How To Become A Registered Occupational Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a registered occupational therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Nicole Scheiman DrOT, MHS, OTR/L, CLT-LANA, CES, CKTP, CEES-Advanced, CSST, CDCS, CORE

The average registered occupational therapist salary is $81,135. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an occupational therapy major. It usually takes 6-12 months of experience to become a registered occupational therapist. Registered occupational therapists with a Occupational Therapist Registered (OTR) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 18,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a registered occupational therapist?

Nicole Scheiman DrOT, MHS, OTR/L, CLT-LANA, CES, CKTP, CEES-Advanced, CSST, CDCS, CORE

Department Chair/Program Director/ Professor, Huntington University

Likes: 1. Impactful Work, 2. Holistic Approach, 3. Diverse Opportunities, 4. Client-Centered Care, 5. Creative Interventions. Dislikes: 1. Administrative Burden, 2. Limited Resources, 3. High Stress Environments, 4. Complex Cases, 5. Scope of Practice.

ScoreRegistered Occupational TherapistUS Average

Salary

6.3

Avg. Salary $81,135

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 8.58%

Black or African American 5.15%

Hispanic or Latino 6.71%

Unknown 3.75%

White 75.50%

Gender

female 84.05%

male 15.95%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a registered occupational therapist

Explore registered occupational therapist education requirements

Most common registered occupational therapist degrees

Bachelor's

54.9 %

Master's

36.5 %

Associate

6.9 %

Start to develop specific registered occupational therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	27.53%
Interdisciplinary	16.30%
Acute Care	13.45%
Physical Therapy	7.63%
Rehabilitation	4.48%

Complete relevant registered occupational therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New registered occupational therapists 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 registered occupational therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real registered occupational therapist resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed registered occupational therapist usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed registered occupational therapist in most of states. 37 states require registered occupational therapists 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 registered occupational therapist duties and responsibilities

Collaborate and co-treat with school-base team to help students achieve IEP goals and objectives.
Restructure and lead weekly ADL cooking groups that maximize the ability to focus on individual students' skills and advance them.
Provide therapeutic interventions for returning patients to prior level of function and achieving maximum independence for performing activities of daily living.
Recommend adaptive equipment and self-care aids to promote residents independence in everyday life activities.

Prepare your registered occupational therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your registered occupational therapist 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 registered occupational therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable registered occupational therapist resume templates

Build a professional registered occupational therapist 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 registered occupational therapist resume.

Apply for registered occupational therapist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a registered occupational therapist 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 do registered occupational therapists rate their job?

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Registered occupational therapist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Pros

I absolutely loved working with the elderly and veteran populations in skilled nursing facilities and at the VA hospital. I thoroughly enjoy empowering people to live their best lives and I'm heart broken that I will no longer be able to find employment in this field.

Cons

I absolutely loved working as a COTA these past seven years but it has been filled with ups and downs. Working at skilled nursing facilities is difficult due to high productivity demands impacting therapist ability to give patient centered care. Now with the new patient driven payment model change to medicare laws, therapists are being laid off left and right. These therapists, like myself, will have the impossible task of trying to find work in the Seattle area - which has been flooded with newly graduated COTAs due to several OTA schools opening in this area. The jobs in pediatrics and at hospitals that are left will see in increase in competition as the displaces/laid off COTAs rush to those jobs.

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019