Top occupational therapy CV examples

Your perfect occupational therapy CV should have the following sections:

 

 

It is vital to list all of your relevant OT experience on your CV. This starts with including your credentials along with your name. For example, Emily Doe, MSOT, would be the correct way to list your name as a registered occupational therapist. Providing contact information at the very top of the CV allows potential employers to know how to reach you and professionally address you. You can also include your LinkedIn profile if you have one.

 

 

A professional summary is essentially a professional summary. To write a professional summary, think of how you would answer the question “What will you bring to the company?” The professional summary should be about 2-3 sentences. Include your most significant achievements to capture a recruiter’s attention.

 

 

The skills section of a CV is very important because it shows what hard and soft skills you have gained from your previous work and education.

 

Some examples of hard skills you can include here include physical therapy, discharge planning, assisting patients with activities of daily living (ADL), or experience with electronic medical records (EMR). You should also include soft skills such as written and verbal communication, or problem-solving.

 

 

The next section of your CV is where you list your work history. Include your relevant professional experience and previous job titles in reverse chronological order. Relevant experience can include anything in the healthcare field or related to occupational therapy. If you were an occupational therapy assistant, interned in an OT office, or helped create treatment plans or evaluation plans, be sure to list those job experiences. Also include any relevant intern work or fieldwork done during grad school, along with any paid experiences you’ve had, such as being an occupational therapist assistant.

 

 

In the education section of your occupational therapist CV, you should include your education, including your bachelor of science degree with your major and course of study. If you graduated with any honors, such as cum laude, don’t forget to include them. You don’t need to list your GPA though. You can also include any certifications you have in this section, such as NDT or ATP.

Many OT professionals will share a lot of similar experiences. To make your CV stand out, focus on accomplishments or awards won, specialty skills, and job keywords.

 

 

You should list your accomplishments for each job in your work experience section. Accomplishments are very important to put on your CV! Here is an example for an occupational therapist who performed hospital transport aid services:

 

Transport Staff at Memorial Hospital

• Moved patients to and from tests, surgeries, and checkups while accounting for the most sensible transport method based on patient needs
• Received Employee of the Month for patient care by transporting patients efficiently while prioritizing their comfort and safety 
• Aided nurses and other hospital staff members with patient and outpatient transport needs such as unplugging monitors and IVs

Specialty skills

 

Specialty skills are what will make you stand out to the candidate next to you. Specialty skills include any topics or areas you may have worked in that can give you a leg up on jobs, and relevant interpersonal skills.

 

For example, if you have experience working with specific situations, such as with stroke patients or down syndrome pediatric care, list them in your CV. This tells employers what areas you have expert experience in that may be useful to the job.

 

 

Many potential employers use applicant tracking system (ATS) software to filter through job applications based on keywords that they may be looking for. Keywords may include specific job duties and skills listed in the job application or job description. Keywords can also be common experiences that the employer may be looking for.

 

If the job specifically wants someone that is a registered occupational therapist, then you should have “registered occupational therapist” listed in your CV and cover letter. You can also include the job title somewhere if it makes sense to list it as part of another experience.

Here are a few tips to ensure your occupational therapist CV sticks out among others:

 

Do:

• Choose a template that is ATS-friendly. ATS is software used by many employers to filter out candidates electronically before having to read their application. 
• Use a simple, professional font on your CV. CV fonts should be easy for a hiring manager or potential employer to read. Use a font like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.
• Double-check for spelling and formatting errors before submitting. These little mistakes can affect your chances of being chosen for an interview. 

Don’t

• Don’t forget to include all of your relevant occupational therapy experiences. Any sort of healthcare assistant, fieldwork, physical therapy aide, or more all count as experience, even if you just worked at the front desk of a doctor’s office!
• Add irrelevant experience. If you are applying for an occupational therapy position, you do not need to include the year in high school when you worked at Burger King.
• Include any mentions of race, ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation. If you worked somewhere where one of these topics may be involved, keep the description as neutral as possible. For instance, if you worked at St. John’s Church giving voluntary vaccines, only discuss OT-related work when describing the experience.