What skills should a Rehabilitation Counselor put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, and Monitoring 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 Rehabilitation Counselor list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat Reader, Budgeting software, Chart Links, Client information database software, and Data input 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 Rehabilitation Counselor work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Employment Specialist, Job Coach, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, and VRC. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Rehabilitation Counselor need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 56% 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 Rehabilitation Counselor 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.

Rehabilitation Counselor resume example

A resume for a Rehabilitation Counselor needs to show the work itself: counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress of daily life. Day to day that means work like this: prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence; confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed. 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.

Employment Specialist
Job Coach
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
VRC
Employment Advisor
Employment Services Case Manager
Human Services Care Specialist
Rehabilitation Specialist
Vocational Case Manager
Vocational Placement Specialist
EIA
LPC
QDDP
Rehab Liaison
Blind Rehabilitation Specialist
Care Navigator
Career Navigator
Certified Rehabilitation Counselor

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

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.

Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence.
Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed.
Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals.
Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers.
Monitor and record clients' progress to ensure that goals and objectives are met.
Participate in job development and placement programs, contacting prospective employers, placing clients in jobs, and evaluating the success of placements.
Analyze information from interviews, educational and medical records, consultation with other professionals, and diagnostic evaluations to assess clients' abilities, needs, and eligibility for services.
Collaborate with clients' families to implement rehabilitation plans, such as behavioral, residential, social, or employment goals.
Develop and maintain relationships with community referral sources, such as schools or community groups.
Maintain close contact with clients during job training and placements to resolve problems and evaluate placement adequacy.
Arrange for on-site job coaching or assistive devices, such as specially equipped wheelchairs, to help clients adapt to work or school environments.
Arrange for physical, mental, academic, vocational, and other evaluations to obtain information for assessing clients' needs and developing rehabilitation plans.

17 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.

Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers, 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.

Adobe Acrobat Reader
Budgeting software
Chart Links
Client information database software
Data input software
Electronic medical record EMR software
Email software
Encryption software
Fanatic Software Informant
Global positioning system GPS software
Microsoft ActiveSync
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Mobile Explorer MME

31 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
Alternative mouse options
Desktop computers
Global positioning system GPS receivers
Handheld calculators
Intercom systems
Laser facsimile machines
Laser pointers
Laser printers
Liquid crystal display LCD projectors
Multi-line telephone systems
Notebook computers

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.

Adobe Acrobat Reader
Budgeting

What this job rates as most important

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

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

Knowledge areas

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

Customer and Personal Service
Therapy and Counseling
Psychology
Education and Training
English Language
Administrative
Computers and Electronics
Sociology and Anthropology

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.

56%Bachelor's Degree
28%Master's Degree
13%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

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 Rehabilitation Counselor do?: Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress of daily life. Day to day that includes work like prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence and Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed.
What skills should a Rehabilitation Counselor put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, and Monitoring 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 Rehabilitation Counselor list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat Reader, Budgeting software, Chart Links, Client information database software, and Data input 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 Rehabilitation Counselor work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Employment Specialist, Job Coach, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, and VRC. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Rehabilitation Counselor need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 56% 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 Rehabilitation Counselor 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.