Pros
Great stepping stone in getting into the Health Field - data entry, patient care, etc. Lots of room to gain work experience from being a receptionist, to a non-licensed optician, to an optometric technician and maybe even a contact lens manager. The doctors are fairly young and patient when you're first starting on the job; they are willing to share their knowledge and explain some medical terminology to you. Very fast paced environment; if you're in a popular shopping center you will likely see an average of 22 patients a day. I personally like how there's always various tasks to be done - filing,dispensing,selling,stocking, confirming appointments,calling patients to let them know their glasses/contacts are in, folding papers, etc.
Cons
Coworkers are usually very young and immature; you may even have a manager fresh from high school that is telling you what to do. The pay stinks! Sure you get commission, but it's not much. There are yearly evaluations but expect a raise less than half a dollar. Growth in the company is very limited; about the highest you can go in the store is getting your optician's license which takes about three years to get than you have to pass a comprehensive exam to see any kind of significant pay raise. The store's sales tactics are a bait and switch. They get you in there than they charge you all kinds of things to make the price much higher than what they advertise. Customer service/patient care service is embarassing.; It's poor, it's not even addressed as an issue because the managers just don't care, and personally I never recommended anybody here because I would be horrified to say I worked at a place that gave such low-grade service.