Research Summary. Here are some key facts to know if you're looking to hire a staff occupational therapists in the United States:
Hiring a staff occupational therapist comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting staff occupational therapists involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of staff occupational therapist recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.
You can expect to pay around $73,477 per year for a staff occupational therapist, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for staff occupational therapists in the US typically range between $26 and $46 an hour.
To hire a staff occupational therapist, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a staff occupational therapist, you should follow these steps:
The first step to find staff occupational therapists for hire is determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.
A staff occupational therapist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, staff occupational therapists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.
The list breaks down common staff occupational therapist roles and compares their salaries.
Type Of Staff Occupational Therapist | Description | Hourly Rate |
---|---|---|
Staff Occupational Therapist | Occupational therapists treat injured, ill, or disabled patients through the therapeutic use of everyday activities. They help these patients develop, recover, and improve the skills needed for daily living and working. | $26-46 |
Music Therapy Internship | In a music therapy internship, an intern's duties primarily depend on the directives of a manager or supervising staff. Typically, they are responsible for gaining industry insights and practical experience while performing support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, conducting research and analysis, setting-up instruments and other devices, and running errands as needed... Show More | $10-29 |
Therapist | A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients... Show More | $18-38 |
Before you draft a staff occupational therapist job description, imagine the ideal employee for the role and begin creating a profile. What are they proficient in and what sort of background do they have?
Here is a list of skills that are commonly associated with staff occupational therapist:
Here is a list of common responsibilities that staff occupational therapists may be expected to fulfill:
Beyond the nuts and bolts, cultural fit is an important factor. It might help to ask yourself how your ideal staff occupational therapist will live by the company's mission statement and contribute to the team dynamic you already have in place. Clearly communicating this vision in your staff occupational therapist job description will help attract candidates who are better suited for the role.
Rank # | State | # Of Jobs | % of Population | Avg. Salary |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pennsylvania | 3,113 | 24% | $69,355 |
2 | Massachusetts | 1,888 | 28% | $76,954 |
3 | Virginia | 1,858 | 22% | $76,632 |
4 | Washington | 1,754 | 24% | $87,223 |
5 | Indiana | 1,568 | 24% | $70,206 |
Including a salary range in your job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A staff occupational therapist can vary based on things like:
Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | $118,209 | $57 | |
2 | Nevada | $93,429 | $45 | |
3 | District of Columbia | $85,285 | $41 | |
4 | Massachusetts | $77,105 | $37 | |
5 | Texas | $72,571 | $35 |
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York University | $82,324 | $39.58 | |
2 | Southeastern Lifestyle Fitness Center Lumberton | $80,679 | $38.79 | 18 |
3 | Memorial Hospital | $79,994 | $38.46 | 2 |
4 | Henry Ford Health System | $78,700 | $37.84 | 20 |
5 | Brigham and Women's Hospital | $78,019 | $37.51 | 19 |
6 | Broward Health | $77,738 | $37.37 | 4 |
7 | Pacifica School District | $77,391 | $37.21 | 1 |
8 | Nebraska Methodist Health System | $77,350 | $37.19 | |
9 | Boston Medical Center | $76,982 | $37.01 | 12 |
10 | University Medical Center of Southern Nevada | $76,956 | $37.00 | |
11 | New England Sinai Hospital | $76,487 | $36.77 | 1 |
12 | Health Alliance | $76,081 | $36.58 | 12 |
13 | Univ. Medical Center | $76,012 | $36.54 | |
14 | Partners Healthcare Solutions Inc | $76,012 | $36.54 | |
15 | Memorial Health Systems Corporation | $76,012 | $36.54 | |
16 | Mount Sinai Health System | $75,549 | $36.32 | 16 |
17 | Washington Hospital Healthcare System | $74,688 | $35.91 | 10 |
18 | Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan | $73,920 | $35.54 | 22 |
19 | North Shore High School | $73,498 | $35.34 | 49 |
20 | Columbia Memorial | $73,326 | $35.25 | 6 |
A staff occupational therapist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a staff occupational therapist job description:
To find the right staff occupational therapist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
Post your job online:
During your first interview to recruit staff occupational therapists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and their experience in the field. During the next interview, you can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities.
It's also a good idea to ask about candidates' special skills and talents. If you think that a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Once you've found the staff occupational therapist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary, as well as the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer needs to be competitive if you really like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new staff occupational therapist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.