Dispensing Optician CV Examples & Writing Guide
In the UK, "optician" can mean a dispensing optician or an optometrist; this page is for dispensing opticians and optical assistants. A dispensing optician CV gets an interview when the practice can see your GOC registration (or student registration) and any contact lens qualification, the measurements and glazing you do without supervision, and how you perform on the floor: conversion, multi-pair rate, remakes and NHS voucher accuracy. Say which setting you came from.
Dispensing optician CV example (registered, independent practice)
A fictional CV for a registered dispensing optician and contact lens optician with ten years in optics, working in a three-optometrist independent practice with an in-house glazing lab. Notice how much of it is measurable: practices run on conversion, remakes and NHS claim accuracy, and a CV that names those numbers reads like someone who has watched them.
Priya N. Raman
Dispensing Optician and Contact Lens Optician (FBDO CL)
Leicester · priya.raman@email.com | 07700 900132 | GOC registered (number on request)
Summary
GOC-registered dispensing optician and contact lens optician with ten years in optics, seven of them registered, now leading a two-optician dispensary in a three-optometrist independent practice. Takes all dispensing measurements, glazes in-house, fits soft and RGP lenses as a contact lens optician, and manages NHS GOS claims and vouchers. Multi-pair rate of 34% and a remake rate under 3%.
Experience
Lead Dispensing Optician · Independent optometry practice (three optometrists, in-house glazing lab)
Apr 2021 - Present
- Dispenses to 18 to 24 patients a day, taking monocular PDs, fitting heights, back vertex distance and pantoscopic tilt for varifocal and specialty lens orders.
- Holds a remake rate under 3% across roughly 2,600 jobs a year by checking every order against the prescription on a focimeter before collection.
- Raised the practice's second-pair rate from 22% to 34% in two years by rebuilding the frame displays around price tiers and training staff on lens option conversations.
- Runs NHS GOS sight test and voucher claims in Optix, cutting rejected claims from 11% to 4% by checking eligibility and evidence before the sight test rather than at collection.
- Glazes about 40 jobs a week on a patternless edger, including drilled rimless and supra mounts that used to go to an outside lab.
Student Dispensing Optician (GOC-registered student), then Dispensing Optician from 2019 · Regional independent optical group (8 practices)
Jun 2018 - Mar 2021
- Dispensed and adjusted spectacles for 25 to 35 patients a day in a busy high street practice with same-day single vision service.
- Averaged £245 per complete pair against a practice target of £220, without a single upheld complaint over three years.
- Trained 6 new optical assistants on frame adjustment, PD measurement and the till and practice system.
- Supported the optometrists' contact lens clinics with ordering, collections and insertion and removal teaching for about 70 new wearers a month, including toric and multifocal soft lenses.
Optical Assistant / Trainee Dispensing Optician · Family-run independent opticians
Aug 2016 - May 2018
- Started the ABDO diploma as a GOC-registered student, dispensing under the supervision of two registered opticians and completing in-practice competencies in pre-screening, frame selection, adjustments and glazing.
- Carried out pre-screening on 20+ patients a day: autorefraction, non-contact tonometry and retinal photography.
- Maintained a frame stock of 640 frames, rotating slow sellers quarterly and cutting dead stock by about 18%.
Education
ABDO Level 6 Diploma in Ophthalmic Dispensing (FBDO), distance learning with block release
ABDO College, 2019
A-levels: Biology, Physics, Business
Sixth form college, Leicester, 2016
Certifications
- Dispensing Optician (FBDO), Association of British Dispensing Opticians; GOC registered since 2019
- ABDO Contact Lens Certificate; GOC contact lens optician specialty register, 2021
- GOC CPD requirements met for the 2022–2024 cycle; 2025–2027 cycle on track
- Infection control and safeguarding training, annual
Skills
Dispensing optician, optometrist or optical assistant: make sure you are applying as the right one
People search these titles interchangeably, and in everyday UK English "optician" covers all of them. Practices do not. Getting the title wrong on your CV is the fastest way to be filtered out.
- Dispensing optician: fits and dispenses spectacles against a prescription from an optometrist or doctor. Qualifies through the ABDO diploma or an approved degree and must be registered with the General Optical Council. With an extra qualification, a contact lens optician (CLO) can also fit contact lenses.
- Optometrist (sometimes called an ophthalmic optician): carries out sight tests, detects eye disease and prescribes, after an optometry degree and a supervised pre-registration period, and is GOC registered. If you are an optometrist, your CV is a clinical one and this page is not it.
- Optical assistant, optical consultant or ophthalmic technician: helps with frame selection, adjustments and collections, or works on the clinical side doing pre-screening, OCT, visual fields and imaging. These roles are not registered, though many practices train you in-house.
- Optical lab technician or glazer: surfaces, glazes and mounts lenses, usually with no patient contact. If your work is mostly lab, say so and lead with equipment.
Plenty of people do two of these at once, especially in small practices. That is fine, and it is worth saying: "Dispensing optician with pre-screening duties: OCT, visual fields and retinal photography for two optometrists" is a valuable CV in a practice that is short-staffed.
What practices and optical managers check first
Hiring here is usually done by a practice manager, a practice owner or a store director who is short one person on the floor. They read for how soon you can be useful without supervision.
- Registration status. GOC registered dispensing optician, contact lens optician, or GOC-registered student with your year of study. Write "in training" honestly if you are still on the diploma.
- What you can do unsupervised. Taking a monocular PD, checking a prescription on a focimeter, glazing a drilled rimless job, adjusting a titanium frame without snapping it. Say which of these you own.
- Setting. Independent practice, multiple, hospital eye service, domiciliary and online all move at different speeds. A high street optician who dispenses 30 patients a day and an independent optician who spends 40 minutes per patient are both good hires, for different practices.
- NHS paperwork and software. GOS sight test claims, vouchers and repairs, the practice's eyecare plan, and whichever practice management system they run (Optix, Optisoft, Acuitas). Claim knowledge saves the practice real money and they know it.
“Two CVs came in for the same opening. One said "assisted patients with frame selection". The other said "34% multi-pair rate, remakes under 3%, glazes rimless in-house". The second one told me what my dispensary would look like in six months.”
Dispensing optician personal statement examples
Three lines: registration and years, setting and patient volume, then a number that shows you perform. Use a career objective only if you are new to optics.
GOC-registered dispensing optician with six years in a two-optometrist independent practice, dispensing 18 to 22 patients a day. Takes all varifocal measurements, checks and glazes in-house, and manages GOS claims and vouchers. Multi-pair rate of 31% and a remake rate under 4%.
Dispensing optician with four years in a high street optical chain, dispensing 30 to 35 patients a day with same-day single vision service. Averages £240 per complete pair against a £220 target, and trains new optical assistants on adjustments and PD measurement.
Contact lens optician with seven years, handling about 90 contact lens fits a month including toric, multifocal and scleral lenses, and referring to the optometrist when anything falls outside scope. Runs insertion and removal teaching with a 96% first-visit success rate on new wearers.
GOC-registered dispensing optician with nine years split between the dispensary and the glazing lab. Glazes on a patternless edger, handles rimless and supra mounts, and brought 70% of outside lab work back in-house, cutting turnaround from 8 days to 3.
Optical assistant seeking a trainee dispensing optician post with study support. Trained in pre-screening, frame adjustment, PD measurement and focimetry across 1,400 supervised hours, and enrolling on the ABDO diploma for the September 2027 intake.
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Dispensing optician CV bullets: weak to strong
Most optician CVs describe a pleasant person helping patients pick glasses. Practices already assume that. The numbers below are the ones optical managers track weekly, so they land immediately.
| Weak (a duty) | Strong (a duty with a number) |
|---|---|
| Helped patients select frames. | Dispensed to 18 to 24 patients a day and raised the second-pair rate from 22% to 34% by rebuilding the frame displays around price tiers. |
| Took measurements for spectacles. | Took monocular PDs, fitting heights, back vertex distance and pantoscopic tilt for roughly 2,600 jobs a year, holding remakes under 3%. |
| Checked prescriptions. | Checked every finished job against the prescription on a focimeter before collection, catching an average of 4 lab errors a month before the patient saw them. |
| Adjusted and repaired glasses. | Handled walk-in adjustments and repairs for about 45 patients a week, including nose pad replacement and soldering on metal frames. |
| Did the NHS paperwork. | Cut rejected GOS claims from 11% to 4% by checking eligibility and evidence before the sight test instead of at collection. |
| Ordered contact lenses. | Managed about 70 contact lens fits a month, taught new wearers insertion and removal, and signed up 58% of wearers to a monthly direct debit supply plan. |
| Used the lab equipment. | Glazed and mounted 40 jobs a week on a patternless edger, including rimless and supra mounts previously sent to an outside lab. |
| Managed stock. | Maintained a 640-frame stock, rotated slow sellers quarterly and cut dead stock by about 18% over one year. |
| Trained new employees. | Trained 6 optical assistants on adjustments, PD measurement and the till system, two of whom started the ABDO diploma within a year. |
| Provided excellent customer service. | Handled all remake and complaint conversations for the dispensary, resolving 31 of 33 cases without a refund over two years. |
Dispensing optician CV skills that practices search for
Split them. Managers scan the technical list to see how much training you need, and the software line to see whether you can go on the rota in week one.
- Dispensing: monocular PD, fitting height, back vertex distance, pantoscopic tilt, base curve selection, frame fitting for high prescriptions
- Lens knowledge: varifocal designs, high index, polycarbonate and Trivex, anti-reflection coatings, photochromic, polarised, prism, bi-prism (slab-off), occupational and computer lenses
- Lab: focimeter, pupillometer, patternless edger, tinting, drilled rimless and supra mounts, frame heating and soldering
- Contact lenses: soft, toric, multifocal, RGP and scleral handling, insertion and removal teaching, care system advice
- Pre-screening: autorefractor, non-contact tonometry, retinal photography, OCT, visual field screening, focimetry of the old pair
- Business: NHS GOS forms (sight tests, vouchers, repairs), eyecare plans, frame stock buying, EPOS and cash handling
- Practice management software: Optix, Optisoft, Acuitas
- Lab and ordering portals: Essilor, Zeiss, Hoya and Rodenstock ordering portals, frame supplier B2B sites
- A second language, if you have it. In optics it is a genuine hiring advantage and worth its own line.
Handles every remake and complaint conversation in the dispensary, resolving 31 of 33 cases without a refund.
Checks every job on a focimeter before collection; remake rate under 3% on about 2,600 jobs a year.
Second-pair rate of 34% and 58% of contact lens wearers on a direct debit supply plan.
FBDO, contact lens and GOC registration: how to list them
Opticians in the UK are regulated nationally by the General Optical Council, not region by region. To work as a dispensing optician you must be on the GOC register, and trainees register as students while they study, so write your exact status rather than a general "qualified".
- FBDO: the ABDO Level 6 Diploma in Ophthalmic Dispensing, or an approved degree in ophthalmic dispensing, leads to GOC registration as a dispensing optician. This is the baseline qualification most adverts ask for.
- Contact lens optician: the ABDO Contact Lens Certificate puts you on the GOC specialty register as a CLO, written FBDO CL. Add it if the practice fits contact lenses, which most do.
- Advanced qualifications: ABDO honours and advanced certificates, for example in low vision or refraction. Rare, and worth putting in your personal statement if you hold one.
- GOC registration: write "GOC registered dispensing optician since <year>". Registration is renewed every year and CPD runs in three-year cycles, so mention the cycle you are on track for.
- Formal education: name the course provider (ABDO College or a university) and the year you qualified. If you studied by distance learning with block release, say so.
- Training route: most dispensing opticians train while employed as a GOC-registered student, over about three years. List your year of study and the supervising practice, because that is your proof of training.
If you are studying, say when: "ABDO final examinations June 2027". Do not write FBDO before you have passed. Practices check the GOC online register, and it takes a manager about thirty seconds.
Optical assistant and trainee dispensing optician CV (no experience, retail background)
Most dispensing opticians start as optical assistants with no eye care background at all. Practices know that. What they will not do is train someone who cannot handle a busy front desk or a difficult patient, so prove those first.
- 1Say plainly that you are seeking an optical assistant or trainee dispensing optician post, and that you intend to study for the ABDO diploma. Managers want to hire someone who will stay and qualify.
- 2Pull the transferable parts out of retail, hospitality or a call centre: till accuracy, customers per day, product knowledge, add-on sales, complaint handling.
- 3Add any healthcare exposure: medical or dental reception, NHS exemption checks, data protection training, healthcare assistant work.
- 4List hands-on skills you already have that map onto optical work: soldering, jewellery repair, machining, anything requiring fine hand tools and patience.
- 5If you have completed any part of a course or in-practice training, put the hours or modules on the page. They read as real training, not just interest.
Served 60 to 80 customers a day at a specialist electronics counter, reaching 118% of an accessory attachment target over six quarters.
Booked in 45 patients a day at a GP surgery and checked registration and exemption details, cutting front desk data corrections by about a third.
In-practice training: 1,400 supervised hours covering pre-screening, frame adjustment, PD measurement and focimetry; enrolled on the ABDO diploma for September 2027.
Format, length and the words to mirror
One to two pages. Optics is a hands-on job with a short qualification list, so most dispensing opticians fit comfortably on one page, and two only if you manage a practice or a team. Single column, plain headings, no photo, no date of birth. Large multiples and NHS trusts run applicant tracking software, so avoid tables, columns and text boxes.
- Use both "dispensing optician" and "optician" somewhere on the page, plus "optical" as a standalone word for the high street adverts.
- Write qualifications the way ABDO and the GOC do: "FBDO", "FBDO CL", "GOC registered". Systems match on the abbreviation.
- Mirror the advert's setting words: "independent practice", "high street", "hospital eye service", "domiciliary", "dispensary".
- Name the systems the advert names. If it says Acuitas and you have used an older Ocuco product, write the product family so the match is clear.
- Include the lens and coating vocabulary: varifocal, anti-reflection, high index, polycarbonate, photochromic. These are real search terms in optical job systems.
Send a PDF named Raman_Priya_Dispensing_Optician_CV.pdf. If you are applying to a small independent practice, expect a human to open it on a desktop in the back office, and keep the font at 10.5 points or larger.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a dispensing optician CV?
Put your GOC registration and FBDO (and CL if you have it) in or just under the contact line, then a three-line personal statement with your years, setting and patient volume. Write bullets around the numbers optical managers track: patients dispensed per day, remake rate, second-pair rate, GOS claim accuracy and lab work done in-house. One page is enough for most; two at most.
What skills should an optician put on a CV?
Dispensing measurements (monocular PD, fitting height, back vertex distance, pantoscopic tilt), lens knowledge (varifocal designs, high index, anti-reflection, polycarbonate), lab skills (focimetry, patternless edging, drilled rimless and supra mounts, soldering), contact lens handling and teaching, pre-screening equipment, NHS GOS paperwork, and the practice software you use, such as Optix or Optisoft.
Do I need to be registered to work as an optician in the UK?
To work as a dispensing optician, yes: you must be registered with the General Optical Council, and students register while they train. Optical assistants do not need registration, but some tasks, such as dispensing to children under 16 or fitting contact lenses, are restricted by law to registered professionals or supervised students. The FBDO usually comes with a clear pay step up.
What is the difference between a dispensing optician and an optometrist CV?
They are different jobs. An optometrist has an optometry degree and a pre-registration period, carries out sight tests and prescribes, and applies with a clinical CV listing GOC registration, clinical skills and any independent prescribing or enhanced services. A dispensing optician fits and dispenses spectacles against someone else's prescription, and applies with a shorter CV built around FBDO, measurements, lab work and dispensary numbers.
How do I write an optician CV with no experience?
Apply as an optical assistant or trainee and say so in your first line. Then use retail or front desk work as evidence: customers served per day, till accuracy, add-on sales, exemption checks, complaint handling. Add any in-practice training hours you have logged and the date you plan to start the ABDO diploma.
Should an optician CV use a career objective or a personal statement?
A personal statement if you have dispensed before, because the practice wants your volume and registration, not your goals. A career objective is worth one sentence only if you are new to optics or moving from retail, and it should name the role you want and the qualification you are working towards.
How long should an optician CV be?
One page for most dispensing opticians, two at most. Include three jobs unless an older role adds something specific, such as lab experience or a hospital eye service setting. If you have run a dispensary or managed several practices, a second page is defensible, but the numbers still matter more than the length.
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How this page was made: a first draft was written with AI assistance from cvplex's example library, then edited and fact-checked by the cvplex Careers Team. Examples are fictional composites; numbers are illustrative. Report an error via the editorial policy page.