Where do opticians make the most money? I heard Costco is the best place for opticians to work at because of high salary and wages is it true? My current wages are $13 an hour (25k/year) in NYC which SUCKS. How much do they make up in New Jersey?
Where do opticians make the most money? I heard Costco is the best place for opticians to work at because of high salary and wages is it true? My current wages are $13 an hour (25k/year) in NYC which SUCKS. How much do they make up in New Jersey?
Is $13.00 the standard for opticians in NY? are you licensed? that seems low to me, I would think at least $40,000.00 a year.:)
i'm abo cert and have my optician license, any new yorkers in here that makes more than $13 in here? i have 5 years experiencesOriginally Posted by Ginster
Consider yourself lucky!
Ontario pays well. But you need a college diploma
The most money, or the best money?
You can find high paying jobs at many chains, but there's a reason why they pay so much, and why they hire so often...
I think it's hard to beat working for yourself, even though you can usually make more money somewhere else. I know of many folks that make more than I do that work for MDs, but many don't seem happy.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
$13 per hour is extremely low for a licensed optician in NYC. I'm not trying to be critical, but I don't know anyone licensed here making that little, even in their first year of licensure. I think it's time for you to get your resume circulating. Are you working full time? Or just filling in and working the hours you want to work?
full time, how much do they usually get paid in ny? this is my second job in the optical industry so i don't really know how much i should get paid.
http://www.bls.gov/oes/2008/may/oes292081.htm#st
I think you'll find what you need, although there is no compensatory curve considered for experience/qualifications.
Kyle
How come you're on such a low wage in new york? I live in a sleepy town in UK and the optoms in my store are on well over £50k a year. We pay locums about £250 per day which is probably what i earn in a week!
New York, I thought that was supposed to be the city of dreams?!? You must be sleeping in a cardboard box in the janitors cupboard on that wage!
I sounds like you are underpaid. If you like where you work you might give your boss a chance to up your pay. I don't know where you are in New York City but there is an ad on Craigs List looking for a licensed optician in Manhattan offering a salary of 45 to 47 thousand a year.
Here in the boston area (MA is a license state) it is rare for a licensed optician to make below $20 an hour. Most of the chains are about 22-23 per hour with benefits.
Harry
in the twenties...why do you people still do it? don't tell me for the love of it because we all know this job sucks due to the nature of this job. all my friends that have a bachelor degree make $50k per year minimum even when they first get out of college with a bachelor degree. and while we opticians have to struggle to get that dollar raise every 3 years. WHY WHY WHY? i don't get it why not just change your career? why you guys still in this rat race working for pennies?
I loved the optical field when I was in it. But you are right. For $25k a year, there is not much reason to stick with it.
Your right, we should all get out. Tomorrow we should study what ever it is that our friends do, that we have no interest in, or ability, and pursue it for the $$$. Not me. Would rather be happy in what I do, than rich at something I hate.
We all do what we enjoy, and do best, or I should say, a lot of us do. Would I do this all over again? I don't have the answer to that.
PS. For your info: I left NY state, not NY City, over 9 years ago, and your salary still dwarfs what I what making then. If you want a better opportunity, you need to find it, as it rarely find you. I know I did.
Psst...
Hey, I hate to break it to you, but some of your "friends that have a bachelor degree make $50k per year minimum..." have been applying for jobs at some of my offices.
I'm not hiring them, nor your other friends that have masters degrees.
ALL of your friends?:finger:
Whatever...
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
A lot of the time, but not all of the time, it depends on what the bachelors degree is in. We hire some of them as receptionists. But I will say that all of our business grads do rather well for themselves.
I don't mean to be too critical, but if you are truly in NYC and don't know what the going wage is, you've got your head in the sand. It's a market where many jobs for licensed opticians can be found...(ok, maybe not all of them are the best jobs), but I don't know anyone starting for less than $40k, and they usually would get health insurance and a 401k. I know of two full timers who have been in the business 15 years making $75k, plus benefits. Time to look around.
Be aware that in the US opticianry is a craft and as such education is of a vocational nature, that is to say, apprenticeship or a post high school vocational school program quite unlike teachers, nurses and engineers.
Be aware that the vast majority of people who call themselves opticians are poorly trained and certainly not what could be considered journeyman opticians. This is typically just what most employers want, a low wage eyeglass seller.
That being said, if I were to open a retail optician enterprise today I would pay a minimum of $50,000.00 to start. But, you had better be a journeyman optician and really know your onions.
.....At their part-time job with Pizza Hut!
:cheers:
Remember I'm in an unlicensed state. When I worked for US Vision the area I was in was very competitive for labor. The McD's were hiring at $8.50 (I think minimum back then was around 5.50) The most I was allowed to offer without experience was $8.00. I had no trouble hiring for a job that offered better hours, a clean work environment, a more marketable skill set, and yes for the more altruistic a chance to help people
Some times a career for less money has more value than a job for more money.
I don't know about Costco but the Albany, NY area pays $20 - $24.00 hr for a Licensed Optician and there are openings if you want to move upstate.:D
I owned my own stores for 15 + after closing them Im working for an MD, I make ok $$ 50k 8-5 M-F one Sat. a month. Boy do I miss being my own boss but don't miss the stress or hours. Its not the MD's or the patients that bad to work for it's the MD's wife/office manager.... Im S/W Chicago sub.
If you have a state license, a pulse, and a small portion of a brain, you need to be making at least $17 an hour!! No matter what state you're in! In my honest opinion, you're getting screwed, big time. I've found out from friends and co-workers that this happens more often in OD/MD offices, usually the chains pay a lot more.
The "chains" are going to pay according to a single wage structure and you will fine little difference from location to location. Your career path will be quite narrow but well defined.
You will find a greater variation in compensation among independent practices. A few will pay minimum wage and a few will pay $30.00 an hour; most will pay somewhere in between. However, your compensation should be more closely tied with your skills and talent.
In the long run things seem to even out - you are paid what you are worth.
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