Meet - Specsavers
Specsavers is a great British success story – a family-run retailer, familiar on almost every high street. Our legendary tagline, ‘should’ve gone to Specsavers’, is used by everyone, and its warm and witty marketing has won a place in people’s hearts. We’re proud of how far we’ve come as a business; we want to see you grow with us.
Specsavers began 40 years ago with the vision of two optometrists, Doug and Mary Perkins. Their passion for optometry has led Specsavers to become the largest privately-owned optical group in the world, delivering high-quality, affordable optical and hearing care in over 10 countries. And it continues to shape the lives and experience of around 37,000 colleagues.
Skills we look for
What makes us a great employer
Every store is individually owned
The joint venture partnership at Specsavers is our greatest strength, with every store locally owned and led by its directors – usually an optometrist and a dispensing optician or retailer. For you, this means the store director is free to agree with you the reward and benefits package that is right for you and right for their business.
Career Progression Opportunities
An apprenticeship with Specsavers is a stepping stone into a career in Optics or Hearcare. Over 90% of our apprentices stay with Specsavers on completion of the Apprenticeship.
Award Winning
We’ve been shouting a little louder about how great Specsavers Apprenticeships are. We have achieved the Princess Royal Training Award, a prestigious award that recognises employers that have created outstanding training and skills development.
We ranked again in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers showing our commitment to training and development through Apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships Details
Apprenticeship Opportunities
There are 3 core Apprenticeships we offer for key roles in store:
- Optical Assistant – Level 3
- Spectacle Technician – Level 3
- Customer Service – Level 2
These are all crucial roles in our stores.
Ofsted graded us Outstanding
In July 2023, Ofsted spent the week with us, speaking to apprentices and our store colleagues, really understanding how we develop, support and stretch our apprentices to be the best they can be and to truly understand the impact apprenticeships has to young people.
High pass rates
So far on our Level 3 Optical Assistant, our apprentices have achieved 100% Distinction rate.
Locations
Specsavers are recruiting for apprentices all the time, we start new apprentices every week and vacancies are opened and filled on a daily basis.
Our vacancies cover the whole of England and the best way to find if we have a vacancy in your area is to search via our careers page.
To view a list of all store locations, please click here.
Applying for our Apprenticeships
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Specsavers has its own recruitment team who are responsible for any applications that are submitted via the Apprenticeship service, our careers page or other job boards.
The recruitment teams work through the applications and shortlist based on the criteria for the role. It’s crucial you complete the application accurately so that we can ensure you are eligible for funding and that we can support your application.
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If shortlisted, the recruiter will walk you through the apprenticeship and what to expect before confirming next steps and whether you have been selected for interview by the hiring manager. The recruiter will help prepare you for the interview and answer any questions you may have.
The recruiter will finalise the interview date, if there is any change to your commitment to this, it’s important to let the recruiter know.
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The stores will adapt their questioning based on experience. If this is your first job, it would be a good idea to consider:
Why are you interested in an apprenticeship at Specsavers
Whether you’ve had an eye test at Specsavers, if yes what was it like?
If you haven’t been a Specsavers Customer, what was the last shop you went to, what was good about it and what was bad?
What did you think about the store while you were choosing your glasses?
You may be asked some scenario based questions, for example:
A customer gets angry and starts shouting, what would you do?
A customer looks confused, what would you do?
You were asked to do something by your Manager, but you haven’t been shown how, what would you do?
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Because all of our stores are individually owned, it does mean that hiring managers may recruit and interview in different ways.
In most cases, there will be a face-to-face interview followed by a few hours in store, for you to get to know the store and get closer to the role, as well as the store colleagues and managers getting to know you.
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Some stores carry out assessment days where they bring applicants together and plan activities individually and as a group.
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The recruitment team will receive feedback from the hiring manager. The recruitment team will reach out to the candidate to let them know if they have been successful or unsuccessful.
If successful a start date will be agreed and confirmed with the candidate.
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End
Need some extra support?
This is the Optometry Director at one of stores with some hints and tips for interview.
The stores will adapt their questioning based on experience. If this is your first job, it would be a good idea to consider:
- Why are you interested in an apprenticeship at Specsavers
- Whether you’ve had an eye test at Specsavers, if yes what was it like?
- If you haven’t been a Specsavers Customer, what was the last shop you went to, what was good about it and what was bad?
- What did you think about the store while you were choosing your glasses?
You may be asked some scenario based questions, for example:
- A customer gets angry and starts shouting, what would you do?
- A customer looks confused, what would you do?
- You were asked to do something by your Manager, but you haven’t been shown how, what would you do?
The future
It’s OK if you don’t have your future mapped out, but it is good to have an idea of ambitions, personal or professional and where you see yourself in the future.
What our apprentices do!
Once I left school, I had no idea what was next. I just knew I wanted to work. I applied for an Apprenticeship knowing it would push me out of my comfort zone and lead to something good. And it did! As a Customer Service Apprentice, I meet new people every day, providing the best customer experience I can throughout their journey in-store and making sure they leave with a smile on their faces. That feels great.
Every day is different in store at Specsavers. Before, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I was older, I had no idea. Now I do. I 100% recommend an apprenticeship with Specsavers because I gain new experiences every day and work alongside some amazing, inspirational people. The technology we use to care for eye health is awesome, too.
As a customer, I was always fascinated by how eye tests work and pickup various medical conditions – not just how well you can see. I’m a real people person and love helping others. So, when the apprenticeship came up, I knew it was right for me. I’ve never looked back; I only look to the future – it’s looking bright.
Behind the Scenes
Will I be doing different things each day?
Why I chose an Apprenticeship
What support will I get as a Partner?
Apprenticeships at Specsavers
Information & Resources
