A record 246 graduates in optometry have joined Specsavers this year, 206 having taken up roles across Australia in both metro and regional stores, and 40 having joined the New Zealand business. Twenty-three of the new team members were selected from the first graduating cohort of the University of Western Australia’s optometry program – more than half the graduating class.
According to Specsavers, this is the largest single intake the business has ever accepted into its Graduate Program since its inception and a 6.5% increase on the previous year.
All graduates were officially welcomed into the Specsavers Graduate Program at an induction event on 19-20 February, held at Crown Conference Centre in Melbourne.
The event aims to inform, educate and prepare the graduates for the start of their career by offering top tips for best practice, discussing the business’ core mission and vision values, and providing an overview of eye health stakeholders such as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO), Glaucoma Australia, Diabetes Australia, government, and the technology available in-store.
the Specsavers Graduate Program is designed to ensure every graduate working for Specsavers is fully supported throughout the first two years of their career
Over two days, the graduates also attended includes small workshops, facilitated by a range of Specsavers specialists, providing opportunities to discuss topics including the importance of professional communication, confidence in therapeutic prescribing, professional billing, our product ranges, and a special focus on graduate wellbeing.
“Our clinical sessions at Graduate Induction continue to be a highlight for our graduates as they provide opportunities to acquire in-depth information on topics highly relevant to clinical practice,” says Graduate Optometry Development Manager Dr Natasha Fernandes.
Specsavers Professional Recruitment Director Raj Sundarjee described the Specsavers Graduate Program as “an unrivalled industry development program” and said the record intake came as no surprise, since Specsavers has “been listed as an accredited Great Place to Work for the past three years running, and were named among the Top 10 Best Places to Work in Australia last year”.
“This generation really recognises the value of evidence-based clinical practice in enhancing patient outcomes for Australians and New Zealanders and it’s something they want to be part of,” he said.
Graduate Optometry Development Manager Dr Natasha Fernandes said the Specsavers Graduate Program is designed to ensure every graduate working for Specsavers is fully supported throughout the first two years of their career with ongoing with clinical and commercial training, mentoring, and education to grow their clinical skills and expertise.
“The program is designed to enrich those first two years as a young health professional and provides our graduates with the training and development opportunities designed specifically to ensure their ongoing personal and professional growth…And when you follow the Graduate Program with additional development programs, such as our Early Career Optometry (ECO) program and our Partnership Pathway Programs, you can see how Specsavers optometrists have a journey of lifelong professional education at their fingertips.”
