Skills
Occupational Therapist Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in occupational therapists, and how to build and show them.
Occupational Therapists need technical skills such as functional assessment, activities of daily living training, and adaptive equipment, plus people skills like creativity and patience. They also use tools such as Adaptive equipment and Splinting materials.
Technical (hard) skills
- Functional assessment
- Activities of daily living training
- Adaptive equipment
- Splinting
- Sensory integration
- Documentation
People (soft) skills
- Creativity
- Patience
- Empathy
- Communication
Tools, equipment and technology
- Adaptive equipment
- Splinting materials
- Fine motor kits
- Assessment tools
- Mobility aids
- Electronic health records
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how occupational therapists put their skills to work:
- How to teach one-handed dressing
- How to conduct a home safety assessment
- How to fabricate a hand splint
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Functional assessment” and “Activities of daily living training.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “creativity,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as NBCOT certification (OTR) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our occupational therapist glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Occupational Therapist 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.