Occupational therapist resume examples from 2026
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How to write an occupational therapist resume
Craft a resume summary statement
A well-written resume summary is basically an elevator pitch. You are summing up your skills and experience in a few sentences to wow recruiters, hiring managers, and decision makers into giving you an interview. Here are some tips to putting your best foot first with your resume summary:
Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.
Step 2: Include your years of experience in occupational therapist-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.
Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.
Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.
These tips will help you demonstrate why you are the perfect fit for the occupational therapist position.Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.
List the right project manager skills
Your Skills section is a place to list all relevant skills and abilities. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:
- Look at the job listing and skills listed. You need to include the exact keywords from the job description to get your resume in front of an actual human. Do you have those skills? Fantastic! Be sure to list them.
- Include as many relevant hard or technical occupational therapist skills as possible for each job you apply to.
- Be specific with the skills you have and be sure you are using the most up to date and accurate terms.
Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on an occupational therapist resume:
- Patients
- Rehabilitation
- Home Health
- Patient Care
- COTA
- Occupational Therapy
- Adaptive
- OTR
- Occupational Therapy Assistants
- Physical Therapy
- SNF
- Treatment Programs
- Adaptive Equipment
- Discharge Planning
- Compassion
- ADL
- PET
- Medicaid
- Program Development
- Splints
- Nursing Home
- Family Education
- Excellent Interpersonal
- Speech Therapy
- Autism
- Acute Care
- Inpatient Rehabilitation
- Physical Disabilities
- Hand Therapy
- MDS
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How to structure your work experience
Your work experience should be structured:
- With your most recent roles first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
- Job title, along with company name and location on the left.
- Put the corresponding dates of employment on the left side.
- Keep only relevant jobs on your work experience.
How to write occupational therapist experience bullet points
Your resume is your chance to show your biggest accomplishments. Don't just list your job responsibilities, instead take the opportunity to show why you're really good at what you do. Here is how you do that:
- Start with strong action verbs like managed, spearheaded, created, etc. Your goal is to show what you did and verbs will help demonstrate your contributions.
- Use numbers to quantify your achievements. Did you save time with a new report? Increase revenue? How large was the team you managed?
- Keep it concise. You're highlighting your achievements. Consider if all details you are sharing are relevant, or can be written more efficiently.
Here are examples from great occupational therapist resumes:
Work history example #1
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant
MESA PUBLIC LIBRARY
- Delegated tasks to rehabilitation technicians *Communicates effectively with patients, family, medical staff, care team members and supervisors.
- Maintained well organized documentation and patient files according to facility and state expectations.
- Provided Therapy for geriatric rehab patients
- Developed OT program for the Addiction Treatment Facility (ATF) at Landstuhl and integrated OT into the existing milieu.
- Collaborated with other disciplines in team meetings to explore possible discharge options and address alternative rehabilitation needs 3).
Work history example #2
Occupational Therapy Aide
Tender Touch Rehab Services
- Delivered occupational therapy interventions to medical, orthopedic, cardiac and ICU patients in a Level Two Trauma setting.
- Assisted with the daily operations of the facility as program manager as needed basis.
- Co-treated and independently lead therapy groups with adolescents 12-17 years old with various psychiatric diagnoses in a locked residential treatment facility.
- Recorded resident care compliant with Rehabilitation and regulative needs.
- Served as primary OT for acute inpatient rehabilitation unit, sub acute rehab, acute inpatient, and cardiac units.
Work history example #3
Staff Occupational Therapist
Life Care Centers of America
- Worked in SNF and provided therapy to patients with disabilities.
- Implemented/Developed Allen Cognitive Level training facility wide.
- Assisted in weekly wound care rounds with an interdisciplinary team for the entire facility.
- Conducted evaluations and set up occupational therapy plans of care for a subacute/SNF population of medicare eligible patients.
- Demonstrated ability to efficiently manage entire caseload independently.
Work history example #4
Developmental Therapist
Family Services
- Provided therapy to Medicaid clients, private pay clients, and Headstart families.
- Provided guidance and trainings to school staff on topics of attachment, DBT and Motivational Interviewing.
- Participated in IEP meetings and collateral meetings to ensure continuity of care with school staff.
- Assisted students with a developmental disability to operate in their daily lives.
- Counseled individuals, groups or families regarding psychological and emotional problems such as substance abuse, trauma, dual diagnosis etc.
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Add an education section to your resume
The education section should display your highest degree first.
Place your education section appropriately on your resume. If you graduated over 5 years ago, this section should be at the bottom of your resume. If you just graduated and lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education. If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.
Here are some examples of good education entries from occupational therapist resumes:
Master's Degree in occupational therapy
New England Institute of Technology, East Greenwich, RI
2018 - 2019
Highlight your occupational therapist certifications on your resume
If you have any additional certifications or education-like achievements, add them to the education section.
Start simple. Include the full name of the certification. It's also good to mention the organization that issued the certification. Next, specify when you obtained the certification.
If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your occupational therapist resume:
- Occupational Therapist Registered (OTR)
- Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA)
- Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
- Certified Hospitality Trainer (CHT)
- Certified Hand Therapist (CHT)
- Certified Program Evaluator (CPE)
- Certified Planning Engineer (CPE)
- Medical Assistant (MA)