OT Student Corner | You have a job offer, now what?

You made it through OT school, you successfully passed the NBCOT exam, and you have your OT license in hand. You made it through your interviews and now you have a job offer (or offers!) in front of you. What do you do next?

First off, congratulations! What an accomplishment! Take a moment to celebrate and give yourself a pat on the back!

Now, back to that job offer (or offers). How do you figure out if it is a good match for you? I recommend making a list of pros and cons for the potential job. This is especially helpful if you have more than one job offer in hand, because it helps you compare the offers.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the best job for you.

• Does it match what you are looking for in a job? If after interviewing, you discover that the job is not what you expected, it's okay to turn down the offer. I've done this, and while I felt a little stressed out at the time that I still didn't have a job, in the long run it was definitely the right decision for me. With that said, your first job does not need to be the best and only job you ever work. Maybe there are not any jobs currently available in your desired practice area. It's better to have experience working as an OT, than no experience at all. You can always work your way up to that dream job!
• Is there mentoring available? This is extremely important for new graduates or those changing practice areas. While you don't necessarily need to have a formal mentor  or mentoring program, it's good to know if you will have more experienced colleagues that you can reach out to with questions.
• Does the pay meet your expectations? You probably didn't go into occupational therapy to become rich, but you should certainly be able to pay your bills with your salary as an OT or OTA. Don't forget to take into account other benefits, such as insurance, time off, and retirement plans.
• What does your gut say? I'm an instinctual decision maker. I can list out the pros and cons of a potential job, but for me, it almost always comes down to that intuitive feeling in my gut. If it feels like a perfect fit, but something (pay, benefits, schedule, etc) is not as good as another job, take that gut feeling into consideration. There must be a reason why you are drawn to (or not drawn to) a particular job. When I accepted my first job out of college, it was actually the lowest paying of the three offers I had, but everything else about the job felt right to me (schedule, setting, location, priorities of the hospital), so I went for it and I loved it!
• Negotiate. In hindsight, when I accepted that first job out of college, I should have negotiated for a higher salary that matched the other offers. I think I was just so excited and inexperienced that I didn't know I could do that. The worst that would have happened is that they would have said no. They would not have taken the job offer away. Reflect on your offer and experience to determine if negotiating is appropriate. (FYI - since that time I have negotiated higher salaries both successfully and unsuccessfully. In one unsuccessful instance, I took the job anyway, and it was not awkward at all. Employers understand and will not hold it against you).
• Ask questions. If something was not clear about the offer, or benefits, or schedule, or anything at all, reach out and ask for clarification. This will help you make an informed decision.
• Respond in a timely manner. Employers are interviewing because they have a position to fill and usually they need to fill it quickly! It's okay to take a day or two to think over the offer, but try to give your response as soon as possible, so the employer can either get the hiring process started (yay!) or find a different person for the position.

Do you have any advice to add to this list? Please share in the comments below!

OT Student Corner | Questions YOU Should Ask at an Interview

Interviewing is more than just answering questions. You want to be prepared to ask questions, too! Remember, the interviewer is trying to figure out if you are a good fit for the position, but you are also trying to figure out if the position is a good fit for you.

Ideally, many of these questions will be answered during the interview, but just in case they're not, these are things you'll probably want to know about a potential job.

• How many OTs work here? Is it a big team? Will you be the only OT? Are there OTs with more experience or specialty practice areas that you can learn from?
• How long have you been working here? I always like to find out what the staff turnover is like. Generally, places that have low staff turnover are very proud of it and will start to rattle off how long each person in the department has been there. That's a sign that it's a good place to work. Higher turnover isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of.
• Who will I report to? This will give you an idea of how the company is structured and how much supervision you can expect.
• What is a typical caseload size? This is just good information to have. If they give you an unclear answer, that may be a red flag.
• What does a typical day look like? As we know, there is no such thing as a "typical" day in OT. But, they should be able to tell you the hours of the job, approximate number of clients seen in a day, number of treatments vs evaluations, meetings, etc.
• What is the population that is served? This might seem obvious based on the setting and the homework you did prior to showing up for the interview, but it's helpful to ask about age ranges and specific diagnoses. It might turn out that the population served is much more specific (or general) than you anticipated.
• What assessment and evaluation tools are used? It's good to know what is used and this is also an opportunity to share your familiarity with the tools used by this site.
• How is documentation completed? This includes both written vs computerized, as well as all at once (at the end of the day) vs after each client. You can also ask about progress reports, re-evaluations, and discharge notes to find out how frequently you will be required to do those.

Always, always, always do your research before your interview! Check out the company's website, Facebook page, etc. Be sure to ask a question that is specific to your interests, as well as a question that is specific to the company.

Here are a few that I usually ask:

• I noticed on your website that you have a program in XXX. What is the role of OT in this program?
• Do you accept fieldwork students?
• How do you support career growth?
• How do you support continuing education requirements?

P.S. Common interview questions.

Do you have any questions you would add to this list? Please share in the comments below!
 

OT Student Corner | Common Interview Questions

Graduation season is upon us and that means many occupational therapy students will soon be applying for their first job! This is a very exciting time, but as someone who has recently relocated and gone through the interview process, I understand that it can also be a stressful time. I have moved and changed jobs five times in my eight year career, so I'll let you guess how many times I have interviewed :)

Over the years, I've discovered that the key to interviewing is to have stories to tell. Each question that is asked of you is an opportunity to tell a story about your experience and your values. In most instances the interviewer just wants to get to know you (just as you probably want to get to know more about the potential employer). In the OT world, rarely is the interviewer trying to trick you or catch you off guard. With that said, below are some common interview questions for OT positions. I recommend practicing your answers (or stories) for each of these questions out loud prior to your interview.

Note: There will always be a question or questions that you are not prepared for. That's okay. As long as you are prepared for some common questions and have some stories prepared, you should be able to handle the unexpected questions.

Common Interview Questions for Occupational Therapy Jobs:

• Why did you decide to become an OT? This is almost a guaranteed question. Be prepared to answer it concisely. This is not the time to go on a long monologue about why you chose OT as a career and how you think OT is the greatest career ever (even though it is).
• Why do you want to work here? Do your research before you show up for your interview. Know why you want to work at this specific school/facility/hospital. Your answer should not be because you want a job. You have to show them that you want this job.
• Tell me about your work / fieldwork experiences. What population did you work with? What assessments are you familiar with? This is a straightforward question, but be prepared to answer it concisely. The interviewee doesn't want to know every last detail of your work or fieldwork experience, but they do want to know what makes you qualified for this job. Highlight your experiences that are most applicable to the job you are interviewing for. Be prepared to share ages and diagnoses of clients you have experience with, as well as assessments and practice frames of reference that you used.
• What qualities do you bring to a team? You can also think of this one as, "What are your strengths?" Be prepared to answer this in one way or another. The interviewer may directly ask you what your strengths are, but I've found that it tends to get asked in a more general "What do you bring to the team?" kind of way. This is a great opportunity to set yourself apart from other applicants. You may have had a unique experience that others have not had, so this is your chance to speak up and share it!
• What do you think your references will tell us are areas in which you could improve? This is  a sneaky way of finding out what you think your weaknesses are. It's okay, no one is perfect and everyone has areas to improve. The tricky part is to be aware of your weaknesses and have an explanation for what you are doing to improve them. It's also good to have a story about how you overcame one of your "weaknesses."
• What would be your ideal OT department? This question is asking you what your values as an OT are. Reflect on your experiences and think about what you liked or disliked about each. This will help you figure out what an ideal OT department would look like for you.
• Tell me about a time you have had to advocate for occupational therapy. I don't know if this is a common question, but I was recently asked this question and it caught me off guard a little bit, so I wanted to add it to the list, so you can be better prepared than I was. Unfortunately, in many work environments, OT is still not fully understood, so think about a time that you had to explain the value of OT in the work or fieldwork setting.
• Tell me about a time that you went above and beyond. This one is always uncomfortable for me, because 1) I feel like I always go above and beyond and 2) I don't like to talk about how great I am, which is basically what this question is asking you to do. It's easiest for me if I have one particular story in my head that I am prepared to share if this question or a similar one comes up.
• Tell me about a challenging situation and how you handled it. I've found that this is often a three part question: 1) a challenging situation with a co-worker, 2) a challenging client, and 3) a challenging family member. Again, have some stories ready to share.
• Where do you see yourself in five years? The trick to this one is to be both clear and vague at the same time. Maybe you don't see yourself staying with this particular employer for five years, but now is not the time to say that. Share your career goals, which might include specialty training, gaining a leadership position, or participating in research. Do not say something like, "I hope to be a stay at home mom in five years" even if that is your goal. Make the interviewer feel like they fit into your five year plan.
• Why should we hire you? This usually comes toward the end, so be ready to sell yourself. I know it can feel uncomfortable, but this is your opportunity to highlight all of your strengths, why you would be a good fit for this particular company, and you can also throw in anything else that you want to tell the interviewer that they didn't ask you.
• Do you have any questions? This is almost always the last question at an interview. Don't ever answer this question with, "No." Always have questions. I like to go into an interview with a list of questions that I have. Many of my questions are the same from interview to interview, and these general questions often get answered during the interview process. You always want to show that you did your homework prior to the interview, so it's good to scour their website or social media pages to come up with some questions that are specific to the site. I'll cover specific questions to ask a potential employer next week.
• What is your salary expectation? I've found that this question is not really asked all that frequently, but it's better to be prepared for it, rather than having no idea what to say. Do your homework prior to the interview using sites like salary.com or the Advance for OT Salary Survey results. You may get away with saying something general, like "a competitive salary" or "it's negotiable," but I've found that they employers that ask this question usually want a number, or at least a range. Salaries vary based on location, experience, and practice setting, so use the websites above to help get an idea of what can be expected in your area.

Fun questions:

I have mixed feelings on the use of "fun" questions in a an interview, but I guess overall they are harmless. The interviewee is just trying to get to know you a little bit and maybe see how well you think on your feet when thrown off guard. In my experience, I've been asked a "fun" question in about half of my interviews.

Here are a few examples of fun questions that I have been asked:

• What is the most recent book you read? I read a LOT of books, so this should be an easy question for me, but I often blank whenever someone asks me this question, whether it's in an interview or just casually. Maybe because I read so many books (and so quickly) that I tend to forget the name of books? I actually nailed this question during one interview. I had recently read a Joyce Carol Oates book and one of the interviewers was a big fan of hers. I got lucky, because many people probably have no idea who that author is and if they do, it may make me look a bit odd due to the nature of the topics she writes about.
• What would you bring to a staff potluck? This one totally caught me off guard, and I'm not sure why. OT departments always have potlucks. They just do, so consider it part of your new career. I guess we all love food. I usually use staff potlucks as an opportunity to make something I've been wanting to try, but haven't had a chance to do so.
• What's your favorite Blizzard flavor? Nailed it! Pumpkin pie. And I taught the interviewers about a flavor they were not familiar with. (This question is obviously very regional, because I don't think Dairy Queen exists in all parts of the country.)
• Are you a xx fan or xx fan? Maybe it's just me that gets this question because I've moved around so much. "Are you a Packers fan or a Broncos fan?" "Are you a Giants fan or a Patriots fan?" "Are you a Red Sox fan or Dodgers fan?" My response is usually along the lines of "Ummm...neither. I mean, I guess I'm a Red Sox fan. Yes, obviously I love the Red Sox. And the Patriots, too. And there's a hockey team here, right? Yeah, the Bruins. I love the Bruins." And then I tell them that I don't actually watch sports because I grew up in Iowa, where there are no professional sports teams, so my family just wasn't into sports. And then that usually turns into a conversation about how corn, not potatoes is grown in Iowa, and Iowa is located right in the middle of the country, you know, the flyover states, and so on.....

If these "fun" questions stress you out, don't worry. These are not worth losing sleep over. I think "fun" questions are a sign that you're doing well in the interview, and they just want to get to know you a little better in a less formal way. I've never not gotten a job offer because of my answer to the "fun" questions. In fact, I think I've always been offered a job at the interviews that asked one of these questions.

P.S. Tips for preparing for an interview.


Good luck with your interviews! Have any other common questions to add to the list? Please share in the comments below!

OT Student Corner | Preparing for an Interview

Yay! It's graduation season! That means OT students all over the country are preparing for their first interviews. How exciting! Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share some tips for successfully navigating the interview process.

First up, preparing for an interview.

In advance:

• Do your homework. Research the potential employer and learn what makes them unique or different from other places you are interviewing. This is important for you to find a job that is the best fit for you, and also to be able to ask good questions of your potential employer.
• Prepare for potential interview questions. Practice your answers! Next week I'll cover common interview questions and how to prepare for them.
• Questions for the employer. Always be prepared to ask questions at your interview. It's not just them interviewing you, you are also interviewing them to make sure it's a good fit for you.
• Research salary. Salary varies based on experience, geographic location, and practice setting. Do your research prior to the interview to know what to expect, as well as to be ready to answer the sometimes uncomfortable, "what is your salary expectation for this job?" question. I recommend checking out salary.com and the Advance for OT Salary Survey results.
• Make sure you know how to get there. I usually ask if there is somewhere specific I am supposed to park and where I should report when I arrive. This reduces my anxiety around not knowing what to expect, because at least I know where to park and where to go in the building. Also, I recommend checking out how long it will take to get there and don't forget to take into consideration the time of day you will be going and if traffic may delay you. Do a drive by if necessary a day or two before to really make sure you know where you are going.
• Decide what to wear. Dress professionally and choose your clothes prior to the day of the interview. If you pick out your clothes in advance, it's one less thing to think about on the interview day.

The day of:

• Arrive on time! Give yourself plenty of time to get to your interview, including time to find parking and get to where you are supposed to be. You can always sit in your car and review your notes if you arrive too early. It's much harder to make up for arriving late.
• Dress appropriately. Hopefully you've already decided ahead of time what you will wear, so this is just a matter of putting those clothes on! Remember, dress professionally!
• Bring everything you need. This might include extra copies of your resume, your OT license, CPR certification, a list of references, a list of previous employers and previous addresses. You probably already filled out an application online when you submitted your resume, but often employers have a paper application that you must fill out when you arrive. Information that is often required is dates of when you were in school, dates and addresses for previous jobs, and previous home addresses (going back seven years) for a background check.
• Relax and be yourself. The interviewer just wants to get to know you, and hear about your skills and experiences, so relax and show them who you really are!

The day after:

• Follow up. Once you complete the interview, you still have work to do! It's always good to follow up the next day (usually by email) to thank the interviewer for interviewing you, to reiterate your interest in the position, and to highlight your qualifications for the job. Keep it short and sweet. This is not the time to write an essay. Remember, just three things: 1) thank you, 2) your interest in the job, 3) your qualifications for the job. Bonus points if you are able to tie in something the interviewer shared in the interview!

Good luck preparing for your interviews! Be sure to stop back next week for common interview questions!
 

OT Student Corner | Preparing for a career in OT

I received this question from a prospective OT student quite a while ago, and honestly, it kind of stumped me. She wanted to know what made me feel prepared for a career in occupational therapy. I'm going to be completely honest here: I think the reason I wasn't sure how to answer this question is because as a new practitioner, you feel completely unprepared to be an OT. Yes, it's true. And it's completely normal! For any newly minted OTs reading this, you can all heave a collective sigh of relief. It gets better. I promise. You just can't walk out of OT school expecting to know everything and feel completely prepared for everything that comes your way. With that said, here are a few tips to help you feel more prepared for a career in occupational therapy.

How to prepare for a career in occupational therapy:

• Do your research. Learn everything you can about the field of occupational therapy. The American Occupational Therapy Association website is a good place to start. They even have an entire section devoted to those considering a career in occupational therapy.
• Get to know an OT. Job shadow. Volunteer in a clinic where OTs work. Interview an OT about their career. To really know what it's like day to day as an OT, the best way is to get the information first hand from an OT.
• Choose an OT school. The single thing that most prepared me to be an OT was getting a degree in occupational therapy! That shouldn't come as any surprise, so once you've decided on OT as a career, it's time to find a school that is a good match for you. AOTA has a ton of helpful resources on locating an OT school.
• Make the most of your time in OT school. Keep an open mind about career possibilities. Many people enter OT school thinking they know exactly what population they would like to work with. Others have no idea at all. Both are perfectly fine, but be sure to keep an open mind and learn as much as you can about a variety of populations while you are in school. The career possibilities are endless in occupational therapy! The experience you gain in school and on your Fieldwork rotations will help you feel more confident and prepared to be an occupational therapist.
• Get involved. Getting involved in professional organizations is a great way to stay current on trends in OT, meet experienced occupational therapists, and learn about a variety of practice areas. I recommend getting involved as early as possible, but it's never too late to get involved. Most schools have a Student OT Association (SOTA) and the groups and forums on OT Connections are a great way to connect with practitioners all over the country. State OT associations often look for volunteers at their annual conferences, as does AOTA, which can also be a cost-effective way to attend a conference.

Those are my tips for preparing for a career in occupational therapy. I'd love to hear yours! OTs, how did you prepare for your career in occupational therapy?

P.S. How to Become an OT and Tips for Applying to Graduate School

OT Student Corner is where I answer questions about the field of occupational therapy that I’ve received from students and prospective students. Have a question you’d like to see answered? Leave a comment below or send me an email at [AbbyPediatricOT {at} gmail {dot} com] and I’ll try to answer it in an upcoming post!

For more OT Student Corner posts, click here.

OT Student Corner | Applying to graduate school

I receive a lot of emails from prospective OT students about what they can do strengthen their application for graduate programs in occupational therapy. Since it's been a decade since I applied to graduate school (ummm...how did that happen?), I don't really consider myself to be an expert in this area, as I'm sure some things have changed since I applied (like this thing called OTCAS). With that said, I'll share a few general tips and then I'll send you off to someone who is much more up to date on graduate school applications than I am.

Some general tips for applying to graduate school in occupational therapy:

• Observe, observe, observe. I believe this is still a requirement for OT school applications, but even if it's not, it's definitely good practice. It helps solidify that you actually want to be an OT as well as better understand exactly what OTs do. Observe as many OTs in action as you can. Don't limit yourself to just the practice area that you think you want to work in. Believe me, that will change several times as you make your way through school. Observe school OTs, hospital based OTs, hand therapists, etc. Anyone you can make a connection with and will allow you to observe them. I recommend going through your state OT association to locate an OT to observe.
• Volunteer. Do volunteer work with a population that you are interested in working with in the future. This could be seniors at retirement home, children with disabilities, veterans, etc. Volunteer work is also a good place to get letters of recommendations, which leads me to...
• Letters of Recommendation. You will definitely need letters of recommendation for you graduate school application. This is something you don't want to leave until the last minute, so think about who could be potential letter writers for you. Previous employers, supervisors at volunteer positions, and instructors are good places to start.
• Meet with a guidance counselor. If you are currently completing your undergraduate degree, it is a good idea to meet with a guidance counselor at your school to make sure you are on track to meet all of the prerequisites that will be required for entry into OT school.

Now, for some advice from someone who has recently applied to OT graduate school:

 

First of all, if you are a prospective OT student, I highly recommend that you follow the blog, Gotta Be OT. Lauren is the author of Gotta Be OT and she is currently in the trenches of grad school and doing a great job of documenting her journey. Lauren has a series on her blog called, Gotta Get Into Grad School. It is comprehensive and will probably answer most of your questions. Here are links to all of the posts in the series so far:

Part 1: All of the Best Personal Essays Start with a Good MEAL
Part 2: References and Recommendations
Part 3: Planning, Composing and Finalizing Your OT School Graduate Essays
Part 4: OTCAS - A General Overview
Part 5: OTCAS & Academics
Part 6: Gotta Have a Great Interview

**And a bonus post from Lauren: Choosing an OT Graduate Program

OT Student Corner is where I answer questions about the field of occupational therapy that I’ve received from students and prospective students. Have a question you’d like to see answered? Leave a comment below or send me an email at [AbbyPediatricOT {at} gmail {dot} com] and I’ll try to answer it in an upcoming post!

For more OT Student Corner posts, click here.

OT Student Corner | How did you know you wanted to be an OT?

Update: This post triggered a cool social media domino effect. If you're interested in hearing more OT's stories of how they knew they wanted to be an occupational therapist, check out this post on AOTA's Checking the Pulse and visit the AOTA Facebook page and scroll down to June 6, 2014, where they posed this same question to their followers and got a tremendous response!

I received an email recently with the following question:

"How did you know occupational therapy was what you wanted to go into? I'm debating a number of professions, but I'm not sure what to go into. I want to work with kids and I want to help people as much as possible. Do you have any advice?"

I think this is a very common question for all students trying to figure out what they want to do with their life. Most students enter college at such a young age and what a big decision to make! It's definitely a bit overwhelming.

So here's my answer:

"Ummm...I didn't know. Actually, some days, I still don't know."

And here's my advice:

Job shadow, job shadow, job shadow! All of those careers you are considering, get out there and observe them. Find out what a typical day looks like, ask questions, look around to see what other professionals they work with. There might be a lesser known profession that you've never heard of that would be the perfect fit for you.

For anyone who's interested, here's the extended version of my experience of finding occupational therapy as the career for me.

As a child I wanted to do all sorts of things when I grew up. Librarian, optometrist, photojournalist, interior designer....basically, I had no idea what I wanted to do. By high school I started leaning toward healthcare professions.

First I wanted to be an athletic trainer, but as a runner who never did what the athletic trainer at my school told me to do, I decided that I didn't really want to deal with athletes all the time. Because athletes are difficult, and I didn't want to deal with that.

By the time I entered college, I decided I was going to be a physical therapist, but I wasn't completely enamored with the idea. I did a lot of job shadowing during my freshman year of college of PTs working in different practice areas: pediatrics, hospitals, clinics. It was during this time that I discovered occupational therapy. As I was job shadowing, I saw other therapists, who turned out to be OTs, who were doing things that I thought looked really cool.

I job shadowed some OTs, did research on what exactly OT is, and decided to make the switch. I am a bit of an indecisive person, so OT seemed like a great match for me. I loved that there were so many different practice areas that OTs worked in. Pediatrics, geriatrics, hospitals, clinics, mental health, community settings. I figured if I got bored with one area, I could always switch to a different practice area. I was also really intrigued by how OT originated in mental health and was drawn to the holistic approach of OT. I just loved the idea of OT.

And that was that. I (mostly) never looked back. I went to OT school, became an OT, and now here I am. I actually took a fairly traditional route to becoming an occupational therapist, but that is definitely not a requirement. I highly recommend you check out how Christie of Mama OT found occupational therapy. Such a great story!

Therapists, what advice do you have for students trying to figure out what career to pursue?

PS-The coolest thing about this email I received? As I looked at the sender's information more closely, I realized it was from a student at the same college that attended my freshman year! You know, the tiny midwest college I went to because they had a PT program, then realized I didn't want to be a PT, and then semi-blindly jumped into a new college my sophomore year to enroll in an OT program. What a small world! And like I said, no one knows what they want to be when they grow up, especially at age 18!

Are you an occupational therapy student or considering a career in OT? Have a question you'd like answered? Leave it in the comments or send me an email and I'll try to address it in an upcoming post!

OT Student Corner | The difference between COTA and OTR

As a follow up to last week's OT Student Corner, I thought I'd take a minute to explain the difference between an OTR and a COTA.

An OTR is a Registered Occupational Therapist. An occupational therapist can work independently and ca do all aspects of occupational therapy treatment, including completing evaluations, writing goals, implementing treatment, and supervising COTA's and OT students.

A COTA is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. A COTA must work under the supervision of an occupational therapist and can do many aspects of occupational therapy treatment, including implementing treatment, contributing to the evaluation process by implementing delegated assessments after competency has been demonstrated, and supervision of COTA students.

As discussed last week, an occupational therapist must obtain a Master's degree and an occupational therapy assistant must obtain an Associate's degree. Both occupational therapists and certified occupational therapy assistants can serve as leaders for the profession of occupational therapy through their state occupational therapy associations, as well as through AOTA.

For more information from AOTA, this is a link to the Guidelines for the Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services, which is an AOTA official document.


For further reading on this topic, check out these great posts by The Anonymous OT:
A "Who's Who" of Occupational Therapy &
The OTR/COTA Relationship

OT Student Corner is where I answer questions about the field of occupational therapy that I’ve received from students and prospective students. Have a question you’d like to see answered? Leave a comment below or send me an email at [AbbyPediatricOT {at} gmail {dot} com] and I’ll try to answer it in an upcoming post!

For more OT Student Corner posts, click here.

 

OT Student Corner | How to become an OT

I receive a lot of questions from students and prospective students about the field of occupational therapy. Since I'm not the best about responding to emails in a timely manner, I've decided to answer some of the frequently asked questions I've received here on my blog. This post is the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing series to answer reader questions about the profession of occupational therapy and OT school.

Today's question: "How do I become an occupational therapist?"

This is by far the question I receive the most, so I thought this would be a good one to start with. 

First you need to go to school. And then pass a national test.

Currently, to become a Registered Occupational Therapist (OTR), you must obtain a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy from an accredited school, and then pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam. Another option is to obtain an entry level Doctorate in Occupational Therapy prior to taking the NBCOT exam. A doctoral degree is not currently required, but may be in the future.

To become a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), you must obtain an Associate's degree in Occupational Therapy from an accredited school, and then pass the NBCOT exam.

Let's not forget about Fieldwork!

For all levels of OT education, the completion of Fieldwork is part of the curriculum. Fieldwork is the provision of occupational therapy services as a student under the supervision of an occupational therapist. This is where you get the majority of your hands-on training on how to be an occupational therapist. For Master's and Doctoral level education, Level II Fieldwork takes place in two 12-week rotations. Yes, that is six months of 40-hour clinical weeks! No, you will not get paid for this work, and no you will probably not have time to do any paid work during this time. Plan accordingly, but don't let it hold you back. Occupational therapy is consistently rated as a top job and a fast growing profession. For COTA's, I believe it is two 6-week rotations, but I don't know that for sure. For more information about Fieldwork, check out the AOTA website.

How to find an accredited occupational therapy school in your area.

To find an accredited school for a Doctoral, Master's or Associate's level degree, visit the "Find a School" page on the AOTA website.

One last step. State licensure.

Once you have your desired degree and have passed the necessary NBCOT exam, most states (possibly all states?) require state licensure. In my experience of being licensed in multiple states (okay, just two states), this usually only requires proving that you have graduated from an accredited school, passed the NBCOT exam, passing a background check, and then paying the licensing fee. Some states may also have a short test on rules and regulations related to occupational therapy in that state. This is based on my experience of licensure in California and Massachusetts. It may be completely different in other states, but I doubt it is drastically different. AOTA has a webpage dedicated to state licensure, including a page on how to get a license.

For more information on careers in occupational therapy.

Interested in a career in occupational therapy, click here for more information from AOTA.

Do you have a question about OT school? Are you currently and OT student and have a question about the profession? If so, send me an email [abbypediatricot {at} gmail {dot} com] and I'll try to answer it in an upcoming post!