What is optometry recruitment?

Whether you’re an optometry professional or an optical company, you might be curious about the process of optometry recruitment. An effective recruitment process is key to maintaining and growing an optical business.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about what optical recruitment is, the recruitment process, and what an optical recruitment agency is.

What is optical recruitment?

Optical recruitment refers to finding, vetting and hiring suitable candidates for an open position in an organisation. This process might be lengthy and involve multiple stakeholders, especially when recruiting high-level executives. It might be handled internally, or the company might use a specialist eye care recruitment agency to streamline their recruitment process.

Optometry recruitment process

Although the optical recruitment process will vary based on the organisation and the position being advertised, the basic recruitment process will follow these steps:

1. Identify the need for recruitment

The first step will be identifying the company’s need to recruit a new eye care professional. This might be because an employee has left the company or because the company has expanded or restructured, creating a new role. At this point, the organisation will assess the tasks associated with the role and consider any skills, qualifications and experience a candidate will need.

2. Create a job posting

The next step will involve collating the information discussed in Step 1 and using it to create a comprehensive job posting. This job posting should include:

• The role
• Key tasks
• Necessary experience
• Necessary qualifications and education
• How to apply for the role
• Salary and benefits of the role
• Information about the company

3. Post the job description

If you’re handling the recruitment process internally, you’ll need to post the job advertisement on your website and, ideally, a job search site, such as Indeed and social media. If you’re working with an external optical recruitment agency, you’ll need to share your job posting with them so they can share it with their network.

4. Screen applications

As you start receiving applications, you’ll need to screen them carefully to identify suitable interview candidates. Check that they meet all the criteria for the role and create a shortlist of the best candidates.

5. Interview suitable candidates

Next, you’ll need to interview the shortlisted candidates. This typically involves asking them about their qualifications, experience, motivations for applying for the role, and career aspirations. You might also set a task or test for them to complete to assess their suitability for the specific eye care role.

6. Choose the best candidate

Based on their application, interview and test results, you’ll need to choose the most suitable for the advertised role and the person who’s the best fit for the company.

7. Make a job offer and negotiate their salary

Once you’ve selected the best candidate, you can formally offer them the job. You’ll need to provide them with any more information about the role, including exact salary, working hours, and start date, so they can make an informed choice about accepting the position. Regarding salary, this may need to be negotiated by both parties, especially for executive or management roles.

What is an optical recruitment agency?

Many companies will use a specialist optical recruitment agency rather than handle the recruitment process internally. Optometry recruitment agencies will have specialist consultants with in-depth knowledge of the industry and job so that they can guide you through the recruitment process.

Choosing an agency also means you’ll typically get access to a range of pre-qualified candidates of a higher calibre than you might not find from advertising a position yourself. The recruitment agency will work with you to select the most suitable candidates who are the perfect fit for your company, improving employee retention rates and helping you save money in the long run.

Specialist optometry recruitment

Vision Executives are experts in international recruitment for the eye care, optometry and ophthalmology sectors. Our consultants are experts in their field and focus on sourcing the most qualified and talented candidates for our clients.

We have a network of over 1,500 pre-qualified candidates across 30 countries and a 10,000-strong LinkedIn network. There’s a good reason we’re one of the most trusted eye care recruitment providers for so many eye care businesses. We offer both retained and contingency recruitment services.

In the past, we’ve recruited eye care professionals for a diverse range of clients, from small start-ups to blue-chip corporations. Our team provides recruitment services for the following sectors:

• Surgical Consumables and Equipment
• Eye Care Professionals
• Laser Technology
• Diagnostic Equipment and Digital Health
• Contacts and Optical Lenses
• Ophthalmic Biotechnology
• Ophthalmic Pharmaceuticals
• Eyewear

Why work with us

Relying on our specialist team for your optical recruitment needs means you’ll benefit from a 12-month guarantee, where we offer a free replacement on any place candidates for the first year. This is how confident we are in our recruitment services.

Over 96% of our candidates are still with the same employer after 12 months, helping you save money in the long term by reducing your future hiring costs. Our high retention rates are because we utilise behavioural assessment to gain a deeper understanding of our candidates, helping match individuals to the perfect role.

If you’re interested in our professional optometry recruitment services, check out our current range of candidates or learn more about what we do.