Will “Licensed Optician” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔

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 Dispensing Optician (LDO)
• Dispensing Optician
• Contact Lens Technician
• Certified Optician
• Optician Apprentice
• Optical Manager
• Optical Dispenser
• Optical Assistant
• Licensed Optician
• Licensed Optical Dispenser
• Eyeglass Fitter
• Dispensing Optician Apprentice
• Dispensing and Measuring Optician
• Contact Lens Fitter

Tasks for “Licensed Optician”

• Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses.
• Order and purchase frames and lenses.
• Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses.
• Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
• Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
• Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
• Supervise the training of student opticians.
• Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
• Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
• Repair damaged frames.
• Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
• Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
• Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
• Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise.
• Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications.
• Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
• Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and other goods related to eyes in general.
• Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames.
• Perform administrative duties such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.
• Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
• Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.

Related Technology & Tools

• Snipe nose pliers
• Bushing pullers
• Hex wrenches
• Desktop computers
• Lens analyzers
• Lens aligning pliers
• Optical cutting pliers
• Dial calipers
• Digital calipers
• Flat nose pliers
• Nose pad adjusting pliers
• Laptop computers
• Personal computers
• Hollow snipe pliers
• Optical screwdrivers
• Chain nose pliers
• End piece pliers
• Digital pupilometers
• Bracing pliers
• Screw-holding tweezers
• Optometric lensometers
• Half-round files
• Pickup screwdrivers
• Autorefractors
• Focimeters
• Cold-bend pliers
• Snellen eye charts
• Contact lens tweezers
• Contact lens thickness gauges
• Pupillometers
• Cash registers
• Credit card processing machines
• Angling pliers
• Millimeter rules
• Lens files
• Phillips head screwdrivers
• Straight screwdrivers
• Lens clocks
• Frame warmers

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