Optician

Explore This Path

Perfect for those who love blending fashion with precision and helping others see clearly.
Enhance lives by crafting eyewear tailored to individual needs and unique prescriptions.
Combine technical skills and style to create custom eyewear solutions for every client.

💰 Earn $46K-$68K

📚 High School Diploma or GED

⏱️ 12–24 MONTH TRAINING

📈 2.9% JOB GROWTH

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What You’ll Do

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.
Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
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.

Scoop

Minimum Education

High School Diploma or GED

Career Prospects

Good (Increasing by 1-5%)

Training Time

1 to 2 years

Job Openings

7,400 Annually

Median Earnings

$56,610 in California

$44,170 Nationally

$25K

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Best For You If...

YOU Like 💕

Influencing or leading others
Using data or completing tasks
Working with my hands

You are skilled in 💫

Active Listening
Monitoring
Service Orientation
Social Perceptiveness
Speaking

You value 🙏

Having support
Having freedom
Personal relationships

Deep Dive

Optician

Explore career pathways, key skills, and what each role has to offer.

Pathways to this Career

Learn about the education and training paths that can lead to this career — and what to expect from each one.

Vocational School

A vocational school typically equips students with specialized skills and practical training in specific trades or occupations, enhancing their employability and providing direct pathways to relevant careers.

🎓 Skills-Focused

⏱️ FINISH IN 6 months - 2 years

Associate's Degree

An associate's degree typically provides graduates with foundational knowledge and skills for entry-level jobs in the graduate's industry, or serves as a stepping stone towards further education.

🎓 College

⏱️ FINISH IN 2-3 years

Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship typically offers a combination of hands-on training and classroom instruction, leading to practical skills, industry-specific knowledge, and the potential for long-term employment in a specific trade or profession.

🎓 Paid Work

⏱️ FINISH IN 2-5 years

Bachelor's Degree

A bachelor's degree typically results in increased knowledge about a variety of academic subjects, specialized knowledge in a focused field of study, and is considered the foundational qualification for many careers.

🎓 College

⏱️ FINISH IN 4-5+ years