Listening to customers individual needs and find a solution that’s right for them
Occupational Profile
An Optical Assistant requires many skills to be able to work within the Optical retail Industry. They are often the people that spend the most time interacting with customers. Therefore strong communication, listening skills and a passion for working with others to deliver excellent service and products that are both clinically and cosmetically correct, are skills, knowledge and behaviors that need to be demonstrated at all times.
They may be working within a small practice, a large multiple practice or within the domiciliary environment. Optical Assistants have to interpret and understand a clinically issued prescription, its effects on the eye, and the customer’s vision. They need to be able to identify the appropriate spectacles to meet the customer’s needs and be able to explain the features and benefits of these, using non-technical customer friendly language.
Optical Assistants require a broad range of technical knowledge about spectacle frame materials and fitting requirements including facial measurements, to ensure the maximum comfort of the spectacle frame for the customer, avoiding physical damage to the skin through ill-fitting or wrong material choice. They also require technical knowledge of optical lenses and the associated measurements of these lenses to allow correct and safe customer vision. They use an extensive range of technical equipment and tools to take measurements and adjust and repair spectacles.
Summary of standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/optical-assistant/
Full standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/media/1466/optical-assistant-assessment-plan.pdf
