Will “Optical Assistant” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔
71% Chance of Automation
“Optical Assistant” will maybe be replaced by robots.
This job is ranked #391 out of #702. A higher ranking (i.e., a lower number) means the job is less likely to be replaced.
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Job Description
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.
Job Details
- The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 29-2081.00
- The Mean Annual Wage in the U.S. is $ 37,860.00
- The Mean Hourly Wage is $ 18.00
- Currently, there are 75,270 people on this job
☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Opticians, Dispensing”.
Also Known As…
- Opticians, Dispensing
- Optometric Technician
- Optometric Assistant
- Optician
- Optical Technician
- Ophthalmic Dispenser
- Licensed Optician
- Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO)
- Dispensing Optician
- Contact Lens Technician
- Certified Optician
- Optician Apprentice
- Optical Manager
- Optical Dispenser
- Licensed Optical Dispenser
- Eyeglass Fitter
- Dispensing Optician Apprentice
- Dispensing and Measuring Optician
- Contact Lens Fitter
Tasks for “Optical Assistant”
- Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
- Repair damaged frames.
- Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
- Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses.
- Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames.
- Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
- Perform administrative duties such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.
- Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise.
- Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
- Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
- 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.
- Supervise the training of student opticians.
- Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
- Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications.
- Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
- Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
- Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
- Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses.
- Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and other goods related to eyes in general.
- Order and purchase frames and lenses.
Related Technology & Tools
- Pupillometers
- Snipe nose pliers
- Millimeter rules
- Flat nose pliers
- Cash registers
- Laptop computers
- Pickup screwdrivers
- Frame warmers
- Lens aligning pliers
- Lens analyzers
- Straight screwdrivers
- Chain nose pliers
- Dial calipers
- Lens files
- Snellen eye charts
- Hex wrenches
- Half-round files
- Digital calipers
- Autorefractors
- End piece pliers
- Lens clocks
- Bracing pliers
- Nose pad adjusting pliers
- Hollow snipe pliers
- Cold-bend pliers
- Angling pliers
- Credit card processing machines
- Desktop computers
- Focimeters
- Optical screwdrivers
- Contact lens tweezers
- Bushing pullers
- Phillips head screwdrivers
- Optical cutting pliers
- Personal computers
- Screw-holding tweezers
- Optometric lensometers
- Digital pupilometers
- Contact lens thickness gauges
- Microsoft Office
- Cygnet Infotech Optifocus
- Point of sale POS software
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Specialist Data Solutions OctoPlus
- EMRlogic Systems ENTERPRISE Visions
- Microsoft Word
- EZ-Zone Optizone Enterprise
- First Insight MaximEyes
- OfficeMate Software Solutions OfficeMate
- HealthLine Systems Eyecom
- Microsoft Excel
- Insight Software My Vision Express
- Compulink Eyecare Advantage
- Diversified Ophthalmics Practice Maximus