Skills
Athletic Trainer Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in athletic trainers, and how to build and show them.
What skills do athletic trainers need?
Athletic Trainers need technical skills such as injury evaluation, emergency care, and taping and bracing, plus people skills like calm under pressure and communication. They also use tools such as Taping and bracing supplies and AEDs and emergency equipment.
Technical (hard) skills
- Injury evaluation
- Emergency care
- Taping and bracing
- Rehabilitation
- Concussion management
- Medical documentation
People (soft) skills
- Calm under pressure
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Empathy
Tools, equipment and technology
- Taping and bracing supplies
- AEDs and emergency equipment
- Rehab equipment
- Concussion assessment tools
- Ice and modalities
- Electronic medical records
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how athletic trainers put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Injury evaluation” and “Emergency care.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “calm under pressure,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as BOC Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our athletic trainer glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Athletic Trainer training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.