How to become a physical and occupational therapist: 66 beginner jobs open today

1. Know what the work is. A physical and occupational therapist helps people recover movement and everyday skills after injury, illness or surgery. Beginner postings today use titles like Contracted In-Home Occupational Therapist; Virtual Speech Language Pathologist (SLP); Physical Therapist / PT (Home Health); Occupational Therapist / OT (Home Health); Rehab Aide II.
2. Learn the duties, not only the tools. Postings for this work describe what you will do more than which software you will use: read ten of them and list the duties that repeat.
3. Build proof you can show. Two or three results with a number, from a job, a course project or volunteer work. The kind of line a recruiter looks for: “Ran about 30 experiments a month and kept records that passed 2 audits with no finding”.
4. Write the resume and the letter. Start from the physical and occupational therapist resume example and the cover letter example, and replace every line with your own.
5. Apply where beginners are hired. 66 of today’s 652 open physical and occupational therapist jobs are junior or intern roles or ask for two years of experience or less. See the open jobs and check each one with the resume match checker before you apply.

Patient care (57%), CPR (27%), Driver's license (10%), EHR (10%), BLS (6%), Clinical trials (4%), Medicare and Medicaid (3%), RN license (3%), Behavioral health (2%), Customer service (2%) of today’s 652 open physical and occupational therapist postings name them. Learn the first three well before the rest.

The step is the level word in the job title; “No level in the title” is usually the mid-level role. After senior, people move into lead, staff or principal roles, or into managing a team. What each level means.

• Build one piece of work you can show and talk about in an interview.
• Take one short course in the field and finish it with a project, not only a certificate.
• Keep a list of your results with numbers, updated every month: it becomes your resume lines and your interview stories.
• Find one person a few years ahead of you in this work and ask for a 20-minute talk each quarter.

• Headline: the title employers search for, then your strongest skills and one result: “Physical and Occupational Therapist | [one result with a number]”.
• About: three short paragraphs: what you do, two results with numbers, what you want next.
• Skills section: list the skills postings name, in their words: Patient care, CPR, Driver's license, EHR, BLS.
• Open to work: set the job titles and places you want; recruiters filter by them.

Write the headline with the LinkedIn headline generator.

How much experience do physical and occupational therapist jobs ask for?

The median in today’s postings is 2 years; 89% of the postings that name a number ask for two years or less.

Do I need a degree to become a physical and occupational therapist?

None of today’s 652 postings say outright that no degree is required. Many others accept equivalent experience: read the requirements of each posting.

How much does a beginner physical and occupational therapist earn?

Few beginner postings state pay. Across all levels, the median advertised pay is $88K a year.

What qualifications do you need to become a physical and occupational therapist?

Employers name skills first: the duties in the posting. The median posting asks for 2 years of experience. Few postings ask for a specific certification.

Is AI replacing physical and occupational therapists?

Not in today’s postings: 652 physical and occupational therapist jobs are open on Jobs Every Hour as of Nov 15, 2026, and 0% of them ask for AI or machine-learning skills.