Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
What is a certified occupational therapist assistant and how to become one
A Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant is responsible for assisting an occupational therapist by completing various day-to-day clerical and other tasks. A good Assistant, in this case, is a compassionate person, but also one who has a good understanding of psychology and continues to learn and stay up to date with the industry's research and discoveries. They may go on to be Occupational Therapists themselves.
Amongst other things, they have duties such as answering phone calls and emails, scheduling appointments, collecting and recording necessary patient information, and keeping those files updated as needed, meaning documenting their treatments, progress, and behavior, cleaning up, and implementing treatments appointed by the occupational therapist and consulting their families and guardians.
A person seeking work in this position should generally have graduated from a program meant for therapist assistants and have gotten their certification for practicing as one. Compassion, as mentioned, is necessary, as well as analytical and communication skills. On average, a Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant earns $25.54 an hour or $53,120 a year.
What general advice would you give to a certified occupational therapist assistant?
Ron Precht
Senior Manager, American Massage Therapy Association
Avg. Salary $53,296
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 25%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.76%
Asian 5.20%
Black or African American 8.87%
Hispanic or Latino 8.56%
Unknown 5.81%
White 70.80%
Genderfemale 86.69%
male 13.31%
Age - 40American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 40Stress level is high
7.1 - high
Complexity level is challenging
7 - challenging
Work life balance is excellent
6.4 - fair
Certified occupational therapist assistant career paths
Key steps to become a certified occupational therapist assistant
Explore certified occupational therapist assistant education requirements
Start to develop specific certified occupational therapist assistant skills
Skills Percentages Patients 27.47% Home Health 11.69% Patient Care 10.09% Rehabilitation 8.54% Acute Care 5.65% Complete relevant certified occupational therapist assistant training and internships
Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New certified occupational therapist assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a certified occupational therapist assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real certified occupational therapist assistant resumes.Obtain the necessary licensing
Becoming a licensed certified occupational therapist assistant usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed certified occupational therapist assistant in most of states. 37 states require certified occupational therapist assistants to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.State Education Exam License url Alabama - - Licensed Occupational Therapist Assistant Alaska Degree required Third-party exam required Occupational Therapy Assistant Arkansas Specific course required State exam required Occupational Therapist Assistant (OTA) California Degree required Third-party exam required Occupational Therapy Assistant Colorado Degree required Third-party exam required Occupational Therapy Assistant Research certified occupational therapist assistant duties and responsibilities
- Manage wheelchair room and walkers; recommend and implement improvements to organization and ease of use.
- Provide occupational therapy services to rehabilitation, acute care, and outpatients in a hospital setting.
- Provide patient and family education concerning energy conservation techniques, precautions, and proper use of adaptive equipment.
- Educate patient on energy conservation techniques and adaptive equipment use.
Prepare your certified occupational therapist assistant resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your certified occupational therapist assistant resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a certified occupational therapist assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable certified occupational therapist assistant resume templates
Build a professional certified occupational therapist assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your certified occupational therapist assistant resume.
Apply for certified occupational therapist assistant jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a certified occupational therapist assistant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first certified occupational therapist assistant job
Are you a certified occupational therapist assistant?
Share your story for a free salary report.
Average certified occupational therapist assistant salary
The average certified occupational therapist assistant salary in the United States is $53,296 per year or $26 per hour. Certified occupational therapist assistant salaries range between $40,000 and $70,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do certified occupational therapist assistants rate their job?
Certified occupational therapist assistant reviews
Work schedule flexibility in the rehab and home health settings. I love problem-solving and finding solutions to improve the pts success at home. I love helping patients regain their PLOF or independence. I love meeting and working with a variety of people from differnt walks of life.
Cooperate money relations
Lifting patients who couldn’t able by themselves from bed
Updated January 8, 2025
