Once you graduate from St. Catherine’s online Occupational Therapy Assistant program, you may feel relieved to never have to crack open a book for hours of studying for exams. However, your education is never over when you work in the medical field. Keep your textbooks and you’ll have a reliable resource as you start your OTA career. Utilize these other resources to land your dream job and grow as an occupational therapy assistant.
Resources to Land Your Job:
As all-encompassing as your education is, not many universities offer courses on writing your resume or finding a job. While you may have the knowledge and background to start your new career, you may not have any clue where to start looking for your first post-graduation job or how to get that job.
Resume-Resource.com
A crucial skill you must have to get a job is to know how to create a resume and cover letter. While you could easily use a template or find a website that creates a resume for you, it’s important that your resume stand apart. Don’t rely on someone else to illustrate your experiences. After all, who knows your skills and education better than you? Take a look at resume-resource.com for writing tips and examples, as well as medical resume examples.
CareerVitals.com
Once you’ve perfected your resume, be sure to look for OTA positions wisely. Instead of relying on everyday job-searching websites, utilize Career Vitals, a search engine meant specifically for positions in the medical field. This will make the job searching process infinitely easier and less stressful.
In today’s social-media-driven world, it’s no surprise that your online presence can affect your job search. While it may be common sense to keep your presence on Twitter and Facebook conservative and respectful or to keep them private, LinkedIn was created to cater to your professional life.
It’s important to build up your professional contacts while you’re completing your OTA education, both with your educators and peers in classes, labs and fieldwork. LinkedIn will help you keep track of your contacts and help you forge new ones. You can also follow interesting businesses and companies that are related to your field, so the most recent and interesting news regarding occupational therapy is right at your fingertips. LinkedIn is an ideal site for job searches; the companies you follow or people you’re connected with may post open positions, so you’ll be one of the first to see them and may even know someone who can recommend you for these positions.
Resources for Working in Occupational Therapy:
The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.
Whether you’re an occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant or an OTA student, joining the AOTA can provide major benefits. The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. focuses on bringing together professionals and improving occupational therapy services. There are members in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The AOTA website gives details on what occupational therapy is, information on continuing your education, current policies that could affect the field, upcoming occupational therapy conferences and events and recent news regarding occupational therapy and the AOTA. A list of resources for occupational therapists, OTAs and OTA students is readily available for you to utilize in your practice, whether you work with the young, the elderly or in a rehabilitation service.
This handy website is perfect for pediatric occupational therapy assistants. You can choose which skills you want your patient to improve upon and what materials you have that could work towards improving those skills. New activity ideas are updated daily with explanations on what to do and what skills are improved with these activities. You can even contribute to the site with suggestions of your own. Featured articles explain various aspects of working in occupational therapy, including what kind of patients you may see. OTPlan.com even has current job listings you can apply to.
While many may consider Pinterest a site solely for sharing wedding tips, party decorations, recipes and craft ideas, Pinterest offers a lot more resources than that. Whether you’re looking for some thought-provoking blogs, fresh ideas for patient interactions or tips on transferring specialties, Pinterest is a goldmine for fresh content.
Excited about the possibilities as an occupational therapy assistant? Take a look at St. Catherine’s flexible and fast 16-month online OTA program and get in touch with an advisor today!
