What skills should a Music Therapist put on a resume?

O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, and Service Orientation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Music Therapist list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Avid Technology Pro Tools, Electronic health record EHR software, Email software, Microsoft Office software, and Musical instrument digital interface MIDI software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Music Therapist work?

O*NET records 18 titles for this occupation, including Board Certified Music Therapist, MT-BC, LCAT, and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Music Therapist need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 73% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Music Therapist role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Music Therapist resume example

A resume for a Music Therapist needs to show the work itself: plan, organize, direct, or assess clinical and evidenced-based music therapy interventions to positively influence individuals' physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioral status. Day to day that means work like this: design or provide music therapy experiences to address client needs, such as using music for self-care, adjusting to life changes, improving cognitive functioning, raising self-esteem, communicating, or controlling impulses; design music therapy experiences, using various musical elements to meet client's goals or objectives. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Board Certified Music Therapist
MT-BC
LCAT
Licensed Creative Arts Therapist
Neurologic Music Therapist
Public School System Music Therapist
Therapist
Certified Music Therapist
Community Music Therapist
Creative Arts Music Therapist
Creative Music Therapist
Expressive Music Therapist
Home Care Music Therapist
Hospice Music Therapist
Music Art Therapist
Music Dance Therapist
Music Rehabilitation Therapist
Music Therapy Specialist

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC)
LCAT (Licensed Creative Arts Therapist)
Music Therapist

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Design or provide music therapy experiences to address client needs, such as using music for self-care, adjusting to life changes, improving cognitive functioning, raising self-esteem, communicating, or controlling impulses.
Design music therapy experiences, using various musical elements to meet client's goals or objectives.
Sing or play musical instruments, such as keyboard, guitar, or percussion instruments.
Communicate with clients to build rapport, acknowledge their progress, or reflect upon their reactions to musical experiences.
Customize treatment programs for specific areas of music therapy, such as intellectual or developmental disabilities, educational settings, geriatrics, medical settings, mental health, physical disabilities, or wellness.
Establish client goals or objectives for music therapy treatment, considering client needs, capabilities, interests, overall therapeutic program, coordination of treatment, or length of treatment.
Document evaluations, treatment plans, case summaries, or progress or other reports related to individual clients or client groups.
Assess client functioning levels, strengths, and areas of need in terms of perceptual, sensory, affective, communicative, musical, physical, cognitive, social, spiritual, or other abilities.
Observe and document client reactions, progress, or other outcomes related to music therapy.
Improvise instrumentally, vocally, or physically to meet client's therapeutic needs.
Gather diagnostic data from sources such as case documentation, observations of clients, or interviews with clients or family members.
Plan or structure music therapy sessions to achieve appropriate transitions, pacing, sequencing, energy level, or intensity in accordance with treatment plans.

30 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Design or provide music therapy experiences to address client needs, such as using music for self-care, adjusting to life changes, improving cognitive functioning, raising self-esteem, communicating, or controlling impulses, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Design music therapy experiences, using various musical elements to meet client's goals or objectives, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Sing or play musical instruments, such as keyboard, guitar, or percussion instruments, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Communicate with clients to build rapport, acknowledge their progress, or reflect upon their reactions to musical experiences, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Avid Technology Pro Tools
Electronic health record EHR software
Email software
Microsoft Office software
Musical instrument digital interface MIDI software
Virtual instrument software
Web browser software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Acoustic guitars
Autoharps
Automatic blood pressure cuffs
Bass drums
Cellos
Compact disk CD players
Computer laser printers
Digital audio recorders
Digital video cameras
Electronic keyboards
Electronic organs
Handbells

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Social Perceptiveness
02Active Listening
03Critical Thinking
04Reading Comprehension
05Service Orientation
06Speaking
07Judgment and Decision Making
08Learning Strategies
09Monitoring
10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Psychology
Therapy and Counseling
Fine Arts
English Language
Customer and Personal Service
Sociology and Anthropology
Education and Training

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

73%Bachelor's Degree
15%Master's Degree
12%Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Music Therapist do?: Plan, organize, direct, or assess clinical and evidenced-based music therapy interventions to positively influence individuals' physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioral status. Day to day that includes work like design or provide music therapy experiences to address client needs, such as using music for self-care, adjusting to life changes, improving cognitive functioning, raising self-esteem, communicating, or controlling impulses and Design music therapy experiences, using various musical elements to meet client's goals or objectives.
What skills should a Music Therapist put on a resume?: O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, and Service Orientation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Music Therapist list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Avid Technology Pro Tools, Electronic health record EHR software, Email software, Microsoft Office software, and Musical instrument digital interface MIDI software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Music Therapist work?: O*NET records 18 titles for this occupation, including Board Certified Music Therapist, MT-BC, LCAT, and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Music Therapist need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 73% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Music Therapist role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.