingEmployees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
ExampleThese occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, travel guides, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters, and medical assistants.
The following chart shows the education/training levels for Opticians, Dispensing jobs. 23.08% of Opticians, Dispensing have High School Diploma (or the equivalent) and 26.92% of Opticians, Dispensing have Post-Secondary Certificate.
Less than a High School Diploma
3.85%
High School Diploma (or the equivalent)
23.08%
Post-Secondary Certificate
26.92%
Some College Courses
3.85%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
42.31%
Bachelor's Degree and Above
-0.01%

Tasks and Work Activities of Opticians, Dispensing

  • 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.
  • Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
  • 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.
  • Perform administrative duties, such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.
  • Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
  • Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general.
  • Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
  • Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
  • Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses.
  • Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
  • Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
  • Repair damaged frames.
  • Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
  • Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise.
  • Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications.
  • Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses.
  • Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames.
  • Supervise the training of student opticians.
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the PublicPerforming for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Making Decisions and Solving ProblemsAnalyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Updating and Using Relevant KnowledgeKeeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Getting InformationObserving, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Documenting/Recording InformationEntering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with StandardsUsing relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Selling or Influencing OthersConvincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
  • Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or PeopleAssessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for OthersTranslating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Processing InformationCompiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Measure the physical or physiological attributes of patients.
  • Fabricate medical devices.
  • Recommend types of assistive devices.
  • Fit eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other vision aids.
  • Record patient medical histories.
  • Process medical billing information.
  • Perform clerical work in medical settings.
  • Merchandise healthcare products or services.
  • Instruct patients in the use of assistive equipment.
  • Operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical instruments or equipment.
  • Verify accuracy of patient information.
  • Gather medical information from patient histories.
  • Train medical providers.
  • Order medical supplies or equipment.

Skills and Abilities for Opticians, Dispensing

  • SpeakingTalking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Active ListeningGiving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Reading ComprehensionUnderstanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Critical ThinkingUsing logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Service OrientationActively looking for ways to help people.
  • Social PerceptivenessBeing aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • WritingCommunicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Judgment and Decision MakingConsidering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • PersuasionPersuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • CoordinationAdjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • MonitoringMonitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Active LearningUnderstanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Time ManagementManaging one's own time and the time of others.
  • Oral ExpressionThe ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral ComprehensionThe ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Near VisionThe ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Speech ClarityThe ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Written ExpressionThe ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Written ComprehensionThe ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Speech RecognitionThe ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Deductive ReasoningThe ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Problem SensitivityThe ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Finger DexterityThe ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Arm-Hand SteadinessThe ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Information OrderingThe ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Manual DexterityThe ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Category FlexibilityThe ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Inductive ReasoningThe ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Visual Color DiscriminationThe ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Fluency of IdeasThe ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Selective AttentionThe ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Angling pliers
  • Combination refractor keratometerse.g. Autorefractors
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Bracing pliers
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Bushing pullers
  • Cash registerse.g. Cash registers
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Chain nose pliers
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Cold-bend pliers
  • Lens measuring equipmente.g. Contact lens thickness gauges
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Contact lens tweezers
  • Magnetic stripe readers and encoderse.g. Credit card processing machines
  • Desktop computerse.g. Desktop computers
  • Caliperse.g. Dial calipers
  • Caliperse.g. Digital calipers
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Digital pupilometers
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. End piece pliers
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Flat nose pliers
  • Ophthalmic lensometerse.g. Focimeters
  • Opticians tools or accessoriese.g. Frame warmers
  • Half round filee.g. Half-round files
  • Hex keyse.g. Hex wrenches
  • Customer and Personal ServiceKnowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Sales and MarketingKnowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  • MathematicsKnowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • English LanguageKnowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • ClericalKnowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  • Administration and ManagementKnowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Production and ProcessingKnowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.