Rehabilitation counselor resume examples from 2026
Land interviews using Zippia's AI-powered resume builder.
All resume examples
How to write a rehabilitation counselor resume
Craft a resume summary statement
A resume summary is your opening statement that highlights your strongest skills and top accomplishments. It is your chance to quickly let recruiters know who you are professionally - and why they should hire you for the rehabilitation counselor role.
Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.
Step 2: Include your years of experience in rehabilitation counselor-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 four steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some rehabilitation counselor interviews.Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.
List the right project manager skills
Use your Skills section to show you have the knowledge and technical ability to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:
- You often need to include the exact keywords from the job description in your resume. Look at the job listing and consider which of the listed skills you have experience with, along with related skills.
- Include as many relevant hard skills and soft skills as possible from the listing.
- Use the most up to date and accurate terms. Don't forget to be specific.
Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a rehabilitation counselor resume:
- Rehabilitation
- Social Work
- Mental Health
- Patients
- Management System
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Community Resources
- Community Agencies
- Crisis Intervention
- Substance Abuse
- Persistent Mental Illness
- Developmental Disabilities
- Independent Living
- IPE
- Rehabilitation Process
- Medical Care
- Interpersonal Relationships
- Behavior Management
- Physical Disabilities
- Oral Reports
- Rehabilitation Plans
- Rehabilitation Programs
- Social Adjustment
- Community Integration
- Group Therapy Sessions
- Vocational Assessments
- Direct Care
- Vocational Guidance
- Vocational Training
- Functional Limitations
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
How to structure your work experience
Your employment history is arguably one of the most important parts of your resume. It shows you have experience and foundation in your field to successfully master the rehabilitation counselor position. Here is how to most effectively structure your work experience:
- List your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order. Employers care about your most recent experience the most.
- Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
- Include only recent, relevant jobs.
How to write rehabilitation counselor experience bullet points
Remember, your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. This is your chance to show why you're good at your job and what you accomplished.
Use the XYZ formula for your work experience bullet points. Here's how it works:
- Use strong action verbs like Led, Built, or Optimized.
- Follow up with numbers when possible to support your results. How much did performance improve? How much revenue did you drive?
- Wrap it up by explaining the actions you took to achieve the result and how you made an impact.
This creates bullet points that read Achieved X, measured by Y, by doing Z.
Here are great bullet points from rehabilitation counselor resumes:
Work history example #1
Rehabilitation Counselor
Boys & Girls Club
- Supervised counselors in conducting activities with children throughout entire club.
- Trained and certified in CPI training.
- Certified in healthcare, CPR, med administration, and first aid.
- Received training in CPR, emergency medical response, and the administering of holds, up to state regulations.
- Facilitated counselors in activity designing and implementation on residents goals.
Work history example #2
Vocational Counselor
Central Virginia Svc
- Maintained records of daily data communication transactions, problems, and corrective actions taken pertaining to ACAP XXI.
- Facilitated development of both individual and group career counseling sessions with at-risk youth.
- Administered pre-testing and provide tutoring for individuals working towards their GED.
- Created, managed, enhanced, formatted, and reported on all ACAP XXI client files and documents.
- Liaised with Department of Labor (DOL), Veterans Affairs (VA) and other state agencies
Work history example #3
Residential Specialist
Independent Opportunities
- Trained in CPR, First Aid, lifting and transferring, and foods and nutrition.
- Worked in a team environment to assist other residential coordinators with their residences as well.
- Received incoming calls from customers and also in person in lobby.
- Investigated disturbances, circulated among residents to ensure a safe and secure facility.
- Evaluated civilian medical personnel; ensured compliance with Army medical policies and procedures.
Work history example #4
Rehabilitation Counselor
YMCA
- Trained and certified in CPR, First Aid, Child Abuse, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and Blood Born Pathogens.
- Maintained First Aid and CPR Certifications, as well as PA Child Abuse, Criminal History and FBI Fingerprint Clearances.
- Resolved interpersonal conflict among youth using conflict management and communication tools such as mediation and peer-reviewed decision making.
- Researched grant opportunities and later expanded responsibility to draft/file all related paperwork from start to finish of application process.
- Facilitated and co-facilitated weekly recovery group with mentally ill chemically dependent individuals.
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
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 for resumes:
Master's Degree in psychology
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
2014 - 2015
Highlight your rehabilitation counselor certifications on your resume
Certifications can be a crucial part of your resume. Many jobs have required certifications.
Include the full name of the certification, along with the name of the issuing organization and date of obtainment.
If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your rehabilitation counselor resume:
- Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC)
- Certified Professional Counselor
- Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC)
- Pastoral Counseling Certification
- Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
- First Aid, CPR and AED Instructor
- Medical Assistant
- National Certified Counselor (NCC)
- Medication Aide Certification (MACE)
- Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA)