Crafting a standout resume as an Occupational Therapist can be as nuanced as the therapy plans you design for your clients.
To ensure your application captures your full range of skills and experiences, we’ve put together an easy-to-follow guide with top-notch tips.
Have a gander at our Occupational Therapist resume example below to kick-start your resume revamp with confidence.
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Occupational Therapist Resume Example
This example Occupational Therapist resume gives you a good idea of how your resume should look.
It’s clean, attractive, easy-to-read, and it clearly highlights the essential information to time-strapped recruiters.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create your own impressive Occupational Therapist resume.
Occupational Therapist resume structure & format
Resume structure
Resume structure is essential when it comes to convincing companies to interview you.
These are the sections that recruiters expect to see in your resume:
- Contact details: Your name and essential contact info.
- Resume summary: A short paragraph providing recruiters with a brief summary on your suitability for the job.
- Core skills: A bullet pointed list of your most in-demand Occupational Therapist skills.
- Work experience: Your current and previous jobs, listed from newest to oldest.
- Education: Your relevant qualifications for Occupational Therapist jobs.
- Additional info: Any further details that could boost your applications, such as languages or hobbies and interests.
How to format your Occupational Therapist resume
The layout of your resume is crucial in making it appealing and accessible to hiring managers.
Keep these key points in mind when arranging your resume format.
- Resume length: Keep your resume short and sweet, ideally around 1 to 2 pages, as recruiters have loads to get through daily and not much time to read each one.
- Font & colour scheme: Opt for a straightforward font that’s easy on the eyes, avoiding fancy ones that could be hard to read. Stick to a black-text-on-white background, but don’t hesitate to add a touch of colour to make your resume pop.
- Page layout: Divide the page into clearly visible sections using bold headings or borders, so that readers can quickly pinpoint the information they want.
- Break text up: Break text up into concise bullet points and short paragraphs to make it easy for busy recruiters to digest the info.
- Photos: Photos are not mandatory in Australia but you can add a small headshot to the top if you like.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our Resume Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional resume templates.
Contact Details
Employers need to know who you are, and how to contact you – so whilst your contact details section is fairly simple, it’s important to get it right.
Add these 4 essential details to the top of your resume, trying not to take up too much space:
- Your name and a professional title: (e.g. Finance Assistant or Account Manager) tailor the title to match your target jobs.
- Email address: Ensure that it look professional (e.g. Jade-gowers@gmail.com) and don’t use an old one with your school nickname in like jazzyjade69@gmail.com
- Phone number: Ideally your mobile so that you can be easily reached. Don’t forget to triple check the number is correct!
- Location: Add the general location of where you are looking to work (e.g. Melbourne, Adelaide)
You can also add some of the following details optionally.
- Webpage links: you can link out to a relevant social profile such as LinkedIn or even a portfolio. Make sure anything you link to is high-quality and kept up-to-date.
- Photograph: Photographs aren’t normally required but employers in creative industries sometimes like to see them. If you decide to add, make sure that you look professional and don’t take up too much space on the page with it.
You do not need to add personal details such as your date of birth, full address, or gender. These details aren’t needed to make a hiring decision and will waste space on your resume.
Occupational Therapist Resume Summary
Your resume summary is a crucial, concise introductory paragraph located at the top of your resume. It’s your opportunity to provide a snapshot of your professional strengths and demonstrate your fit for the role.
To capture the recruiters’ interest immediately and motivate them to delve deeper into your resume, follow these strategic tips:
- Keep it short: Keep your summary between 3 to 5 sentences long so it can be read within seconds. Save the detail for your work experience section.
- Tailor to target jobs: Fill your summary with as many keywords from the job adverts you are targeting as possible. This will ensure recruiters instantly see your suitability.
- Avoid using cliches: Thinking about calling yourself a “hard working team player who thinks outside the box“? Don’t! These phrases are meaningless and don’t provide employers with the facts they want.
Occupational Therapist resume summary example
What to include in your Occupational Therapist resume summary
- Summary of your experience: Give an overview of the types of jobs that you’ve done, companies you’ve worked for, and how much experience you have.
- Relevant skills: Demonstrate your suitability for Occupational Therapist positions by emphasising your most relevant skills for the role.
- Qualifications: Remember to mention any qualifications applicable to Occupational Therapist jobs, showcasing your suitability for the role.
- Benefits of hiring you: Employers want to see the value you offer to their organisation, whether it’s through cost savings, enhanced productivity, or increased customer acquisition.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
If you really want to ensure that your resume gets noticed, add a core skills section.
It’s a bullet pointed list of your most in-demand skills relating to Occupational Therapist jobs.
Keep each one under 4 words in length, so they jump off the page and are easily spotted by even the busiest hiring managers.
Skills for your Occupational Therapist resume
Assessment and Intervention Planning – Crafting tailored intervention strategies to support clients’ occupational performance and participation in activities of daily living.
Neurological Rehabilitation Techniques – Applying specialised therapeutic approaches to assist recovery and functional improvement following neurological impairments.
Paediatric Therapy Methods – Implementing developmental play-based strategies to facilitate children’s physical, cognitive, and social growth.
Ergonomic Assessment Expertise – Evaluating workspaces and environments to recommend modifications that enhance ergonomics and support clients’ health and wellbeing.
Assistive Technology Proficiency – Identifying and prescribing adaptive equipment and technologies to promote independence in clients with disabilities.
Manual Therapy Techniques – Utilising hands-on approaches to manipulate muscles and joints, alleviating pain and improving movement.
Sensory Integration Strategies – Applying therapeutic methods to help individuals with sensory processing issues better engage with their environment.
Psychosocial Rehabilitation – Designing interventions to support mental health and wellbeing, enabling clients to participate fully in their chosen life activities.
Upper Extremity Rehabilitation – Specialising in therapeutic interventions to restore function and manage pain in the shoulder, arm, and hand.
Client Education Delivery – Conducting informative sessions to educate clients and their families on managing conditions and maintaining therapeutic gains.
Quick tip: Our Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience section
Use your work experience section to highlight the value you offer to employers.
Arrange your employment history in reverse chronological order, concentrating primarily on your experiences from the past 3-5 years.
Structuring your jobs
To ensure that recruiters can understand what you’ve done within each of your jobs, structure them the following way.
Outline
Introduce each job with a concise 1 to 2 line outline that covers the employer’s business, your role within the structure, and the key goals of your position.
Key responsibilities
Outline your primary duties in 5-8 bullet points, focusing on essential skills, tools, and expertise.
Ensure each point is succinct, indicating your interactions within the company and your contributions to its success.
Key achievements
Lastly, prove impact by highlight 1-3 key achievements that you made within the role.
Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.
For example, you might have increased company profits, improved processes, or helped a customer to achieve their goals.
Add numbers to quantify your achievements if you can.
Example job for Occupational Therapist resume
Outline
Work for the NSW Healthcare Trust in both inpatient and community environments by providing stroke rehabilitation, supported discharge, and long-term services to individuals of all ages.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage a caseload of up to 20 patients, prioritising patient requirements and completing administrative tasks including maintaining budgetary records.
- Complete neurological and functional assessments to identify realistic therapy goals and develop personalised treatment plans.
- Assess patient’s current skills and strengths in various tasks to identify shortfalls and focus occupational therapy treatment.
- Complete assessments to understand what daily living aids and adaptations are required to improve mobility and successes in daily tasks.
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
In the lower part of your resume, add a section dedicated to education.
Present this information in a bullet-point format, concentrating on qualifications that are directly relevant to Occupational Therapist jobs.
Candidates with extensive professional experience can limit this section to key details, whereas if you have little or no experience you should expand on your academic achievements to demonstrate relevant skills.
This section can include:
- University degrees
- Industry specific qualifications for Occupational Therapist jobs
- Vocational education and training (VET) diplomas
- Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE)
Additional information (optional)
Consider placing an additional info section at the bottom of your resume for extracurricular details that might make you more attractive to employers.
This section can showcase hobbies, awards, publications, or a catalogue of technical skills.
Ensure anything you list here is relevant to your job or notably remarkable.
Refrain from mentioning generic hobbies such as watching TV or hanging out with friends, as they do not enhance your professional profile.
While writing an exceptional Occupational Therapist resume is demanding, the steps outlined above should guide you in crafting a document that engages recruiters and brings in many interview requests.
It is crucial to proofread your resume thoroughly and tailor it for each application to ensure you are seen as a fitting candidate.
Good luck with your job search!