Optometrists should be looking to ëgo placesí with The Outside Clinic

With 37 per cent of the British workforce stating that their key motivation at work is ëjob satisfactioní and 16 per cent, ëchallengesí*, high street opticians should be looking to progress their careers with national home-visiting optician, The Outside Clinic.

The Outside Clinic is now the longest-established home-visiting optician service in the UK and the job of its mobile opticians is to provide an eye sight test and full dispensing service in the homes of those who find it difficult to get to a high street optician.

Rachael Bell qualified as an optometrist five years ago. After considering a career in medicine, she realised that optometry would be just as rewarding and more flexible, and having worked in a high street opticians for three years, joined The Outside Clinic in 2005.

Rachael spends her day carrying out home visits for patients who are located in South East and South West London, Surrey and Sussex. She considers one of the best things about the job to be the way she is able to build up a relationship with her patients through taking care of their optical health in the long term, with regular check ups. Without her, many of them wouldnít be able to receive essential eye care. ìItís the patients who make my job so rewardingî, she explains. ìItís hard work, but they are always so grateful for everything we do for them and it makes for real job satisfactionî.

Rachael continues: ìIíd definitely recommend a job with a home-visiting optician like The Outside Clinic for variety and challenges, as you can have lots of different experiences and come across many unusual conditions. We do everything from the eye tests to recommending spectacle frames and then the paperwork afterwardsî.

Canterbury-based optometrist Siobhan Fennell is of the same opinion: ìI enjoy everything from the clinical and healthaspect, to the fashion and helping someone choose spectacles that make them look good. The patients like the fact that the optician is the one dispensing the spectacles after their eye examination. Itís more customised, as having spoken to them during the eye test you have a better idea of which glasses will suit theirneeds.

For Sam Millen, Operations and Patient Services Support at The Outside Clinic, the variety of the job is part of its appeal. He explains: ìI work very closely with the optometrists, and itís great to see the end result of your work. Iím out on the road a lot which I enjoy and am able to attend lots of interesting events. Being part of the exhibition team at Optrafair and Naidex at the NEC was hectic but worthwhile. I like being able to work across all aspects of the business.

When considering the difference between The Outside Clinic and ordinary high street opticians, Siobhan comments: ìWorking in a high street opticians can be lonely at times, and even boring as youíre often sat in your office waiting for your next appointment. At The Outside Clinic, youíre always busy, youíre always challenged ñ especially as we come across so many different eye conditions ñ and the day goes by quickly. Life is never dull.î

Lynda Oliver comments: ìA career with The Outside Clinic offers plenty of variety and challenges and can be highly rewarding, both professionally and financially. A company car with satellite navigator, weekends free and some of the industryís highest pay scales, are among the benefits, and we offer our staff regular training and opportunities for career progressionî.

If you would like to put your skills to the test and make a real difference to the quality of someone's life, then The Outside Clinic could be for you. For more information about a new career direction or to register your CV with The Outside Clinic, telephone 0500 295 245, write to The Outside Clinic, 7 Wood Street, Old Town, Swindon, SN1 4AN or email info@outsideclinic.ednet.co.uk.

* Results taken from a recent poll by recruitment-specialist Brook Street. (www.smallbusiness.co.uk)