Opticians, Dispensing
Health Science · Therapeutic Services
Pay and outlook shown for
New workers start near $32,100; experienced workers reach $52,810. About 600 people do this job in San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX.
Job outlook
Alamo region (San Antonio and 12 surrounding counties), Texas Workforce Commission projection 2024 to 2034; U.S. figures from the BLS.
- Employment change
- +11.0%
- Openings a year
- 66
- Employed in 2024
- 682
Typical entry education: High school diploma or equivalent · Training: Long-term on-the-job training
Alamo Colleges programs that lead here
1 program, with the college that teaches each.
Skills this career uses
The skills O*NET rates most important for the job, with how much of each the work needs on a 1 to 7 scale.
- Speaking4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Reading Comprehension3.9
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Service Orientation3.5
- Writing3.3
- Coordination3.1
- Social Perceptiveness3.0
What the work is
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.
- 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.
Education people in this job have
Share of workers by highest education, from O*NET surveys. It shows what others did, not what you must do.
- High school or less46%
- Certificate25%
- Some college4%
- Associate degree25%
Job zone 3, medium preparation: Training, an associate degree, or a few years of related experience.
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