The British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS) strongly supports orthoptists and orthoptic assistants in attending careers fairs and taking on roles as visibility champions. Actively promoting orthoptics at these events, or by creating visibility content, is vital for inspiring future professionals and addressing workforce challenges. BIOS encourages all departments to support involvement in this important work.
Why Careers Fairs and Visibility Matter:
- Inspiring Future Professionals: Engaging with students and career advisers raises awareness of orthoptics as a career, inspiring interest in undergraduate and postgraduate pathways.
- Securing the Workforce: Outreach activities directly contribute to sustaining a skilled and passionate workforce for the future.
- Elevating Professional Profiles: Becoming a visibility champion demonstrates dedication to the profession and enhances career development. It is an excellent addition to CVs, showcasing leadership and advocacy skills.
- Strengthening the Profession: By actively participating in events and producing visibility content, orthoptists ensure the profession is represented within NHS initiatives, local schools, and universities.
How to Address Potential Obstacles:
BIOS acknowledges the challenges in balancing clinical commitments with outreach efforts. Here are some strategies to make participation manageable:
- Use Visibility Leads: Contact the visibility lead for guidance and support with event coordination or visibility content creation.
- Leverage Admin Time: Plan career-related activities during staff administrative time to minimise clinic disruption.
- Collaboration Locally: Host NHS careers fairs at your workplace, inviting local schools and colleges to visit. This shared effort creates a great networking opportunity, reduces travel demands and showcases a range of NHS careers.
- Involve the Whole Team: Encourage newly qualified orthoptists and orthoptic assistants to attend events. This provides relatable role models for students with minimal disruption to specialist clinics and managerial tasks.
- Plan and Rotate: Schedule participation during quieter clinic periods and rotate staff involvement to balance workloads.
Our Commitment to Visibility:
BIOS is committed to ensuring that orthoptics remains a visible, dynamic, and appealing career choice. We encourage all orthoptic departments to embrace careers fair participation and visibility champion roles as an essential part of professional advocacy. Together, we can secure the future of orthoptics and inspire the next generation of professionals.
Please contact us [email protected] if you would like to volunteer as a visibility champion to inspire the next generation and make a difference!