Summary. We reviewed real candidate profiles to learn the best path to become a staff occupational therapist. We'll guide you through the education, experiences, and skills hiring managers look for in a staff occupational therapist.
Most companies require a staff occupational therapist to have a bachelor's degree degree in a related field, such as occupational therapy or psychology.
Common job titles before becoming a staff occupational therapist include occupational therapist, staff therapist, and senior technician specialist.
Hiring managers expect a staff occupational therapist to have soft skills such as communication skills, patience, and compassion.
Once you have all the required skills and experience, it takes an average of less than 1 month of job training to become a staff occupational therapist.
Getting a certification as a Occupational Therapist Registered (OTR) will help you to earn more as a staff occupational therapist.
We've found that 73.4% of staff occupational therapists have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 21.4% earned their master's degrees before becoming a staff occupational therapist. While it's true that most staff occupational therapists have a college degree, it's generally impossible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every ten staff occupational therapists did not spend the extra money to attend college.
Those staff occupational therapists who do attend college, typically earn either a occupational therapy degree or a psychology degree. Less commonly earned degrees for staff occupational therapists include a health sciences and services degree or a biology degree.
If you're interested in becoming a staff occupational therapist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 73.4% of staff occupational therapists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 21.4% of staff occupational therapists have master's degrees. Even though most staff occupational therapists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a staff occupational therapist. When we researched the most common majors for a staff occupational therapist, we found that they most commonly have occupational therapy, psychology and health sciences and services.
Staff Occupational Therapist Major | Percentages |
---|---|
Occupational Therapy | 81.70% |
Psychology | 4.40% |
Health Sciences And Services | 1.50% |
Biology | 1.30% |
Other Degrees | 10.90% |
It'll be a good idea to develop staff occupational therapist skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in staff occupational therapist job descriptions:
Skills | Percentages |
---|---|
Patients | 26.89% |
Rehabilitation | 11.90% |
Physical Therapy | 9.61% |
Occupational Therapy | 6.65% |
COTA | 3.97% |
Staff occupational therapists spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new staff occupational therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time it takes to gain competency as a staff occupational therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real staff occupational therapist resumes.
When you decide to become a staff occupational therapist, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most staff occupational therapist jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:
Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.