The National Salary and Benefits Report outlines the minimum base salary for an Ophthalmic Medical Assistant within the range of $9.00-$9.50. The average salary for a certified ophthalmic assistant with less than five years of experience is $14.46 per hour. Factors such as practice experience, metro size, region, and practice setting have obvious impacts on salary ranges. The data provided in ATPO’s National Salary and Benefits Report offers compensation and benefit information to assist in budget preparation and long-term planning.

See the pay differential by: Population > Compensation > Certification > Experience > Geography > Demographics > Education 
Order a copy of this report or call 800.482.4858.

1. Make it enticing by using an attention-grabbing headline or introduction.
2. Briefly describe the work - don’t list all of the job responsibilities, just the general scope of the work.
3. Describe the skill requirements but include only the “must-have skills”. If you can teach some of the skills that are needed, it will increase the number of good applicants you receive. Also, the skills then become a ‘job benefit’ (free training) rather than a pre-employment requirement.
4. Describe your work environment and why an employee would want to work in that environment (e.g., flexible work hours, interesting and/or challenging work, supportive workplace).
5. Describe company benefits and perks such as free training, outstanding benefits package, tuition reimbursement, and anything that distinguishes you from the competition and helps you attract the best applicants.

Two examples of job-opening ads (PDF 56K) Editable Word File. Both are examples of advertisements appropriate for listing on the Internet for use in a newspaper ad.

• Current employees can be invaluable resources. It can be a morale booster because current staff is able to be part of the team that is shaping your practice. Organizations may provide an incentive to staff by offering a referral bonus or reward if the individual they refer is actually hired.
• The clinic spends minimal time and money to gain access to qualified applicants. (Most staff won’t refer poor applicants.)
• Staff retention rates may go up when staff are brought on board by current employees who can provide knowledge about the organization.

Before implementing an employee referral program, consider the following:

• Determine what referral bonuses or rewards program will work best for your practice.  Make it worthwhile for your staff. The referral bonus or reward must be significant enough to be an incentive for your staff to spend time talking with people about the job opportunities.
• Develop timeframes — An employee referral program can be a very cost-effective recruitment method if it reduces the amount of time it takes you to fill an opening, so it can be well worth funding. Many organizations break the reward into two payments by giving the staff person part of the reward when the referral begins employment and the remainder at a later date if the new hire stays for a certain length of time. This gives the referring staff person an incentive to ‘look after’ his or her referral and ensure that the ‘new hire’ assimilates well.
• Give your program a theme that encourages all employees to participate, such as "Each One – Reach One". 
• Promote your employee referral program to current employees and do it often.
• Use your employee referral program in conjunction with other recruitment methods to avoid a perception of discrimination and ensure that job opportunity information is circulated widely throughout your labor market.

Further, recruitment is becoming increasingly complex as human rights legislation, collective agreements, and other human resources policies, procedures, and strategic planning objectives have a direct impact on the staffing and selection process.  Knowing how to prepare for an interview, conduct an interview, and evaluate candidates are the keys for creating successful matches:

• Prepare a set of core questions based upon the required and preferred skills and qualifications. Applicants will respond differently based upon work history and related skills. Therefore, when asking the questions, listen carefully, and allow applicants to respond and ask questions. The primary objective of the interview is to determine if candidates can perform specific duties. This process allows you to objectively identify the competencies, behaviors, thinking and decision-making styles, as well as the technical skills that are common among top performers and required for the position in question.
• Develop selection criteria to decide how to determine what levels of education and experience are necessary, and what competencies are required in order to successfully fulfill the job requirements, then determine which candidate meets your required qualifications. A scoring tool will be needed to ensure that all candidates are treated consistently. Selection Criteria (PDF 59K)
• Review the position description including duties and responsibilities of the job, individual qualifications, work history, relevant experience, training/educational background, location of the job, travel requirements, equipment used, operational hours required, attendance and performance expectations, and on-the-job training.
• Ensure that EEO principles are applied in the interview. Questions should focus on skills, experience, career plans, aspirations, behavior, and technical expertise. If it is a panel interview, at least one member should be of the same gender as the candidate.

Interview Questions
When preparing to hire an individual into an organization, it is important to ask questions that are informational, behavioral, and introspective. Informational questions gather detail and facts and are most useful in gaining depth about the experience, job skills, knowledge, and education of the candidate. Behavioral questions ask candidates to describe incidents or situations from past experience to show how they demonstrated a behavior and are most useful in gaining insight regarding the personal qualities of a candidate. Introspective questions ask candidates to assess themselves and their preferences about certain job situations, giving you an opportunity to learn how people are likely to behave in a job situation. The following link includes a combination of these three types of questions: Interview Questions (PDF 107K) Editable Word File

Conduct the Interview
Active listening is the most important skill for an effective interview. It is most important to understand what the candidates are expressing to your regarding their work experience and job skills. Taking notes is key if you’re going to make an objective evaluation and decision. A good interview needs an agenda — a written plan to follow. The following is an example of a typical interview sequence:

1. Introduction to the meeting — Break the ice with friendly small talk as you greet the candidate and introduce the selection committee members. Outline the agenda and briefly explain how the interview process works.
2. Explore the candidate’s background — Establish candidate's understanding of the position and how their background relates to the position. Determine the candidate's reasons for wanting the position. Review education and training. Explore paid and volunteer responsibilities, reasons for leaving previous positions, gaps in work history. Interview Guide (PDF 113K) Editable Word File
3. Encourage candidate to ask questions — The key to an effective interview is having clearly defined selection criteria with related interview questions developed before the interview begins.  
4. Close interview — Explain next steps and timeframes in the selection process.

• Age	• Personal affairs
• Religion	• Race or color
• Disabilities, handicaps	• Ethnicity or national origin
• Gender	• Marital or family status
• Sexual orientation	• Physical appearance
• Political beliefs	• Health condition
• Military history not related to the job	• Worker’s compensation history
• Economic or financial status
Reprinted from The Ophthalmic Executive’s Resource Guide: Interviewing to Hire Smart.

• Narrative Evaluation Format – What you are writing is a summary of the highlights you found about the candidate and how he or she measures up to the position. 
• Critical Factors Evaluation Format – Establishing a scale for evaluating each candidate by rating several categories and totaling up the score can provide a systematic means for summarizing how well the candidate matches up to the job requirements. Identifying Critical Success Factors (PDF 113K)

A good evaluation is factual and objective in nature. Minimize the use of adjectives, as they tend to make evaluations more subjective.  As a rule of thumb, for every conclusion made, have factual information written that explains your rationale.

This section is reprinted from The Ophthalmic Executive’s Resource Guide: Interviewing to Hire Smart

• Identify yourself immediately
• Explain the position for which the applicant is being considered
• Gain as much information as possible, but only ask for information that will be used in your hiring decision
• The most important question to ask is whether the previous employer would rehire the applicant you are considering. 

• JCAHPO - Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology 800.284.3937
• AAO – American Academy of Ophthalmology  866.561.8558
• ASCRS / ASOA – American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery / American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators  703.591.2220
• ATPO – Association of Technical Personnel in Ophthalmology  800.482.4858
• AMA – American Medical Association  312.464.4504  (For state medical societies listings)
• COS – Canadian Ophthalmological Society   416.289.5000, ext 3317

Internet sites offer an abundance of resources for employers and job seekers.

• America’s Job Bank provides job listings, active resumes and a link to local One-Stop Centers.
• America’s Career InfoNet lists employment trends, wages, living costs, and employers by industry and occupation.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers numerous demographics information.
• HRTools provides guidance on human resource issues.
• Career Resource Tools for Healthcare Professionals
• Job Openings