OCI Career Connect 2026: Opens New Doors for Optometrists

On 2 August, OCI ran its very first Career Connect, a virtual talent acquisition initiative built for optometrists at every stage of their journey, from students still finding their footing to practicing professionals wondering what else is out there. It was the kind of event OCI had been wanting to do for a while, and going by how the day unfolded, it was worth the wait.

Four Rooms, Four Worlds

The day moved through four panel discussions, each one opening a different door into the profession.

Panel 1, Clinical Practice & Hospital Careers, brought in voices from Dr Agarwal Hospitals, Sankara Eye Hospital and Netradhama Eye Hospital, along with perspectives from independent clinical establishments, grounding the conversation in what hospital-based and independent practice actually looks like day to day.

Panel 2, Retail Optical Chain Careers, featured Titan Eye Plus and Lawrence & Mayo, unpacking a side of optometry many participants hadn't fully considered as a long-term career.

Panel 3, Industry & Corporate Careers, brought Carl Zeiss India, Essilor India, and Cooper Vision India into the conversation, and by the end of the day, this was the panel people kept coming back to.

Panel 4, Academia, Community Eye Health & Emerging Careers, rounded things out with a look at teaching, research, and public health, the paths that rarely get airtime but shape the profession just as much as the clinic does.

Panellists in conversation

The Response Said It All

Nearly three in four participants rated their overall experience a perfect five out of five, and not a single person rated it below a four. Speaker quality saw almost identical numbers, and the virtual platform held up just as well in participants' eyes. When asked whether they'd recommend Career Connect to a fellow optometrist, well over half said extremely likely, and nearly all the rest said likely.

What's more telling is who showed up. This wasn't a room full of first-time job seekers. It was practicing optometrists actively exploring what else their career could look like, recent graduates still deciding which door to walk through, and a mix of final-year students, faculty, and postgraduates in between. Almost everyone stayed through all four panels, which for a virtual event running close to five hours, says something about how engaged people actually were.

What Landed Hardest

The Industry & Corporate Careers panel struck a chord with people who'd never really thought about optometry beyond a clinic or a store. One participant called it a precise, career-driven perspective they hadn't gotten anywhere else. The Academia, Community Eye Health & Emerging Careers panel did something similar for a different group, several said it was the first time they'd seriously considered teaching, research, or public health as real career paths rather than just alternate routes.

That, more than anything else, is probably the biggest win of the day. A clear majority of participants said the event introduced them to a path they hadn't seriously considered before, whether that was industry roles, retail careers, teleoptometry, AI in optometry, or research and development. That's the entire point of an event like this: showing people the map is bigger than they thought.

The spotlight sessions did their job too. The overwhelming majority of participants said they walked away with specific companies on their radar, Carl Zeiss, CooperVision, Essilor, Titan Eye+, and Lawrence & Mayo all came up repeatedly as organisations people now want to follow up with.

In Their Own Words

The comments told their own story. A recent graduate said the event finally helped them understand the range of options available after optometry. Someone else said it resolved questions they'd been sitting on for a while. One practicing optometrist called it a chance to connect directly with pioneers in the field. And more than a few people, unprompted, asked OCI to make this an annual event.

Participants describe their takeaway from the day

The Takeaway

For a first attempt, this landed. High satisfaction across the board, near-full attendance through every panel, and a room full of people who walked away seeing more possibility in their own careers than they did that morning. If the feedback is anything to go by, this isn't a one-off. It's the start of something OCI's community is going to keep asking for.