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Key Takeaways
- OTR/L is the credential line — NBCOT certification plus state licence. Put it at the top with numbers.
- Setting is the single strongest matching keyword: acute care, SNF, inpatient rehab, outpatient, school-based, home health. These are different jobs.
- Productivity percentage and caseload are the numbers hiring managers look for, and most OT resumes omit both.
- Name your assessments — FIM, COPM, MMT, Berg, MoCA. Generic "evaluations" matches nothing.
- Fieldwork carries a new-grad resume. Present Level II placements with hours and settings.
Occupational therapy hiring is setting-driven. A school-based OT and an acute-care OT do different work with different populations and different documentation, and postings screen accordingly. A resume that does not name its setting clearly is hard to place.
For related rehabilitation roles, see our physiotherapist resume guide.
Best Occupational Therapist Resume Format for 2026
Reverse-chronological, one to two pages, single column. Single column matters — rehab departments often run older ATS installations, and multi-column layouts parse badly. On length, see our resume length guide.
Section order:
- Header with credentials
- Licensure and certification
- Summary
- Settings and populations
- Assessments and interventions
- Experience
- Education and fieldwork
Header and Licensure
Anita Rao, MS, OTR/L
Seattle, WA · (206) 555-0164 · a.rao@email.com
OTR/L = Occupational Therapist, Registered (NBCOT) and Licensed (state). Both halves matter and both get verified.
LICENSURE & CERTIFICATION
Occupational Therapist, Washington, License #OT-60219, active through 04/2028
NBCOT Certified (OTR), certification #556231, current
Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) — 2024
LSVT BIG Certified — 2023
BLS, AHA — current through 02/2027
Specialty certifications are strong differentiators: CHT (hand therapy), SCEM, ATP (assistive technology), CBIS (brain injury), LSVT BIG, SIPT. If a posting names one, it is usually a genuine requirement.
Setting Is the Matching Keyword
This is the most common OT resume failure. Name your settings explicitly and repeatedly:
Acute care · Inpatient rehabilitation (IRF) · Skilled nursing facility (SNF) · Outpatient orthopaedic · Hand therapy · Pediatrics / school-based · Early intervention · Home health · Mental health / behavioural · Assisted living
A posting for a school-based OT is not matching against acute-care language like "discharge planning" and "bedside evaluation." Use the setting's own vocabulary — this is ordinary keyword matching, and it moves scores more than most candidates expect.
Professional Summary
OTR/L with 5 years in inpatient rehabilitation, carrying a caseload of 10-12 patients daily at 90% productivity. Specialise in neurological rehabilitation following CVA and TBI, with LSVT BIG certification and experience leading a weekly interdisciplinary team conference.
Four specifics most summaries lack: credential, setting, caseload, productivity.
Assessments and Interventions
Name the tools. This section is scanned for exact matches:
Assessments: FIM · COPM · MMT and ROM · Berg Balance Scale · MoCA · MMSE · Nine-Hole Peg Test · Jebsen-Taylor · Sensory Profile · Beery VMI · Barthel Index Interventions: ADL and IADL retraining · Neuromuscular re-education · Splinting and orthotic fabrication · Adaptive equipment training · Energy conservation · Cognitive remediation · Sensory integration · Home modification assessment · Wheelchair seating and positioning Documentation: Epic Rehab · WebPT · Casamba · Net Health · Medicare Part A/B documentation · G-codes and functional reporting
Best ATS Keywords for an OT Resume
Clinical: activities of daily living, ADL, IADL, functional mobility, fine motor, gross motor, upper extremity rehabilitation, cognitive assessment, adaptive equipment, durable medical equipment, splinting, home safety evaluation, discharge planning, patient education
Practice: plan of care, goal setting, treatment planning, evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary team, caseload management, productivity standards, reimbursement documentation, Medicare compliance
Credentials: OTR/L, NBCOT, state licensure, CHT, ATP, CBIS, LSVT BIG
Writing Experience Bullets
Weak:
Provided occupational therapy services to patients in a rehab setting.
Strong:
Carry a daily caseload of 10-12 patients in a 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at 90% productivity, specialising in post-CVA upper extremity and ADL retraining.
Weak:
Worked with the team on discharge planning.
Strong:
Lead weekly interdisciplinary discharge conferences for a 30-bed unit; reduced average home-modification delay from 6 days to 2 by pre-ordering equipment at admission.
Numbers most OTs have: daily caseload, productivity percentage, average length of stay, FIM gain, evaluations per week, home assessments completed, students supervised, group sessions run. Our guide to quantifying achievements covers finding them.
Productivity Is a Real Metric — Use It
Rehabilitation employers manage to productivity targets, and a candidate who states theirs is speaking the hiring manager's language. "Maintained 90% productivity while meeting documentation deadlines" is a genuinely differentiating line, and almost nobody writes it.
Similarly for caseload: "10-12 patients daily" tells a manager immediately whether you can handle their volume.
New Graduate Occupational Therapists
Fieldwork carries the resume.
FIELDWORK — Level II, 24 weeks total Inpatient Rehabilitation, Harborview (12 weeks). Carried an independent caseload of 6-8 patients by week 8; post-CVA and TBI populations; FIM scoring and interdisciplinary rounds. School-Based Pediatrics, Seattle Public Schools (12 weeks). Served 25 students on IEP caseload; sensory integration, fine motor and handwriting intervention; attended IEP meetings. Level I: Acute care (Swedish Medical), Outpatient hand therapy, Community mental health
State NBCOT status: "NBCOT exam scheduled 08/2026; WA licence application pending exam result." Employers hire on this basis routinely. Our no-experience resume guide covers the general approach.
Common OT Resume Mistakes
Writing "OT" without OTR/L. The credential is the filter.
Not naming the setting. School-based and acute care are different jobs; postings screen on the difference.
Generic "performed evaluations." Name the assessments — FIM, COPM, Berg.
Omitting productivity and caseload. These are the operational facts managers hire on.
Leaving out documentation systems. Epic, WebPT and Casamba are frequently named in postings.
Duty lists instead of outcomes. See weak resume bullets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I write OTR/L or OT? OTR/L. It shows both NBCOT certification and state licensure.
How do I switch settings — say SNF to pediatrics? Name the target setting in the summary, foreground any relevant fieldwork or continuing education, and connect transferable skills honestly rather than restyling your history.
Do I include productivity percentage? Yes, if it is good. It is a metric rehab managers actively hire on.
How long should an OT resume be? One page for new graduates, two once you have multiple settings, certifications and outcomes worth listing.
Are specialty certifications worth listing? Yes — CHT, ATP, CBIS and LSVT are frequently listed as required or preferred.
Make This Practical
OT postings are explicit: setting, population, caseload expectation, documentation system, certifications. The usual reason a strong OT gets filtered is a requirement they meet but described in different words.
Scan your resume against the posting and see which stated requirements come back unevidenced. Free, about a minute.
See also our ATS score guide and the physiotherapist guide for the adjacent role.
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Templates that keep this structure intact
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