CEENTA Career Talk: ​Learning and working as a contact lens technician

Being a contact lens technician at CEENTA means helping people every day. But more than that, it’s an opportunity for constant education and self-improvement. Just ask Contact Lens Technician Lois Mucci.

Ms. Mucci fits patients with contacts every day, from standard lenses, to custom fits for patients with misshapen eyes, to babies as young as four weeks old whose natural lenses were removed because they were born with cataracts. Although she primarily works out of two offices – SouthPark and Huntersville – she fills in at others when needed.

“I really enjoy working with people and helping them,” she said. “I’m a people person.”

Ms. Mucci herself didn’t originally have experience with eye care, instead learning on the job at the first practice she worked at. Originally from upstate New York, Ms. Mucci first moved to Shelby, where she was employed with a temp agency. They placed her on a job at a doctor’s office. The doctor thought she did such a good job that he asked her to stay on full-time. This was a small office, which meant she learned every station, from the front desk to patient workups to fitting patients with glasses and contact lenses.

After 10 years, Ms. Mucci left that practice and came to CEENTA, and has been here for the last 17 years.

The many educational opportunities at CEENTA are her favorite part of working here. You can start in one area, she said, but later learn another job and move into that position. For example, you could be a certified ophthalmic assistant, a certified ophthalmic technician, a contact lens technician, or an optician, and move to a new role once you learn those skills.

“There are a lot of different avenues and opportunities to learn on the job,” she said. “You can always bring your education from one part of the job to the next. Each position is interconnected with what we need to learn about the eye field, so every position is a building block of knowledge you can take with you to the next position.”

Not only does Ms. Mucci get to train new employees when they start here, but she also gets to work with externs from Central Piedmont Community College, many of whom later come to work at CEENTA.

“I can’t tell you how many people I’ve trained,” she said. “Every time I teach someone, I learn something.”

Visit our Careers page for a complete list of our open positions or to join CEENTA’s Talent Community.