How to hire occupational therapists

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Complete and maintain necessary records.
• Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
• Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
• Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
• Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
• Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
• Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
• Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Master's degree]
• Strong active listening, monitoring, critical thinking, learning strategies, reading comprehension and speaking skills
• Working knowledge of therapy and counseling, psychology, customer and personal service and English Language
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $48.24 an hour ($100,330 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for occupational therapists

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to complete and maintain necessary records. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. How do you keep track of your own work quality during a busy shift or week? Give an example of catching a problem early.
7. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What occupational therapists do

• Complete and maintain necessary records.
• Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
• Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
• Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
• Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
• Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
• Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
• Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningMonitoringCritical ThinkingLearning StrategiesReading ComprehensionSpeakingTherapy and CounselingPsychologyCustomer and Personal ServiceEnglish Language

Education, experience and outlook for occupational therapists

• Typical education to start: Master's degree (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 6 months to 1 year (O*NET)
• Job outlook: +14.8% over ten years, much faster than average · about 10,000 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay occupational therapists

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See occupational therapists pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Occupational Therapy Aides
• Physical Therapists
• Physical Therapist Assistants
• Physicians, All Other
• Recreational Therapists
• Psychiatric Technicians
• Registered Nurses
• Rehabilitation Counselors
• Physical Therapist Aides

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.