Thanks for wasting my time

[jediron1]

Wouldn't it be safe to say that in any occupation, whether Optician, Fireman, Lawyer, etc. there are always members of the profession who taint the rest of the profession? I seem to remember learning in a business class that about 10% of every profession has members of it who shouldn't be members, politicians notwithstanding :).
That said, there are Opticians who still work with an energy as if today was their first day even though they've worked for decades in the field. There are also others who seem to be as interested in going to work as they are in going to the dentist for a root canal. In general, employers should take someone's experience into consideration, but really consider the person and their responsibilities in life, not just their resume. An Optician of 2 years might be able to work close to everyday you're open because they lack family responsibilities. Great for your patients, until they come to work with a hangover, or without sleep and make an expensive mistake. An Optician of 20 years might have a school play to attend on your late night, or a soccer championship on a Saturday you need them. However, they may be sharp on the job, and catch things you may not have, or a younger Optician wouldn't have known yet. Of course you can have the reverse happen to.
In a nutshell, there are no perfect employees just as their are no perfect mates. You have to choose the best person you can and learn to accept their shortcomings as well as capitalize on their strengths to achieve the overall goal of a successful heathcare practice. Just my two cents on the subject.

Well said!

[obxeyeguy]

Wouldn't it be safe to say that in any occupation, whether Optician, Fireman, Lawyer, etc. there are always members of the profession who taint the rest of the profession? I seem to remember learning in a business class that about 10% of every profession has members of it who shouldn't be members, politicians notwithstanding

The Jack Welsh theory. Fire them.

[NgCognito]

:p I found it difficult in NC to find a well paying job. You kinda have to hold out for it. I found quite a few places that wanted to pay me quarters on the dollar. I hung in there until I found a Dr that was fed up with cheap help and wanted a "quality" person. He now has me! I am willing to work hard, sacrifice an occasional lunch and stay without question after hours to catch up on work. I found numerous mistakes in the work of the optician before me and has increased his business in the few short months that I have worked for him. Hold out for the bucks! You are worth it!

[jediron1]

How long were you in this field and how much experience did you have before you caught on and realized it was retail?

Some of us started in this business (ie: profession ) when it was an honor to work as an Optician. People spoke to you with respect and treated you like a professional. Not like today where most if not all people
think your either an order taker or stylist just out to make a buck. He ( Jan ) has watched us go from a profession down to just an order taker (retail ). If you don't believe me look at Lux or the other mass marketeers.

just my 2 cents

[AJW]

Shame on you!

I have spent 30 years at the TOP of the optical food chain. NOT 1 year repeated 30 times. You would or could only WISH to have a fraction of my experience and knowledge.

What you mistake for baggage is someone's talents and gifts that THEY bring to the table. If you were a good manager you'd know how to tap into those resources to positively motivate and rally your staff. Can't teach? Sounds like you're the one with baggage.

Anyone in their right mind would do well to stay clear of you and people like you. If the poor souls working in this industry do have baggage - its because of insecure idiots like you.

[Johns]

Shame on you!

I have spent 30 years at the TOP of the optical food chain. NOT 1 year repeated 30 times. You would or could only WISH to have a fraction of my experience and knowledge.

What you mistake for baggage is someone's talents and gifts that THEY bring to the table. If you were a good manager you'd know how to tap into those resources to positively motivate and rally your staff. Can't teach? Sounds like you're the one with baggage.

Anyone in their right mind would do well to stay clear of you and people like you. If the poor souls working in this industry do have baggage - its because of insecure idiots like you.

Hey! Welcome to Optiboard! We love to hear from everyone, even insecure folks such as yourself !

:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

[MarcE]

Shame on you!

I have spent 30 years at the TOP of the optical food chain. NOT 1 year repeated 30 times. You would or could only WISH to have a fraction of my experience and knowledge.

What you mistake for baggage is someone's talents and gifts that THEY bring to the table. If you were a good manager you'd know how to tap into those resources to positively motivate and rally your staff. Can't teach? Sounds like you're the one with baggage.

Anyone in their right mind would do well to stay clear of you and people like you. If the poor souls working in this industry do have baggage - its because of insecure idiots like you.

Attitude. You forgot to mention that you don't have an attitude problem which would prohibit you from taking direction from the person who writes out your paycheck.

[rbaker]

I answered an ad on Craigslist for an optician. The ad read, upscale boutique, no mall hours, great pay etc. I go and talk to the doc and they are open until 7, every Saturday until 5, that's just one Sunday short of mall hours Sir...... Then they offer no benefits. This is a big office, their are two offices that carry on the most expensieve frames, one Gold and Wood was $1700. Then he told me the highest payed optician was paid $15 an hour. Are you kidding????????? Needless to say I didn't take the job. I was making $15 an hour w/benefits 10 years ago. I am certified with 16 years of experience. It's just frustrating when I waste my time and their's on a useless interview. Is there any professional way to ask these questions before an interview?????? Just to save us both the time and trouble.

Thanks,
hotrod:drop:

It is to not good practice to discuss compensation at the initial interview. Compensation should be negotiated at a subsequent interview. The purpose of the first interview is for both parties to put their best foot forward and learn about each other. The employer should concentrate on fact finding regarding the prospective employee skill set and create the impression that his firm is the finest business in town. The prospective employee should devote this interview to impressing the employer and leaving the impression that he would be an invaluable member of the team.

Once all the cards are on the table compensation can be discussed. I realize that this may be a waste of time on both the employers and employees part but it sure beats either party buying a pig in a poke. If either side comes away from the negotiations feeling that they are a loser the relationship is off to a rocky start.

My most successful employees were the ones who so impressed me during the initial (and subsequent) interviews that they caused me to examine my business processes and in some cases alter them to accommodate new ideas. I also tried to hire only people who were much smarter than myself and provide them with the resources that they needed to do their job in their own way.

I never asked an prospective employee about his compensation at his last job nor what his salary requirements were. It's none of my business and has absolutely no bearing to the relationship that I am trying to establish with my new employee.

Please bear in mind that my comments above are referring to what I hope to be a long standing professional relationship and not just someone to fill a slot in the work schedule. Theres enough of those jobs at McDonald's.

[specs4you]

Respect where you are coming from and perhaps in China you are very wise to work so feverishly. I think from working (and I mean in no way to
offend you), for an Asian practice, with mainly Asian patients...is that this
is a cultural necessity based on expectations.

Remember, you are the only one getting payback from working long hours. Your employees are not. Even if you pay them fairly well, they have lives and it is not a happy employee that is not able to have a family life outside of the office. In the end the patients or practice will suffer.

I have watched and seen a lot of offices in my area to know that if you
call ahead of an interview or e mail before your appt. and are up front with a salary range the interviewer can abort the meeting if they have
no intentions on paying anyone...skilled or not above a certain $ amt.

I only know that some businesses , Dentists.....are open limited hours and if you like em, you get off work somehow. If only things were the same way as in the 50-60's and businesses closed for the most part on Sundays, and your professionals worked M-F, and your banks all closed at 3 M-F....funny society didn't perish...and yet we had no ATM cards and many had no second car in the house. It just worked! If the Drs would
stop trying to outdo ea. other and focus on patient care , the business would be there. I am but a lowly Optician and I have a following, even by the first week at a job. A patient spots a technically sound worker a mile away and if you pay us well , we will be there to draw in patients on great customer service.

I very much disagree with you....and I have worked for a Dr. like you, who changed my hours by the minute, no regards to my scheduled time off or on. Never could make plans or vacations.........we had horrible moral and everyone was always looking for a new job. Your employees won't respect you with this mentality. Remember...it is not their bottom line.
Families grow up fast and to expect them to miss their moments and a good paycheck is morally wrong and you know it.
:finger:

[rbaker]

Respect where you are coming from and perhaps in China you are very wise to work so feverishly. I think from working (and I mean in no way to
offend you), for an Asian practice, with mainly Asian patients...is that this
is a cultural necessity based on expectations.

Remember, you are the only one getting payback from working long hours. Your employees are not. Even if you pay them fairly well, they have lives and it is not a happy employee that is not able to have a family life outside of the office. In the end the patients or practice will suffer.

I have watched and seen a lot of offices in my area to know that if you
call ahead of an interview or e mail before your appt. and are up front with a salary range the interviewer can abort the meeting if they have
no intentions on paying anyone...skilled or not above a certain $ amt.

I only know that some businesses , Dentists.....are open limited hours and if you like em, you get off work somehow. If only things were the same way as in the 50-60's and businesses closed for the most part on Sundays, and your professionals worked M-F, and your banks all closed at 3 M-F....funny society didn't perish...and yet we had no ATM cards and many had no second car in the house. It just worked! If the Drs would
stop trying to outdo ea. other and focus on patient care , the business would be there. I am but a lowly Optician and I have a following, even by the first week at a job. A patient spots a technically sound worker a mile away and if you pay us well , we will be there to draw in patients on great customer service.

I very much disagree with you....and I have worked for a Dr. like you, who changed my hours by the minute, no regards to my scheduled time off or on. Never could make plans or vacations.........we had horrible moral and everyone was always looking for a new job. Your employees won't respect you with this mentality. Remember...it is not their bottom line.
Families grow up fast and to expect them to miss their moments and a good paycheck is morally wrong and you know it.
:finger:

The most valuable asset that an employee has is his family. My obligation, as an employer, is to provide for the welfare of of my employees and their families. It's sort of like the Mafia. We take care of our own.

[specs4you]

Thanks Dick......I appreciate the shared likemindedness. You are I am sure a pleasure to serve and work with! Any Optician /employee in this retail industry that has been shortchanged via paycheck or with regards to moral behavior or respect would really appreciate working for you.

:)

[specs4you]

Dick is a "retired geezer" according to your title....awe dang......I guess
you have such a great attitude because you aren't out here anymore in the workforce clawing and fighting with the youngins that just hang out and collect a check. Lucky lucky you!!!

[rbaker]

Dick is a "retired geezer" according to your title....awe dang......I guess
you have such a great attitude because you aren't out here anymore in the workforce clawing and fighting with the youngins that just hang out and collect a check. Lucky lucky you!!!

The reason that I was able to reach financial critical mass and retire at 60 was in a large part due to my relationship with my employees. Just about everything that I have today is due to their efforts.

[DocInChina]

Respect where you are coming from and perhaps in China you are very wise to work so feverishly. I think from working (and I mean in no way to
offend you), for an Asian practice, with mainly Asian patients...is that this
is a cultural necessity based on expectations.

No offense taken. I maybe DocInChina but I am not a practicing doctor in China. I am a former OD from NYC.

Remember, you are the only one getting payback from working long hours. Your employees are not. Even if you pay them fairly well, they have lives and it is not a happy employee that is not able to have a family life outside of the office. In the end the patients or practice will suffer.

This depends on the employee and you are assuming like minded employees do not exist. You would be mistaking if you believed that.

I very much disagree with you....and I have worked for a Dr. like you, who changed my hours by the minute, no regards to my scheduled time off or on. Never could make plans or vacations.........we had horrible moral and everyone was always looking for a new job. Your employees won't respect you with this mentality. Remember...it is not their bottom line.
Families grow up fast and to expect them to miss their moments and a good paycheck is morally wrong and you know it.
:finger:

You are certanly free to diagree with me. When you have your own business you can operate how you see fit.

[specs4you]

Your reply was consistent with my first reply. No further discussion necessary. :drop: Glad there is no possibility you might be a future employer
to any of my Optical buddies.

[DocInChina]

Your reply was consistent with my first reply. No further discussion necessary. Glad there is no possibility you might be a future employer to any of my Optical buddies.

If you had actually read through my posts from the beginning you would understand why this one location had a demanding work schedule that did not allow for flexibility. Incidentally paying attention and listening are 2 important characteristics for helping others. Hopefully the lapses you displayed here are limited to this online forum.

We have found common ground though:

No further discussion necessary.

Doc

[jediron1]

Shame on you!

I have spent 30 years at the TOP of the optical food chain. NOT 1 year repeated 30 times. You would or could only WISH to have a fraction of my experience and knowledge.

What you mistake for baggage is someone's talents and gifts that THEY bring to the table. If you were a good manager you'd know how to tap into those resources to positively motivate and rally your staff. Can't teach? Sounds like you're the one with baggage.

Anyone in their right mind would do well to stay clear of you and people like you. If the poor souls working in this industry do have baggage - its because of insecure idiots like you.

Who are you blasting? Looks like your aiming at a wide angle. Plez enlighten!

[jediron1]

"Glad there is no possibility you might be a future employer to any of my Optical buddies."

That could be said of a lot of DOC's. Especially the ones who are cheap.
just my 2 cents

[MarcE]

I'll say this even though I will get probably get slammed on my rep points. Many times when someone says that they have 15 years of experience, they actually have 1 year of experience repeated 15 times. Also, experience normally brings baggage and an attitude. They tend to know so much that they don't have the right frame of mind to learn.

I am new to this industry, but I have experience in many others. There are many industries that essentially have a "max-out" income. If you are doing the same job that you have been doing for the last 15 years, why do you expect to make more money doing the same thing. In most companies, you have to get promoted to get a raise much larger that cost of living.

I addition, most docs don't have the high-volume practices to pay the wages that retail pays. They may do 7 jobs/day instead of 7 jobs/employee-day that the retails do.

Now, with that said. I agree (and most ophthalmic business consultants also agree) that most docs underpay. I think part of the reason is that low levels of customer service are the norm in the medical field. In general, docs have a hard time "getting it" when it comes to steller customer service and salesmanship. Since they don't understand what outstanding customer service can do for their practice and bottom-line, they aren't willing to pay to get it.

Now that I've said all that. I will pay for a stellar service-oriented person, especially one that can sell. But I won't pay for 1 year of experience repeated X times that includes baggage.

Just an employer's point of view.

AJW is slamming my post above. He's not casting a wide net, just mad at me.
Ironically, he does a good job of proving my point about "attitude"

[jediron1]

I very much disagree with you....and I have worked for a Dr. like you, who changed my hours by the minute, no regards to my scheduled time off or on. Never could make plans or vacations.........we had horrible moral and everyone was always looking for a new job. Your employees won't respect you with this mentality. Remember...it is not their bottom line.
Families grow up fast and to expect them to miss their moments and a good paycheck is morally wrong and you know it.
:finger:

I too worked for a DOC like that. His office was a revolving door. Every 6 months had new people. It was a constant mess always training never learning. At last he even found some one to replace me at a substantial
reduction in pay. After going through at least 4 or 5 people he another that he had to pay to get back what he lost by letting me go. It's the old adage
"you get what you pay for" Most DOC's don't get it, they offer these insignificant amounts and expect you to jump up and down like they just gave you the moon. Come on DOC's get with it!
just my 2cents ;)

[cocoisland58]

If only things were the same way as in the 50-60's and businesses closed for the most part on Sundays, and your professionals worked M-F, and your banks all closed at 3 M-F....funny society didn't perish...and yet we had no ATM cards and many had no second car in the house. It just worked!
:finger:

It worked because mom got to stay home. She did the banking, the errands, etc. Sometimes she didn't have a car but neighborhoods were a community unto themselves with businesses within walking distance. Grocery stores and pharmacys delivered, and doctors made house calls. If dad needed to do anything during the week, he went on his lunch hour. Generally he just didn't go to the doctor or dentist until necessity made it unavoidable. Vacation days were used for exactly that and if you were lucky enough to get any sick days you only took them if you were at death's door.

[Perry]

Jediron1 is right. Most Docs don't get it, but then again most employees don't either! It seems the majority of Docs do have a revolving door because they don't understand that a really good Optician is the best asset a practice has. On the flip side though, only a few really good Opticians exist in ,for example the DFW area, and hundreds of Docs are trying to fill positions. I wish there was a way to match up the practices willing to pay 45k + for a good Optician with Opticians who were truely qualified and professional.

[jediron1]

hotrod129,

1. It is appropriate to ask about the "complete" job description and potential benefits package ahead of time.

2. It is also helpful to state your salary requirements.

3. If there is wide discrepancy between what you think you should get and what they are offering, do you just walk out or do you negotiate?

The problem is as soon as you get to salary and they ask what were you looking for and you tell them, the next words out of their mouths are " we will call you when we have made a decision " end of discussion. Once that is said you know they have made up their minds your too expensive. I have never had one OD or MD ask " what if we give you this " on their part it's all or nothing. I've never had an OD or MD that wanted to negotiating, again it was either all or nothing. I wish some of the DOC'S on this board lived in my area because then I think they would blend in with all the other DOC's
and do the same. just my 2 cents

[Perry]

Ever think about opening your own place?

[muskaan]

whats the going rate for dispensing opticians in the states?