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Occupational Therapy Assistant resume example

A resume for a Occupational Therapy Assistant needs to show the work itself: assist occupational therapists in providing occupational therapy treatments and procedures. Day to day that means work like this: instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment; maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs. 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.

  • Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant
  • COTA
  • Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant
  • Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant
  • LOTA
  • OTA
  • Acute Care Occupational Therapy Assistant
  • Acute Care OT Assistant
  • Certified Occupational Assistant
  • Licensed Occupational Therapist Assistant
  • Occupational Therapist Assistant
  • Registered Therapist Assistant
  • School Based COTA
  • Independent Living Specialist
  • Occupational Therapy Technician
  • Rehabilitation Assistant

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.

  • Acute Care Occupational Therapy Assistant (Acute Care OT Assistant)
  • Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant (COTA)
  • Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA)
  • Licensed Occupational Therapist Assistant (LOTA)
  • Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant (LOTA)
  • Occupational Therapist Assistant (OTA)
  • Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)
  • School Based Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (School Based COTA)

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.

  • Instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment.
  • Maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs.
  • Report to supervisors, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior.
  • Implement, or assist occupational therapists with implementing, treatment plans designed to help clients function independently.
  • Monitor patients' performance in therapy activities, providing encouragement.
  • Observe and record patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior and maintain this information in client records.
  • Select therapy activities to fit patients' needs and capabilities.
  • Attend continuing education classes.
  • Aid patients in dressing and grooming themselves.
  • Evaluate the daily living skills or capacities of clients with physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities.
  • Communicate and collaborate with other healthcare professionals involved with the care of a patient.
  • Work under the direction of occupational therapists to plan, implement, or administer educational, vocational, or recreational programs that restore or enhance performance in individuals with functional impairments.

22 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.

  • Instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Report to supervisors, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Implement, or assist occupational therapists with implementing, treatment plans designed to help clients function independently, 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.

  • Accounting software
  • Billing software
  • Bookkeeping software
  • BrainTrain Captain's Log
  • BrainTrain IVA+Plus
  • BrainTrain SmartDriver
  • Client caseload management software
  • Database software
  • dBASE
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • Email software
  • Facebook
  • Fifth Walk BillingTracker
  • FileMaker Pro

37 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

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

  • Alternative computer keyboards
  • Arm braces
  • Augmentative communication systems
  • Automatic dishwashing systems
  • Back braces
  • Balance boards
  • Beading needles
  • Braille writers
  • C clamps
  • Canes
  • Ceramic modeling tools
  • Ceramics kilns

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • Accounting
  • Billing

What this job rates as most important

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

  1. 01Active Listening
  2. 02Service Orientation
  3. 03Social Perceptiveness
  4. 04Speaking
  5. 05Reading Comprehension
  6. 06Time Management
  7. 07Critical Thinking
  8. 08Monitoring
  9. 09Active Learning
  10. 10Instructing

Knowledge areas

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

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Psychology
  • Education and Training
  • English Language
  • Therapy and Counseling
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Sociology and Anthropology
  • Administrative

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.

  • 92%Associate's Degree
  • 5%Some College Courses
  • 3%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Occupational Therapy Assistant do?
Assist occupational therapists in providing occupational therapy treatments and procedures. Day to day that includes work like instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment and Maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs.
What skills should a Occupational Therapy Assistant put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, and Reading Comprehension 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 Occupational Therapy Assistant list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Billing software, Bookkeeping software, BrainTrain Captain's Log, and BrainTrain IVA+Plus. 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 Occupational Therapy Assistant work?
O*NET records 16 titles for this occupation, including Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant, COTA, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Occupational Therapy Assistant need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 92% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Occupational Therapy Assistant 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.