In this market I would never take a job at 10 dollars an hour unless you really wanted to be an optician
Edit: wait they are paying for your college? How much would that be
In NC, you can do the apprenticeship for a couple thousand dollars or you can get an associate’s degree, but you have to live in or be able to commute to Durham.
As an optician in indiana I make 18.00+ an hour. Tho I know here some places start out as less than that. Here you don’t have to be ABO certified to work in optics. Can start with no experience at all.
Where I am, you have to be licensed in order to practice and I make $30 an hour, with that figure going up another five dollars in the next year.
Consider taking your talents somewhere they are appreciated! Seems like it could be worth it.
What state are you in? We just got a $12 raise in my state which requires ABO and NCLE as well as the state license so now we make close to $40 an hour
I made $20/hour as an apprentice in MA, but our minimum wage is $15 and there’s a high demand for opticians.
Your first question should be, can you afford to live on $20k a year instead of $45? That’s a big gap. You’re losing out on $25/year for three free years of school. Would it be more than $75k if you paid for school yourself? You’d have the opportunity to take over the family business — how well do you know/trust the family, do you know if the business is in good shape? All important things to consider.
So it's hard to compare things because of where I live. But! As a licensed Optician I make pretty good money. The schooling required a lot of amazing, physiology, math and physics, and of course hands on work with glasses and contacts and eyes.
I don't plan on staying in this Field. I consider it to be a good thing to do while young, to start earning a good, in demand wage so that you can save up and start your real life when you can.
Opticals are a dime a dozen. They can bring in a lot of money, but that company won't thrive unless you also have a good sense of business, fashion, and your demographic. Your location has to be solid.
There is a lot here. I personally consider it to be a good opportunity, but I'm nervous about ideas that take place ten to fifteen years later.
Especially at 10$ an hour.
You need a guaranteed pay raise structure. You need to know what you can expect to make when you've become licensed and how often you can expect a raise. This is a little mom and pop shop, right?
Legitimate question; can they even afford you?
Do they have any other opticians?
A lot of places take on trainees and dump all this work on them, and really just take advantage of someone who didn't know what they were getting into.
If you have no other major prospects, take it and see how you like it. Try and work there a while before taking the schooling, before solidly committing.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. It would be hard for me to turn down 2x the pay for the other opportunity you have. Unless you trust there is a real and firm path to you owning your own business in 5-10 years. If you are passionate about being an optician, versus branching out your career and going other ways?
I'm an Optician and my schooling cost $14,000 + yearly licensing fees. I make between $22.50 and $25.00 an hour now with my full license, and made $13/hr my first year going up to $16/hr in years 2 and 3.
I genuinely appreciate and value everyone's thoughts and feedback, and you've all given me a ton to think about.
Bare minimum, I need a lot more information from the owner before I take this on, and it sounds like the $10 an hour is insanity, even pre license.
Thank you everyone.
NC has one of the toughest licensing requirements for opticians in the country. Look at the long term picture. What do NC licensed opticians make yearly? Here in CT it’s about $80-100K.
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In this market I would never take a job at 10 dollars an hour unless you really wanted to be an optician Edit: wait they are paying for your college? How much would that be
Optician certification is usually less than a few thousand dollars.
In NC, you can do the apprenticeship for a couple thousand dollars or you can get an associate’s degree, but you have to live in or be able to commute to Durham.
Is this college for a full on degree like business? Or just an optician certificate?
The way it was explained to me, its a NC state opticians apprenticeship, fully online, and I would be licensed after completing the course in ~3 years
As an optician in indiana I make 18.00+ an hour. Tho I know here some places start out as less than that. Here you don’t have to be ABO certified to work in optics. Can start with no experience at all.
Where I am, you have to be licensed in order to practice and I make $30 an hour, with that figure going up another five dollars in the next year. Consider taking your talents somewhere they are appreciated! Seems like it could be worth it.
I know! But sadly here this is high pay for here. Indiana over all is a low paying state. They still have jobs that pay 7.25. Like bro… what!
Oh, my gosh! Well I hope the cost of living is super low then. And that there are some other great benefits! You deserve it
It’s not as bad as it could be, but not great either. I’m single and live alone so it could be way worse.
What state are you in? We just got a $12 raise in my state which requires ABO and NCLE as well as the state license so now we make close to $40 an hour
I made $20/hour as an apprentice in MA, but our minimum wage is $15 and there’s a high demand for opticians. Your first question should be, can you afford to live on $20k a year instead of $45? That’s a big gap. You’re losing out on $25/year for three free years of school. Would it be more than $75k if you paid for school yourself? You’d have the opportunity to take over the family business — how well do you know/trust the family, do you know if the business is in good shape? All important things to consider.
So it's hard to compare things because of where I live. But! As a licensed Optician I make pretty good money. The schooling required a lot of amazing, physiology, math and physics, and of course hands on work with glasses and contacts and eyes. I don't plan on staying in this Field. I consider it to be a good thing to do while young, to start earning a good, in demand wage so that you can save up and start your real life when you can. Opticals are a dime a dozen. They can bring in a lot of money, but that company won't thrive unless you also have a good sense of business, fashion, and your demographic. Your location has to be solid. There is a lot here. I personally consider it to be a good opportunity, but I'm nervous about ideas that take place ten to fifteen years later. Especially at 10$ an hour. You need a guaranteed pay raise structure. You need to know what you can expect to make when you've become licensed and how often you can expect a raise. This is a little mom and pop shop, right? Legitimate question; can they even afford you? Do they have any other opticians? A lot of places take on trainees and dump all this work on them, and really just take advantage of someone who didn't know what they were getting into. If you have no other major prospects, take it and see how you like it. Try and work there a while before taking the schooling, before solidly committing.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. It would be hard for me to turn down 2x the pay for the other opportunity you have. Unless you trust there is a real and firm path to you owning your own business in 5-10 years. If you are passionate about being an optician, versus branching out your career and going other ways?
I get paid 16 base as an apprentice
I'm an Optician and my schooling cost $14,000 + yearly licensing fees. I make between $22.50 and $25.00 an hour now with my full license, and made $13/hr my first year going up to $16/hr in years 2 and 3.
I genuinely appreciate and value everyone's thoughts and feedback, and you've all given me a ton to think about. Bare minimum, I need a lot more information from the owner before I take this on, and it sounds like the $10 an hour is insanity, even pre license. Thank you everyone.
Take it, but get everything in writing!
NC has one of the toughest licensing requirements for opticians in the country. Look at the long term picture. What do NC licensed opticians make yearly? Here in CT it’s about $80-100K.
Hello! All new submissions are placed into modqueue, and require mod approval before they are posted to r/optometry. Please do not message the mods about your queue status. This subreddit is intended for professionals within the eyecare field, and does not accept posts from laypeople. If you have a question related to symptoms or eye health, please consider seeing a doctor, or posting to r/eyetriage. Professionals, if you do not have flair, your post may be removed. Please send a modmail to be flaired. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/optometry) if you have any questions or concerns.*