can't get optometry job

[Praz]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I live in New jersey and currently going to school and for the past year I have been trying to get a job in an eye doctors office as like an assistant or anything but for some reason no one wants to hire me or they aren't hiring people at the time which is my bad luck
so basically my question is...is it really that important to work in an eye doctors office before applying to optometry school because i can't seem to get a job anywhere as i have tried at like more than 30 places
i have shadowed three different eye doctors and i volunteered for the red cross and i'm the treasurer for my pre optometry club at school so would those be good enough to take the place of working at an eye doctors office

also does anyone know of any internship/research opportunities or anything optometry related thing that i can do in new jersey

 

[mathcod]

Your ec's don't all have to be optometry related.

I think shadowing is better than doing clerical reception work as an assistant. Pushing papers isn't exactly exposure to the field.
I'd say a relatively small amount of pre-opts work because we're busy at school and most optometrists want an assistant who is available during the entire day while their office is open.

Your [SHADOW of the OPTOMETRIST] is sufficient. just make sure you find the weakspot.

Focus on gpa and OAT. Those are 10x more important in my opinion.

I still can't beat colossus 9, dammit.

 

[OpticalBlackOut]

I live in New jersey and currently going to school and for the past year I have been trying to get a job in an eye doctors office as like an assistant or anything but for some reason no one wants to hire me or they aren't hiring people at the time which is my bad luck
so basically my question is...is it really that important to work in an eye doctors office before applying to optometry school because i can't seem to get a job anywhere as i have tried at like more than 30 places
i have shadowed three different eye doctors and i volunteered for the red cross and i'm the treasurer for my pre optometry club at school so would those be good enough to take the place of working at an eye doctors office

also does anyone know of any internship/research opportunities or anything optometry related thing that i can do in new jersey

I had a similar problem because of the economy and how much time I can commit to the job. It's great, however, that you have shadowing experience, that's probably more useful than billing and checking glasses all day anyway.
It's not that important to have work experience. Remember that many applicants are going straight from college, so they (probably) have only shadowed as well. I don't think you'll be at a disadvantage without the work experience.

On a related note, I think you can always get started at an office by first volunteering. Once you've learned the intricacies of the office and prove to be valuable, it's possible for the office to hire you as a worker.

 

[jc812]

I would agree that working as an Opt Tech is not necessary, but is beneficial. I firmly believe that working on this end of the field will benefit me as an optometrist in the future.