Tailoring guide
Occupational Therapist resume keywords and example
Occupational therapist postings require a master's or doctorate in OT, NBCOT certification (OTR) and a state license. The setting shapes the rest: schools want IEP goals and fine motor work, hospitals and rehab units want ADL retraining and discharge planning, and hand clinics want splinting. Below are the keywords that recur, a sample summary, skills grouped by type, and example bullets across seniority levels.
Updated 14 November 2026. Keyword research current as of November 2026, sourced from public ATS keyword guides, not Weydr's own usage data.
Occupational Therapist keywords that repeat in job postings
- Occupational Therapist (OTR/L)
- NBCOT
- Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
- Treatment Planning
- Fine Motor Skills
- Sensory Integration
- IEP Goals
- Splinting / Orthotics
- Discharge Planning
Only include the ones that are true for you. A keyword you can't back up in an interview costs more than it gains.
Sample professional summary
Licensed occupational therapist (OTR/L) with 6 years in inpatient rehabilitation. Evaluates patients after stroke, brain injury and joint replacement, runs ADL and IADL retraining, recommends adaptive equipment and home modifications, and documents Section GG self-care scores in Epic.
Illustrative example. Swap in your own years, domain, tools and results.
Skills to list on a occupational therapist resume
Hard skills
- OT evaluation and treatment planning
- ADL and IADL retraining
- Fine motor and visual-motor intervention
- Sensory processing strategies
- Custom splinting and orthotics
- Adaptive equipment and home safety recommendations
- Standardized assessments (COPM, BOT-2, Section GG)
Soft skills
- Creativity in building meaningful activities
- Working with families and caregivers
- Collaboration with PT, speech and nursing
- Patience
- Clear goal writing
Tools
- Epic
- Net Health
- WebPT
- SameGoal or other IEP systems
- Thermoplastic splinting materials
- Adaptive equipment
A tailored bullet, before and after
Provided OT services to patients.
Treated 9 to 10 inpatient rehab patients a day after stroke and joint replacement, running ADL retraining and caregiver training; most of my caseload discharged home rather than to skilled nursing.
Example resume bullets by seniority
Illustrative examples: the companies, numbers and outcomes are made up to show the structure (action, scope, tool, result). Use your own real figures.
Entry level
- Served a caseload of 45 students across 2 elementary schools, writing measurable fine motor and handwriting goals for IEP meetings.
- Completed Level II fieldwork in acute care and outpatient hands, fabricating 20 custom thermoplastic splints under supervision.
Mid level
- Started a weekly caregiver training session on the rehab unit, teaching safe transfers and bathing setups before discharge.
- Supervised 2 COTAs, co-signing notes and reviewing treatment plans each week.
Senior
- Led the district's 12-person OT team, managing caseload assignments across 18 schools and training staff on new evaluation tools.
- Built a low-vision program for the outpatient clinic, including home safety assessments and referral pathways with ophthalmology.
Gaps candidates miss most
- Credentials written in full (OTR/L) with NBCOT status and the state license
- Practice setting and population (pediatrics, school-based, acute, rehab, hands)
- Assessments and interventions by name rather than "evaluated patients"
Common occupational therapist resume mistakes
- Using the same generic résumé for a school-based role and a hospital role.
- Describing therapy as "helping patients" with no functional goals or outcomes.
- Leaving out caseload size or productivity, which managers use to gauge fit.
- Listing fieldwork in more detail than paid OT experience.
- Leaving off a CHT or specialty certification that a hand or neuro posting asks for.
Before you stuff in keywords
- Does ATS really reject 75% of résumés?: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- How to tailor your résumé to a job description: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- What an ATS résumé checker can and can't tell you: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- Tailoring a résumé to a job description: a worked example: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- How to explain an employment gap on your résumé: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- How to write a cover letter for a specific job: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- Résumé summary examples, and how to write your own: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- How long should a résumé be?: what the research says about ATS filtering.
- How to write a career change résumé: what the research says about ATS filtering.
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