Job Description: Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.
Is Occupational Therapist the right career path for you?
Take the MyMajors Quiz and find out if it fits one of your top recommended majors!
Importance | Skills |
---|---|
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. | |
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. | |
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people. | |
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. | |
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. | |
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. | |
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something. | |
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. | |
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. | |
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively. | |
Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. | |
Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. | |
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. | |
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others. | |
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. | |
Operations Analysis - Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design. | |
Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes. | |
Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system. | |
Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior. | |
Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences. | |
Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job. | |
Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems. |
Importance | Knowledge |
---|---|
Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance. | |
Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. | |
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. | |
Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures. | |
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. | |
Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects. | |
Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment. | |
Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins. | |
Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. | |
Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology. | |
Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture. | |
Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media. | |
Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. |
Importance | Styles |
---|---|
Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical. | |
Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. | |
Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. | |
Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. | |
Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. | |
Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. | |
Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. | |
Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job. | |
Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. | |
Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. | |
Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems. | |
Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. | |
Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. | |
Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. | |
Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. | |
Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. |