Top 12 Occupational Therapist Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the dynamic field of occupational therapy, showcasing the right blend of skills on your resume can sharpen your edge with hiring teams. This list of top 12 skills is curated to help aspiring occupational therapists present clear expertise and tangible readiness to support client well-being.
Occupational Therapist Skills
- Patient Assessment
- Rehabilitation Planning
- ADL Training
- Sensory Integration
- Motor Skills Enhancement
- Cognitive Rehabilitation
- Therapeutic Exercise
- Assistive Technology
- Hand Therapy
- Autism Spectrum Strategies
- Neurodevelopmental Techniques
- Microsoft Office
1. Patient Assessment
Patient assessment, in the context of an Occupational Therapist, is the systematic process of gathering information about a client's physical, psychological, social, and environmental capacities and challenges to design a tailored intervention plan that enhances participation in daily activities and improves quality of life.
Why It's Important
Patient assessment lets Occupational Therapists identify functional abilities, limitations, risks, and priorities. That clarity drives targeted plans, safer care, and meaningful outcomes that matter to the patient.
How to Improve Patient Assessment Skills
Improving patient assessment as an Occupational Therapist (OT) blends skill building, sharp communication, and purposeful tools:
Continuing Education: Stay current with validated assessment methods and updates through the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and other reputable providers.
Develop Observation Skills: Refine observational acuity to catch subtle performance patterns. Frameworks like the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) help structure insights about motivation, routines, roles, and environment.
Effective Communication: Use open-ended questions, reflective listening, and motivational interviewing to align goals and surface barriers that aren’t obvious on paper.
Use Standardized Assessment Tools: Select reliable, valid tools that fit your population and setting. Cross-check with evidence databases and clinical guidelines to ensure relevance.
Interprofessional Collaboration: Coordinate with PTs, SLPs, nurses, and physicians for a fuller picture. Shared data tightens your clinical reasoning.
Patient-Centered Approach: Adapt assessments to culture, language, lived context, and preferences. Let the person’s goals steer the plan.
These habits lift accuracy, sharpen plans, and lead to interventions that stick.
How to Display Patient Assessment Skills on Your Resume
2. Rehabilitation Planning
Rehabilitation planning is a patient-centered process that synthesizes assessment findings, co-creates meaningful goals, and maps targeted interventions that restore or elevate function at home, work, and in the community after injury, illness, or disability.
Why It's Important
Clear plans create direction. They align teams, keep therapy relevant, and help patients pursue independence with structure and purpose.
How to Improve Rehabilitation Planning Skills
Make plans more effective and realistic with the following:
Patient-Centered Goals: Co-author goals that are specific, motivating, and tied to real-life roles and routines.
Evidence-Based Practices: Anchor interventions in current research and clinical consensus relevant to the diagnosis and context.
Interprofessional Collaboration: Build plans with input from the full care team to reduce duplication and close gaps.
Continuing Education: Refresh knowledge routinely—methods evolve, tools change, expectations shift.
Thoughtful Technology Use: Consider telehealth, remote monitoring, or assistive devices where appropriate. Apply tech with intent, not novelty.
Outcome Measurements: Track progress with standardized measures and adjust the plan decisively when trends point that way.
Disciplined planning shortens detours and keeps recovery moving.
How to Display Rehabilitation Planning Skills on Your Resume
3. ADL Training
ADL Training refers to interventions that help people learn or regain the ability to perform Activities of Daily Living—eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, grooming—so they can operate more independently and with dignity.
Why It's Important
These are the essentials. Mastery of ADLs boosts autonomy, safety, and confidence. It’s a bedrock domain for OTs.
How to Improve ADL Training Skills
Stronger ADL outcomes come from personalizing, measuring, and iterating:
Assessment and Personalization: Use standardized measures (e.g., Barthel Index) and task analyses to spot bottlenecks. Shape activities to the person’s routines and environment.
Goal-Setting: Establish SMART goals that the patient helps define. Small wins, stacked consistently.
Evidence-Based Interventions: Use task-specific training, errorless learning when appropriate, and graded practice to build durable skill.
Incorporate Technology: Consider low-tech aids, reminders, and appropriate apps or VR scenarios for safe, repeatable practice.
Family and Caregiver Education: Train supporters to cue effectively, pace practice, and reinforce strategies between sessions.
Environmental Modifications: Recommend grab bars, adaptive equipment, and layout changes that remove friction.
Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Coordinate with PT, nursing, and social work to align safety, mobility, and discharge planning.
Continuous Feedback and Adaptation: Track outcomes, solicit feedback, and adjust frequency, complexity, or supports as needed.
Practical, relevant, practiced often—that’s the winning formula.
How to Display ADL Training Skills on Your Resume
4. Sensory Integration
Sensory Integration is a therapeutic approach used to help individuals process and respond to sensory information in a more adaptive way, with the aim of improving participation in everyday activities.
Why It's Important
Sensory processing shapes behavior, learning, and motor output. When input is overwhelming or blunted, function suffers. Addressing this lets people engage more smoothly and consistently.
How to Improve Sensory Integration Skills
Build structure around assessment, environment, and meaningful activity:
Assessment: Use standardized tools like the Sensory Profile. Be aware of emerging measures such as the Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration (EASI) where appropriate.
Environment Modification: Reduce overload or boost input as needed—light, noise, visual complexity, seating, movement opportunities.
Sensory Diet: Create a schedule of activities (deep pressure, movement, tactile play) that regulates arousal and supports attention.
Integrate Movement: Blend vestibular and proprioceptive input—swinging, heavy work, yoga, stability tools—to improve body awareness and modulation.
Play-Based Therapy: Use engaging, goal-anchored play—sensory bins, obstacle courses, crafts—to drive carryover.
Parent and Teacher Training: Coach consistent strategies across home and school for better generalization.
Regular Review and Adjustment: Track what works, prune what doesn’t, and recalibrate with data and feedback.
Consistency and context turn strategies into everyday skills.
How to Display Sensory Integration Skills on Your Resume
5. Motor Skills Enhancement
Motor Skills Enhancement refers to interventions that strengthen, refine, and coordinate fine and gross motor abilities that underpin daily tasks and independence.
Why It's Important
Better motor control means safer movement, smoother self-care, more reliable work, less fatigue. It’s independence in motion.
How to Improve Motor Skills Enhancement Skills
Targeted, progressive, and measured—keep it tight:
Assessment: Observe task performance, analyze components (strength, coordination, speed, endurance), and identify limiting factors.
Goal Setting: Define functional goals that connect directly to tasks the person values.
Targeted Exercises: Build programs that address specific deficits—bilateral coordination, in-hand manipulation, balance, reaction time—then grade difficulty.
Consistent Practice: Prescribe clear frequencies and durations; ensure home programs are doable and tracked.
Adaptive Strategies and Tools: Introduce ergonomic grips, joint protection, pacing, or compensatory methods when appropriate.
Progress Monitoring and Adjustment: Reassess at set intervals; tighten or pivot the plan based on performance data.
Engagement in Real Activities: Fold exercises into meaningful occupations for stronger carryover.
Repetition with relevance cements skill.
How to Display Motor Skills Enhancement Skills on Your Resume
6. Cognitive Rehabilitation
Cognitive Rehabilitation helps people restore or compensate for impairments in attention, memory, processing speed, problem-solving, and executive function so they can navigate daily life more effectively.
Why It's Important
When cognition falters, everyday tasks unravel. Thoughtful rehabilitation rebuilds capacity, introduces supports, and restores participation.
How to Improve Cognitive Rehabilitation Skills
Blend assessment, real-world practice, and supports that stick:
Assessment and Goal Setting: Conduct comprehensive cognitive assessments and co-create functional, meaningful goals tied to daily roles.
Task-Specific Training: Train real tasks (medication management, scheduling, budgeting), increasing complexity as skills return.
Cognitive Exercises: Use structured drills for attention, memory, and executive function, then bridge them to real activity.
Environmental Modifications: Simplify layouts, reduce distractions, and set up cueing systems for consistency.
Technology and Tools: Leverage reminders, calendars, smart speakers, and low-tech checklists for external supports.
Educate and Support: Teach strategies like chunking, spaced retrieval, and errorless learning; involve family for carryover.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Align with neuropsychology, speech therapy, and medicine for a coordinated plan.
Function first, then finesse. That’s the arc.
How to Display Cognitive Rehabilitation Skills on Your Resume
7. Therapeutic Exercise
Therapeutic exercise in OT means structured, purposeful movement designed to restore or enhance function tied to meaningful activities and roles.
Why It's Important
Strength, flexibility, endurance, motor control—these foundations power safer transfers, steadier gait, better self-care, and resilient work performance.
How to Improve Therapeutic Exercise Skills
Level up by sharpening precision and engagement:
Stay Informed: Follow current research and clinical guidelines relevant to your setting and populations.
Customize Treatment Plans: Anchor exercise selection to assessment findings and personal goals; dose matters.
Incorporate Technology: Consider wearables, biofeedback, or VR when it meaningfully augments practice.
Promote Home Exercise Programs (HEP): Provide clear instructions, visuals, and schedules; verify adherence and barriers.
Seek Feedback: Calibrate intensity and complexity based on patient response and outcomes.
Interprofessional Collaboration: Sync with PT and medical teams to avoid overlap and optimize total load.
Continuing Education: Prioritize coursework that deepens clinical reasoning, not just exercise libraries.
Effective exercise is specific, progressive, and tied to life tasks.
How to Display Therapeutic Exercise Skills on Your Resume
8. Assistive Technology
Assistive technology includes devices, software, and systems that help people with disabilities perform tasks with greater ease and independence. For OTs, it’s a bridge between capacity and everyday participation.
Why It's Important
Right device, right fit, right training. When those align, independence jumps and frustration falls.
How to Improve Assistive Technology Skills
Refine selection and outcomes through process:
Stay Updated: Track developments through professional associations (e.g., RESNA) and peer communities.
User-Centered Design: Apply models like HAAT to analyze the person, activity, context, and tech together.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Partner with engineers, rehab tech specialists, and makers to tailor solutions.
Continuing Education: Pursue AT-focused courses and certifications that deepen assessment and fitting skills.
Feedback Loops: Collect user feedback systematically; iterate on devices, positioning, and training.
The best tech disappears into the task—seamless and supportive.
How to Display Assistive Technology Skills on Your Resume
9. Hand Therapy
Hand therapy is a specialty within OT focused on the upper extremity—restoring function, strength, sensation, and dexterity after injury, surgery, or chronic conditions.
Why It's Important
Hands are daily life. When pain, stiffness, or weakness intrudes, targeted therapy brings back precision and power.
How to Improve Hand Therapy Skills
Sharpen technique and reasoning with deliberate practice:
Continuing Education: Learn current protocols in tendon, nerve, and fracture rehab; stay current on edema and scar management.
Certification: Consider the Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) pathway to formalize expertise.
Use of Technology: Explore custom splinting, 3D printing, and outcome-tracking tools where they add value.
Patient Education: Teach joint protection, pacing, and home programs clearly; adherence drives outcomes.
Evidence-Based Practice: Read the Journal of Hand Therapy and related literature; apply protocols judiciously.
Networking: Consult with experienced therapists; case discussions accelerate growth.
Precise protocols, skillful hands, clear communication—that trio wins.
How to Display Hand Therapy Skills on Your Resume
10. Autism Spectrum Strategies
Autism Spectrum Strategies blend sensory supports, communication tools, environmental tuning, and life-skill training—each plan personalized to strengths, preferences, and needs.
Why It's Important
Tailored interventions help individuals engage more comfortably, communicate more effectively, and participate more fully at home, school, and in the community.
How to Improve Autism Spectrum Strategies Skills
Keep it individualized, consistent, and collaborative:
Assessment and Goal Setting: Use comprehensive assessments and co-create goals with the individual and caregivers.
Sensory Integration Therapy: Address sensory processing needs through structured, preference-informed activities.
Social Skills Training: Use role-play, social narratives, visual supports, and peer models to build interaction skills.
Daily Living Skills Training: Teach dressing, grooming, meal prep, and community navigation using task analysis and chaining.
Environmental Modifications: Adjust lighting, noise, visual clutter, and schedules; create predictable routines.
Parent and Caregiver Education: Provide coaching and resources to maintain strategies outside therapy.
Collaboration with Multidisciplinary Teams: Coordinate with educators, SLPs, psychologists, and medical providers for cohesive support.
Consistency across settings turns strategies into habits.
How to Display Autism Spectrum Strategies Skills on Your Resume
11. Neurodevelopmental Techniques
Neurodevelopmental Techniques (NDT) are approaches used to promote efficient posture and movement patterns for individuals with neurological challenges, emphasizing facilitation, alignment, and functional carryover.
Why It's Important
NDT strategies can help improve postural control, movement quality, and participation in daily activities. Evidence and applicability vary by diagnosis and context, so clinical reasoning and outcome tracking are essential.
How to Improve Neurodevelopmental Techniques Skills
Be pragmatic and evidence-aware:
Stay Updated with Research: Read current OT and neurorehabilitation literature to guide when and how to apply NDT strategies.
Professional Development: Attend hands-on courses and mentorships focused on movement analysis and facilitation techniques.
Deliberate Practice: Practice handling skills, positioning, and cueing with feedback from experienced clinicians.
Use of Technology: Consider video analysis, pressure mapping, or tele-rehab tools to complement observation.
Patient-Centered Approach: Tie techniques to meaningful tasks; avoid isolated drills without functional linkage.
Feedback and Reflection: Review outcomes routinely; keep what works, refine what doesn’t.
Collaborate with Multidisciplinary Teams: Combine approaches with PT, SLP, and medical input for cohesive plans.
Function-led, data-informed, and adaptable—that’s the stance.
How to Display Neurodevelopmental Techniques Skills on Your Resume
12. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office (now Microsoft 365) includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote—tools that support documentation, data tracking, analysis, education, and communication in OT practice.
Why It's Important
Accurate notes, clear reports, tidy data, and smooth communication keep care coordinated and defensible.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Small tweaks, big gains:
Use Accessibility Features: Run the Accessibility Checker and follow recommendations to keep documents inclusive.
Customize the Quick Access Toolbar: Pin frequent actions for one-click efficiency.
Use Templates and Add-Ins: Build or adapt templates for evaluations, progress notes, and care plans to standardize quality.
Learn Keyboard Shortcuts: Shave time by mastering shortcuts in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Leverage OneNote for Patient Notes: Organize treatment plans, checklists, and team updates in searchable notebooks.
Explore Microsoft 365 Collaboration: Use Teams and shared files for real-time coordination with colleagues.
Streamlined tools mean more time for patients, less for paperwork.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
