Design, fit and dispense
Delivering a great customer journey
You chose a career in dispensing for a reason. To make a difference by ensuring that every customer leaves your store with a product that really meets their needs.
We’re with you. Having the biggest and best range of frames and lenses is all very well, but where would we be without our dedicated dispensing teams to interpret the prescriptions of our optometrists, advise customers on the most suitable options and fit their new glasses beautifully?
Our dispensing opticians (DOs) are highly-skilled professionals who advise on, fit and supply the most appropriate glasses, taking into account each customer’s visual and lifestyle needs. They advise on lenses for night driving, UV protection, VDU use, prescription sunglasses, low-vision aids, dry eye, sports and safety eyewear. And they play an important role in advising and dispensing to customers who are partially sighted as well as to children, where appropriate.
Become a dispensing optician
As well as the standard routes to registration as a dispensing optician in the UK & Ireland, there is also one that is only available at Specsavers.
It starts with the level 3 certificate in ophthalmic dispensing (Cert 3) and continues with Cert 4, the BTEC level 4 in optical dispensing. Next up is progression pathway, a bridging course that leads to year 2 entry on to the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) College FBDO diploma to qualify as a dispensing optician. Also included along the way are Cert 3 top-up options for enhanced optical services (EOS) and contact lenses.
And for newly-qualified dispensing opticians, there is Excel, a one-day programme with sessions on patient communication, problem solving, risk management and supervision. Designed to get you off to the best possible start as an autonomous practitioner.
Outstanding training and development
As a dispensing optician at Specsavers, you can make the most of our world-class training and development programmes.
Take part in lectures, peer discussions and workshops at the professional advancement conference (PAC), the largest one-day optical conference in Europe, or join one of our regional conferences, the MiniPACs. Engage with the features, case studies and CPD modules in our online professional journal, Profile. Contribute to regular in-store peer discussions. Use all these resources as stepping stones to higher qualifications, postgraduate study and professional leadership roles.
Go above and beyond
So many career options are open to you as a dispensing optician at Specsavers.
Specialise in contact lenses by following the ABDO contact lens course or become a low vision specialist with the ABDO Honours Diploma in Low Vision Acuity, both supported by workshops from the Specsavers professional training team. Gain an NHS-recognised clinical support qualification with the EOS Diploma. Nurture the next generation as a supervisor of trainee dispensing opticians (TDOs) or trainee contact lens opticians (TCLOs). Volunteer for a charity. Facilitate learning and development in store as a lead professional. Move into a support office role as a professional training consultant. Develop your management skills with ILM certificates in leadership. Begin the pathway to owning your store as a joint venture partner – an opportunity unique to Specsavers. Do any or all of the above. The choice is yours.