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Occupational Therapists and Assistants - How to Make Your Resume Stand Out (2023) Part Two: Optimizing the Content of Your Resume
February 16, 2023Now that we've covered how you should best demonstrate your core qualifications on your resume let's learn about best practices in listing your educational background and experience (direct or fieldwork).
The following are tips on highlighting your educational background, which is excellent for both new and experienced Occupational Therapists and Assistants.
- List the name of the school attended, followed by the date of graduation and grade point average (GPA) if it is higher than a 3.5
- If you have more than one degree from an institution, then list it as "Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy," with more information about each degree following.
- List any other degrees you have received from different institutions below your primary degree.
- If you are still enrolled in school, list your expected graduation date.
Additionally, the best way to showcase your experience as an occupational therapist is by using action-oriented verbs. These are words that demonstrate how you have helped people in the past.
For example, instead of saying, "Provided occupational therapy," try saying, " Assisted clients with increasing their performance skills in functional occupations' or "Provided treatment interventions for children with cerebral palsy using neurodevelopmental techniques."
Other examples of action-oriented verbs include:
Adapted, Assessed, Conducted, Developed, Demonstrated, Decreased, Identified, Strengthened, Standardized, Reinforced, Supervised, Utilized, Trained, etc.
Therapeutic Resources has a complete list of action-oriented verbs catered to the Occupational Therapy Practitioner at every level. To receive a free copy of the keyword success guide, send us your information, or give us a call at 212.529.9780