Occupation information for Opticians, Dispensing District Of Columbia

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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.

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details

Currently Employed: 60

Projected Annual Job Openings: 10

Typical Hourly Wage: $18.58 - $30.10

Typical Annual Salary: $38,640 - $62,600

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typical training

Typical education needed for entry: High school diploma or equivalent

Typical work experience needed for a job in this occupation: No work experience

Typical on-the-job training once you have a job in this occupation: More than 1 year on-the-job training

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typical job duties
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general.
  • Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
tools & technology
Tools:
  • Calipers
  • Lens measuring equipment
  • Ophthalmic lensometers
  • Opticians tools
  • Screwdrivers

Technology:
  • Accounting software
  • Data base user interface and query software
  • Inventory management software
  • Medical software
  • Word processing software
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