If you are leaving school this summer, it is a great time to think about your options. You may want to go on to further education or higher education, but you might want to get a job.
There are a number of roles for young people working in eyecare. Becoming an optical assistant is a great place to start. This is a good role for you if you like working with people. You could also be interested in fashion, technology, science or healthcare.
Customer service experience and being willing to learn are important if you’re looking for retail jobs after leaving school. If this sounds like a role for you, why not find out more about what it’s like with a week in the life of optical assistant Thomas.
You might also want to find out about becoming a lab tech – also known as an optical laboratory technician. This role is all about making spectacles: it’s hands on and involves being good with technology.
Both optical assistant and lab tech roles can be done as apprenticeships – watch a video here to find out more about optical apprenticeships. This is a great way to improve your knowledge and skills with structured training.
Once you have started work as a lab tech or optical assistant, you can learn while you earn with online study and day release or block release courses. You can study to become an dispensing optician or an optometrist like Charlotte. There are also roles in eyecare business and management where you can study while working and gain recognised qualifications.
The first step to all these roles could be to find work experience at an opticians. Why don’t you get in touch with a local practice and ask if you can spend a day there to see what different roles there are.
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