Interesting work in an understaffed environment with unpredictable hours.
Pros
As a lab tech (previously state certified in CA) you get to work in a manufacturing environment where your product is immediately given to, and appreciated by, the customer. Each frame and prescription is different, and you get to put intensive cosmetic treatments like custom tints and roll and polishes that are highly appreciated by those who know quality. Working on the floor as a lab tech/ABO optician you get to help people with their vision problems and explain to them how their lens choice will interact with their rx and frame style. In short, you get to make peoples lives better and that feels wonderful.
Cons
1: Unpredictable hours. You *will* be cut from 40 hours/week down to 15 hours/week the second the slow season comes around. 2: management is inconsistent. The best managers tend to be the ones who have worked as lab managers, then as floor managers, then as G.M.'s. They are the ones who understand the logistics involved in running a 'skeleton crew minus one'. The bad managers completely disregard logical inconsistencies with work loads and hours allotted. 3: No such thing as a good day when your busy in the lab. Example: Your expected to run one hours by yourself up to 1 hour before closing, finish paperwork, and run the complete maintenance for the entire lab by closing at 7:30pm. But your given 6 one hour jobs at 5:55pm and your by yourself - it takes you a full 1 hour 15 minutes to complete and final check the jobs. It's now 15 minutes before you leave and you have not cleaned or done paperwork. The paperwork for a 9K$ day takes roughly 40 minutes to complete, and a full (every machine) maintenance takes a bare minimum of 30 minutes if you are running the entire time. You have 4 choices on how you want to fail in the corporations eyes and get a write up with the phrase "up to and including termination" if you repeat the "failure". -Work over hours to get everything they want done and get yelled at for going over hours -Work off the clock and potentially get fired for it (they have been successfully sued for making people work off the clockand through lunches and breaks. (lenscrafters vs. babasa)) -Not finish the maintenance and leave it for the morning crew, who if they are worth anything will understand that you were slammed and had no choice. -Not help customers, tell them they have to come back tomorrow earlier in the day. When the customers get really frustrated and call the corporate office to complain - your going to get very yelled at. In short: there is no such thing as a 'good day' in the lab if you have a successful sales day. The more slammed you are, the less possible it is to avoid getting yelled at for failing at one of the above points. I have personally gotten written up for leaving tools/blocks for the next day because we did 165% to sales and I was by myself in the lab. It's always an awesome way to end an amazing sales day where all the customers were satisfied and the one hours were met by being threatened with firing if you ever do it again.