Four Ways to Build Your Résumé as a Student
Jessica Gaffney, Gannon University
As students, we all regularly hear advice like “gain some experience,” “build your résumé,” and “network, network, network.” Professors encourage us to get clinical experience, while our parents tell us to get our foot in the door somewhere. This is not always as easy as it seems, though. As someone without an occupational therapy degree, who doesn’t already have experience, and who may not currently have any connections in the field, it can be tough to figure out where to start as a student. You may find yourself asking, “When I’m interviewing for jobs after OT school, what kind of experience will I talk about?” My question to you is, does your experience have to come from a hospital or clinic? There are ample opportunities out there for students to build strong résumé points that don’t directly involve occupational therapy. I encourage you to step out and look at some more unique settings.
Here are four ideas for volunteer experiences to help get you started:
1. Therapeutic Horseback Riding
One opportunity that I stumbled upon was volunteering in therapeutic horseback riding and hippotherapy. Both are branches of Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT). Hippotherapy is a therapeutic activity that utilizes a horse and is facilitated by an occupational therapist, physical therapist, or speech-language pathologist. In contrast, therapeutic riding is a more general way of using a horse to improve an individual’s physical, cognitive, or psychosocial well-being. Both hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding are great ways for students to gain experience with client populations that are likely to be seen by occupational therapy practitioners across a variety of settings. Many individuals with common diagnoses, such as autism, ADHD, stroke, and much more, participate in and benefit from these activities. Further, these activities often involve equipment and tools that are seen in more traditional clinic settings, including mechanical lifts and sensorimotor toys. I volunteered as a side walker at a therapeutic riding program where I walked beside the horse and rider to assist in any way I could. For example, some riders had difficulty sitting upright due to decreased trunk control, so I provided additional stability by supporting one side of their body. This program also used a sensory trail to get children more involved by doing fun activities like ring tosses and tic-tac-toe. Settings like this often rely on volunteers to keep their programs running. They are a great way to immerse yourself in a therapy setting, gain valuable experience, and open doors to future opportunities as an occupational therapy practitioner.
2. Child-Centered Programs
Many children’s day care centers, after school programs, and camps are continually looking for competent staff members and volunteers. Most programs like these are required to meet a certain staff-to-child ratio, and therefore are often eager to recruit more help. For those looking to work in a pediatric setting someday, your scientific and creative background as an occupational therapy student will look great to a program like this. Spending time with children of different ages is beneficial for building a strong foundation of knowledge about the developmental stages that children progress through. It can also help you develop a toolbox of children’s activities that can be adapted to work on skills addressed in occupational therapy. For example, at my day care job, I found myself applying behavioral theories that I had learned in my pediatric occupational therapy class while working with children to develop their fine motor and letter recognition skills. Talking to parents of the children you work with provides further opportunities to cultivate professional communication skills. The ability to discuss a child’s behaviors with their parents in a professional manner is a skill that translates into the ability to discuss difficult topics with future clients and their family members.
3. Community Habilitation Programs
Most communities also have programs for adults with developmental disabilities, including day habilitation and assisted-living facilities. Once again, these types of programs are often looking for volunteers. They often give students the opportunity to communicate with a variety of individuals, get to know people on a personal level, and assist people with disabilities to complete daily activities and adapt their lifestyles. For example, one day habilitation program I have been involved with works on communication skills with their residents. One resident I met had never used American Sign Language before and instead used his own set of unique hand symbols to communicate. A volunteer at the program worked with him to develop a communication board that incorporated his hand symbols along with typical language so his friends and family could better understand him. This kind of experience can demonstrate your involvement in helping someone improve their daily functioning.
4. Special Olympics
Special Olympics is often run by volunteers, and most regions have several programs. Depending on the region, Special Olympics offers a variety of sports including bowling, basketball, softball, swimming, track and field, soccer, tennis and many more for both children and adults with intellectual disabilities. If one sport doesn’t spark your interest, chances are another one will. Getting certified as a volunteer or coach is relatively simple and can generally even be done through an online training. These volunteer experiences can open up the door to meeting countless new people and developing leadership skills. Just as occupational therapy seeks to foster person-occupation-environment fit for our clients, Special Olympics is all about adapting sports to fit the abilities of all athletes. For example, during softball, athletes typically work on fielding, where they reach down to stop a ball with their mitt. One athlete I worked with uses a wheelchair and was unable to bend down to the ground to do this activity. Our idea to adapt the activity was to have her on the ground, wearing catcher protection equipment, while working on this skill. Using this new skill, she was able to participate in the fielding event during the next annual softball tournament. Showing the ability to problem solve to meet individual client needs is essential, regardless of setting.
Take-Home Points
Think about what interests you. Is it animals? Children? Adults? Sports? Something totally different and unique? Pursue that interest while you work toward your OT degree. Chances are somewhere nearby, there’s a community program that exists that ties your passion to OT and can provide you with some quality networking and résumé-building experience. Community settings often provide students the freedom to get hands-on experience and uniquely grow through experiential learning. Take advantage of your time as a student to branch out, make some phone calls, and find something different from what employers are used to hearing. It may prove to be even more valuable than getting your foot in the door of a traditional clinic. Who knows what job opportunities may pop up for occupational therapy practitioners in community settings like the ones you discover.
Jessica Gaffney is a 4th year occupational therapy student working towards her master’s degree at Gannon University in Erie, PA. Jessica has spent her time at Gannon serving as the Service Chair and Treasurer of the Student Occupational Therapy Association. She attended the AOTA Annual Conference & Expo as her school’s Assembly of Student Delegates representative in 2018. Jessica is passionate about working with kids and being creative. She hopes to use her career to bring creative solutions to individuals in both the pediatric and adult rehabilitation settings.