Occupational therapy postings ask for two credentials, NBCOT certification and a state license, so your resume should list them on separate lines and use OTR after your name only while your NBCOT certification is current.
The six examples cover a hospital OT, a new graduate waiting on an Illinois license, a school OT, a hand therapist, a home health OT and a traveler working under the OT Compact.
Hospital OT resume with acute care and inpatient rehab
Danielle Fontenot's resume is for a licensed OT with several years in hospitals and post-acute care, the setting most job seekers on this page are applying to. Her summary calls her an OTR, not an OTR/L, because Texas rules let its licensees use OT or OTR and say not to add the L. Her credentials list NBCOT and the Texas license as separate lines with the year each was issued.
Her current job splits acute care from inpatient rehab because a hiring manager reads each for different evidence. The acute care bullets give a daily patient count, the units covered and ICU early mobility. The rehab bullets name the diagnoses, the 3 hours of therapy a day that inpatient rehab patients generally receive and Section GG scoring on the IRF-PAI. If you rotate between units, copy that split instead of blending the two into one list.
Five more examples by setting and career stage
Pick the example that matches the job you're applying for, not the job you have now. A hospital OT moving into a school district should start from the school example and bring over the evaluation and documentation lines that still apply.
New graduate OT with a license still pending
Tomasz passed the NBCOT exam in August 2026 and is waiting on Illinois, so his title reads OTR and his license line gives the month he applied. His two Level II placements lead the experience section with caseload size, named assessments and an in-service, and his rehab aide job sits below them. Use it if you graduated this year and fieldwork is your strongest clinical evidence.
OTR in the title until the Illinois license is issued
Level II fieldwork written with caseload, assessments and results
Earlier rehab aide job kept below fieldwork
School-based OT working from IEPs
Rosalind's first bullets count what a special education director checks: 40 students on IEPs across four schools, 25 to 30 evaluations a year and the assessments she gives. One bullet quotes a full IEP goal so the reader sees how she measures progress. Her Spanish evaluations, paraeducator training and California license with CPR and First Aid suit any OT applying to a district for the next school year.
Caseload, evaluation count and assessment names up front
A measurable IEP goal quoted in a bullet
California license plus CPR and First Aid, as district postings ask
Hand therapist with the CHT credential
Ingrid's resume suits an OT applying to an outpatient hand clinic. Her Certified Hand Therapist credential sits above her NBCOT and Illinois lines, and her bullets name diagnoses, orthosis designs, surgeon protocols and workers' compensation reports. Her earlier orthopedic clinic job shows how she built the hand therapy hours the CHT requires, which gives a reader still working toward it a model for that stage.
CHT listed first, with the Illinois license expiration date
Orthoses per week and surgeon protocols in the bullets
Workers' compensation caseload and return-to-work reporting
Home health OT for Medicare homebound patients
Esperanza's resume is written for agencies that send therapists into patients' homes. Her bullets give visits per day, the county she covers, the OASIS assessments she completes and the home modifications she sets up, and her bilingual caregiver training comes with the written plans she leaves. Choose it if you're moving from skilled nursing into home health, since her older job shows which facility skills carry over.
Visits a day, coverage area and OASIS work in the first bullets
Home modifications counted for the past year
Caregiver training in English and Spanish
Travel OT with compact privileges and a Texas license
Bethany works 13-week contracts from an Ohio home-state license. Her credentials list each OT Compact privilege by state and keep her Texas license on its own line, because Texas is not a compact member. Each contract bullet names the state, setting and patient load, and one bullet shows how fast she learns a new records system. Use it if a recruiter or travel manager will read your resume first.
Home-state license marked, with each privilege on its own line
Contracts grouped under one agency, each with state and setting
Separate Texas license for work outside the compact
Write NBCOT and your state license as separate lines
List NBCOT certification and each state license as separate credential entries, because hiring managers check them separately. A VA posting asks for current NBCOT certification and a full, current, unrestricted state license. A California school district asks for NBCOT, a California Board of Occupational Therapy license and CPR and First Aid.
OTR means NBCOT has certified you, so use it only while that certification is current. Whether you add an L for the license depends on your state. Missouri requires OT/L or OTR/L, but Texas allows only OT or OTR.
Name each license by state and issuing board, such as Texas ECPTOTE, the California Board of Occupational Therapy or the Illinois IDFPR, and give the year it was issued. Add the expiration date when it runs well past your start date, such as an Illinois license that expires on December 31, 2027.
Check both dates before you send the resume. NBCOT renews every three years and each state renews on its own schedule, so one can lapse while the other is current.
Credential lines for a licensed OT
Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR), NBCOT, 2019
Texas Occupational Therapist License, Texas ECPTOTE, 2019
Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider, American Heart Association, 2025
Write OTR and the application date until your license arrives
A new graduate lists each step that has happened: the degree, the NBCOT result and the month the license application went in. Employers expect the gap. The VA can appoint a graduate OT at GS-9 while certification or licensure is pending, but won't promote them until both are held.
If you haven't passed the NBCOT exam yet, list the month your exam is scheduled and leave OTR out of your title. In Illinois, a letter of authorization lets you work under supervision for six months before you pass, but it is not a license, so list it under its own name.
Put Level II fieldwork in the experience section with dates, setting and caseload. Until your first job, it is your clinical experience.
Gives each step with its date
Tomasz Wieczorek, MS, OTR
Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR), NBCOT, August 2026
Illinois Occupational Therapist License, application submitted to IDFPR, September 2026
Claims a license that hasn't been issued
Tomasz Wieczorek, MS, OTR/L
Licensed occupational therapist, State of Illinois
Match your bullets to what each setting checks
The setting decides what a bullet has to prove. A school director looks for IEP numbers, a home health agency for homebound visits and OASIS, and a hand clinic for post-surgical protocols. Use the row for the job you want, even if your current job is in a different setting.
Put a number in every bullet that has one: patients a day, students on the caseload, evaluations a year, orthoses a week. Name the assessment or scoring tool too, because reviewers look for terms like Section GG, Beery VMI and QuickDASH.
Setting
What the bullet proves
What to include
Acute care hospital
Safe evaluation of medically complex patients and quick discharge recommendations
Patients a day, units covered, ICU early mobility, equipment and discharge recommendations, Epic or another record system
Inpatient rehab
Daily intensive therapy and measured functional gains
Diagnoses treated, OT time within the 3 hours of daily therapy, Section GG scoring on the IRF-PAI, team conferences, family training
School district
Evaluations and goals that support a student's IEP
Students on IEPs, schools covered, evaluations a year, assessment names, one measurable goal, classroom consultation
Home health
Safe daily function at home for Medicare homebound patients
Visits a day, area covered, OASIS assessments, home modifications, caregiver training, coordination with the RN case manager
Hand or outpatient clinic
Recovery after surgery and work injuries
Diagnoses and surgeries, orthoses fabricated, surgeon protocols, outcome measures such as QuickDASH, work status reports
VA medical center
Seating, mobility and neurological care for veterans
Wheelchair and seating evaluations, hand splinting, neurological diagnoses, BLS
Travel contract
Fast starts in unfamiliar facilities
Contract length, state and setting, the license or compact privilege used, record systems learned
List every state license, and each compact privilege by state
Give each state its own credential line, because an employer can only place you in states where you hold a license or a compact privilege. A traveler licensed in Ohio and Texas lists both, each with its issuing board and year.
The OT Compact lets an OT practice in other member states through a compact privilege, which counts as a license in that state. As of October 5, 2026, the compact had more than 35 member states, but only 10 were issuing privileges: Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. That list changes often, so check otcompact.gov before you name a state.
You apply through CompactConnect from a home state, which must be an issuing member state where you live and hold an unencumbered license. Write each privilege on its own line, such as OT Compact Privilege, Tennessee, 2026, and mark your home-state license so the reader sees what the privileges depend on. Every privilege ends when your home-state license expires, and you buy new ones each time you renew.
Texas, California, Illinois and New York are not compact members, so a job in any of them still needs that state's own license. If you've applied for one, list it with the application month, the same way a new graduate lists a pending license.
Questions about OT credentials, degrees and fieldwork
