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30/03 2022 - Stores
“Specsavers validates your skills, not your age”
Abdelmajid Darkaoui knows there’s only one person who can take the steering wheel of your career – that’s yourself. After his social services education, he started looking for a job that enabled him to study besides work. Optometry appealed to him, but that was a full-time study. That’s why he decided to join Specsavers. When he was 19, he started his education to become an optician at Specsavers Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. He stayed in Nieuwegein for 5 years. Soon, people asked about his thoughts on the partnership. At that time, he felt he wasn’t ready for such a big step. Now, he’s proven the opposite: Abdelmajid is only 27 years old, and the optical partner and owner of two Specsavers stores with a total of 16 team members.
“It’s great that a company offers such challenges,” says Abdelmajid, “because I would never have achieved this myself at this age. No one at Specsavers made a problem of me being young: instead, they decided on what I’m capable of. Even before I got my optician’s degree, we were already discussing the partnership; such a stimulating environment gives you wings.”
Low threshold
Abdelmajid completed all the courses he needed (such as internal leadership courses) and on his 23rd, he became a Specsavers partner at the store in shopping mall Emiclaer in Amersfoort, a city in the centre of the Netherlands. Three years after that, he also became the owner of another Specsavers store in Amersfoort. “When you start as an optician, you get a lot of support. Specsavers guides you, which gives you the opportunity to accomplish a lot. If you want to, you can do anything! I have started a new business and taken over an existing store, so I experienced both procedures. There’s a lot of guidance and it’s easy to reach out to someone. It’s not a hierarchical company: you can for example just have a chat with the founder’s daughter.” He noticed straight away that Specsavers is a family company: “Everyone is really nice and helpful. Colleagues are willing to support you while you become an entrepreneur.”
Abdelmajid and his colleagues of the Specsavers store in Amersfoort Centrum
Versatility and variety
Optics fits him like a glove. Abdelmajid: “This profession has many aspects. You need to have knowledge of eye diseases, a feeling for fashion, technical skills to handle glasses, commercial skills to sell a product and with optometry, you also deliver healthcare. There’s a lot of information to dive into and things keep evolving. New types of glasses are offered, contact lenses and other tools developed and we learn more and more about certain conditions and eye health. As an optician, you also develop; all these changes make your job versatile and never dull. How’s a product made, how do I talk it over with my customer and what’s my best advice? I’ll never become bored practising this profession.”
As a partner, the final responsibility for the store comes on top of his activities as an optician. He considers forming part of such a large organisation as purely beneficial: “Specsavers’ concept is great and they have been in the optical business for so long, which gives me the opportunity to be an entrepreneur without a lot of risks. I follow the company’s philosophy and benefit from, for example, agreements Specsavers has made with suppliers. I don’t have to decide and do everything on my own, because Specsavers has invented the wheel and kept it rolling for all these years. Now, I can set my own pace and dedicate my time to my customers, because colleagues take care of other parts of the work. I am very happy to be a part of this!”
Do you have a drive like Abdelmajid? Check out what Specsavers jobs would suit you or browse through our open vacancies.
