So glad to hear you find the Costco experience a good one. When I left optical for a few years and we were Costco members my wife actually got a few pairs from them and our experience was a good one. Costco does seem to run consistently high on those "best places to work" lists. That video very, very deliberately didn't mention "skills" at all. It was about attitude not aptitude. Keep your eyes on this page for an upcoming video: What Makes A Great Optician, or something like that. In fact we have a 3-part series on the working life of the optician you should find quite interesting.

If you have that skill set and you don't mind teaching there are quite a few people looking for soldering - metal repair classes. I would think you could do a series of KZfaq videos and get some great response. I'd certainly push people your way! Now when I get those questions I have nowhere to send them. John

@@LaramyKOptical I've taught quite a few workshops in chasing and repousse but never done it by video. I recommend people start with kzfaq.info for solid info on KZfaq. An in-person workshop is often best for the foundation skills. I recommend workshops at craft schools like Touchstone Center for Crafts in PA, John C. Campbell Folk School in NC, Penland School of Crafts in NC, Arrowmont School of Crafts in Gatlinburg and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. The New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee also has a great reputation for fine jewelry skills.

LOL

is the money good?

@@MariaGarcia-17 It depends where you work & how much experience you have. I live in LA & majority of these opticians make about $20-30 an hour here.

@@MariaGarcia-17 depends! I’ve worked in the Bay Area and LA in California and I worked in mid-range shops and made $19 an hour right out the gate with full benefits and no degree but then I moved to a high income area and make about $25 an hour with okay benefits. But I get free luxury brand frames and top shelf lens options so that’s really nice. People with a medical background or a degree make more. I couldn’t afford school without crazy loans so I’m taking a bit longer than I would like but the job is nice! Higher income area (tech $) isn’t commission but people are oddly nicer and it’s less stress overall. Great hours too. You’re able to leave work at work and then go home lol. After working years in the bar and restaurant industry that can be a nice change. (Tho I won’t lie I super miss tips sometimes 😅) Edit: if you’re good at data entry, basic math, some digital art and nimble tasks (beading, etc…the screw repairs often feel like a beading/sewing project lol). And like he said^^ patience is key! Other than our manager, I’m the only optician in our smaller more upscale shop. Sometimes I get back to back orders that take about 20 minute averages. Other times I get a professional wanting to max out an FSA account with several luxury pairs (progressive, reading, SV distance for tv, etc) and then a kid comes in running around and super cute and excited and then an unplanned walk in repair comes in at the same time-it gets hectic 😅

You will learn the answers to all those questions as you work through the website. In the meantime read All About Opticians and the website FAQ. John

We’re in the same boat 😪 I just turned 30 and I want to be an optician tech, then move onto ophthalmic photography. I also have absolutely no knowledge of anything relative to the field! 😭 Not even sure if I can do it but we’ll see 🤞🏽🤞🏽

@@riyahworld​Good luck! I joined the optician works program at the start of the new year, and at the same time went out on a limb and applied at an eye care clinic for an apprenticeship and somehow I got the job. I start next week, I’m so nervous and excited all in one! I hope everything goes well for you, starting a new career with no knowledge makes it seem daunting but I’m taking it one step at a time. We can do it 👍🏽

@@lndigenousWhat!! That’s amazing! Congratulations and thank you so much!!! 🤞🏽🤞🏽🙏🏽

Same. I would love to be an Optician as well. I am also 29 yrs old. 😊❤

In some ways me too. I had a good run out there. Around 17 years total spent in the trenches with only a handful of serious bumps in the road. Another 2.5 teaching opticianry. Now 8 years with Laramy-K OpticianWorks. Sure are a lot of worse things to be doing - I know because I've done a bunch of them. True Story: I was a courier for FedEx. Damn good job. But I was living in Maine at the time. Good job but a really hard job too. I realized that I wasn't going to be doing that when I was 50 and started to look for something else. I happened to get the "in city" route for a week so every day I'd take my lunch break and go in the Augusta library and grab the Occupational Outlook Handbook. (This was 100 years before the internets.) I literally went through it page by page until I found optician. The rest as they say is history.

I started this reply as, "Yeah." But then I started thinking (mistake on my part). I kind of sort of agree with everything except the ROI point. [Let's call that ROEI return on educational investment] Unless the state you work in requires a two-year diploma then the actual I (investment) can be zero or $99/year (OpticianWorks). Decent work for decent pay in a decent work environment. Yeah (there is my yeah) you ain't gonna get rich. But hourly rates in the $20s even lower $30s isn't what I would call horrible for the work. So, yes balancing the actual ROI if you have to pay for college would be a factor. I think otherwise the ROI is actually quite good. It sure beats ditch digging, or working at McDonalds. I could go on for hours here --- and get into dangerous territory but - not every job (even those without any EI) can pay $65,000 year with good benefits. I've always said that one of the best things about being an optician is that it becomes the job you want to make it. And sometimes, like you and I, that means not being an optician at all anymore. Some of us became teachers, then writers then "That Laramy-K Guy On KZfaq." And as I have said before, if you were in college AP courses in high school, strong in math, took your SATs and scored well - well then opticianry probably isn't anything you would be looking at. I don't think the guidance counselor is saying, "I don't know Jake, sure there is engineering, computer sciences and law, but have you ever considered becoming an optician?" I'll shut up now. ;-) John

@@LaramyKOptical 100% agree with all points! I started my optical journey in SoCal. The state is unregulated in that as long as you have an ABOC, you can apply for the state spectacle dispensing license. But the naturally high cost of living negated any savings from not having to go through an official education. I have since then relocated to NV. The pay for opticians here is a ways higher, but so are the licensing requirements (it might be up there with NY and NJ with how stringent the reqs are). You are absolutely right about its what you want to make it. I don't regret having my first career as an optician. I've learned quite a lot of transferrable soft and hard skills (many on this very channel). And I was able to pivot into my current career (talent development) because of my networks in the optical field. That being said, sometimes I do miss working with my hands (nothing like grooving the perfect lens; it ain't much, but its honest work haha).

@@anthonyz1556 Sometimes The Grateful Dead say it best... "What a long strange trip its been." It sure has led me to some interesting places. Certainly some highs and some lows in there. John

I mean the pay is good $20-30/hr most construction workers are on the $30 range. And doctors, lawyers, and engineers make probably $100+/hr. And it beats working at a warehouse or restaurant making $15+/hr.

Unlike you I don't think many people understand that working in an optical lab and working the front lines really have absolutely nothing to do with each other. If you pulled the best of the best from either and tossed them in the other's job they wouldn't even know where to begin. Glad you found your happy place. John

Feel free to use it as you like. Heck we'll send you the video file if you need it. From what I see on social media and find when I'm out and about we could really use a screening tool of some kind. John

Congratulations Marlene! Any study tips?! Do you have study guide or workbook recommendations?

Can you?

I'm glad you found teaching opticianry rewarding. I've been doing it for 10.5 years now. 4 million+ people, 44.8K followers on KZfaq alone. I think I know what I want my message to be. I believe I have covered the value of vocational education in many of the other videos and on the website. I am after all the product of a vocational program. John

LOL OK I think I'd put that on the 2nd list but as they say in the UK - "That's a fair cop." John

Would watching this first have helped you at all?

Or in other words - share with others what you found you don't like about it. Thanks

OpticianWorks.com the pill to bring on the chill. You got this.

@@LaramyKOptical thank you!

If you have to complete some college program to work as an optician because of where you live, then yes (sort of). If no college degree is required then it really and truly is elementary school arithmetic. As I say in about 20 videos I'm not any good with math at all but I managed to be a pretty good optician. And even if college math and algebra 1 is required worse things have happened in a day. The daily working life of an optician has little to no math and calculators. John