Your Guide to Non-Traditional OT Jobs

If you've been thinking about exploring non-traditional occupational therapy jobs, this post is for you. In it, we guide you through the initial stages of self assessment and exploring specific non-clinical career paths.

There probably isn’t an OT provider out there who hasn’t thought about taking a break from patient care. Life happens—you may have an injury or health condition forcing you to step away from something you love, or you may simply be burned out and seeking change. Family or community commitments can also change over the years, which can impact your desire and ability to work in clinical care.

The desire to change to a non-traditional occupational therapy career—whether temporary or permanent—is normal.

Luckily, there are tons of alternative jobs that you can land with your occupational therapy degree.

The good news is that those jobs are certainly out there! The not-so-good news is that you need to be a bit more strategic about pursuing such jobs, at least compared to clinical roles. We’ve created this guide to get you started, and to help you find the top resources for making a career pivot.

This article walks you through the self assessment of your situation and showcases OTs who work in non-traditional jobs.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

 

What is non-traditional OT work?

For the purposes of this article, “non-traditional” refers to anything outside of conventional hands-on patient care roles. Office jobs, sales jobs, ergonomics/workplace evaluator jobs, telehealth jobs, and assistive technology jobs are all considered non-traditional (or “non-clinical” or “unconventional”) in this article.

Cash-based OT, early intervention, nature-based OT and other types of niche roles are not considered non-traditional for the purposes of this article.


 

Assess your unique situation

A career change can affect more than just you. Family members, significant others, and even friends might feel the impact of your change, so it’s vital to consider how much of a change makes sense for you at any given time. Any career transition requires self-discipline and time. Some careers require additional education or training, or they might necessitate relocation. Some require that you take a steep pay cut to enter the field.

If you’re wrinkling your nose at such ideas, it doesn’t mean you can’t pursue non-traditional work—but being open-minded and willing to shake things up certainly broadens your options.

Do you actually want to leave patient care?

Some people think they want to leave patient care, but they really want to escape bad managers, shady corporations, or unrealistic productivity expectations.

It’s definitely advisable for new grads (or people who have only worked in one setting) to consider whether they should spend a little more time in patient care before switching gears. It’s not necessary, but it’s helps you feel committed psychologically when you feel you’ve truly exhausted all options in clinical care before trying something new.

Can you move?

Not all unconventional OT jobs require relocation, but many do. For example, sales, business development, and clinical/patient trainer jobs often require you to cover a particular territory, which might be far from where you live. Some roles (especially with rehab tech companies) may enable remote work—but in some cases, you’ll be expected to work onsite, which might even mean you need to relocate to a pricey city.

Can you earn less money?

Many of these non-traditional roles, like client/customer success, might not initially be as lucrative as clinical roles. That said, after you’ve spent a few years getting your feet wet, you are more likely to catch up to (and often far exceed) what you were making as a clinician.

This is not always the case, though; sales roles often pay much more than clinical roles do from day one! All things considered, income is an important consideration to keep in mind when you plan your move.

Can you absorb the risk of having a gap in pay?

As noted above, financial considerations are real. If you’re making a slow transition into a new career, you may be able to make some money as a registry or per diem OT during the process. If you’re making a sudden jump to a non-traditional role, be aware that you might have a gap in pay while you return to school, job hunt, etc.

Do you have upfront time and money you can invest in a certification or new skill set?

This is an important question. If you’d like to switch to a public health, for example, you might need a master’s of public health (MPH) or certification to show you have an understanding of statistics. You can take coursework online or explore community college programs near you, but both will require an investment of your money and your time.

Are you OK starting small?

One of the biggest challenges of switching to a non-traditional OT job is the feeling that you’re a small fish in a big pond. As clinicians, we are usually pretty comfortable with our clinical skills, even if we don’t know everything. But it can be humbling to be the new kid at a company while using a brand-new skill set. It can be a strange feeling to start to self-identify as something other than an OT.


 

Explore different options/gain experience before leaving your day job

One of the hardest parts of leaving patient care is figuring out what to do next. Here’s where working with a career coach or career counselor can be very helpful. A career coach keeps you on track and working toward your goals, while a career counselor will work with you to address underlying fears, roadblocks, and challenges that prevent you from making moves professionally.

Here are some other ways to explore what is out there.

Line up informational interviews

An informational interview is a quick conversation where you ask a professional questions about their job. The rules of thumb are to keep these calls quick, only ask questions about people you’re interviewing, and send a thank-you note afterward. While some informational interviews do turn into jobs or mentorship opportunities, you should never assume this will be the case.

Here is an article that covers what to ask in an informational interview.

If tapping people to ask for their time gives you the heebie jeebies, don’t worry! Meredith has a huge list of non-clinical career spotlights on her site. These articles are basically done-for-you informational interviews of all sorts of rehab professionals in non-traditional roles 🙂

Go to a healthcare hackathon

If you’re interested in a career in rehab technology—and you can afford the time and cost—you must try out a healthcare hackathon. These are weekend events where you’ll team up with engineering and business professionals, as well as other clinicians, to tackle big problems in healthcare. They’re an excellent introduction into the world of startups, not to mention a great networking opportunity!

While the hackathon scene has slowed down a bit because of the pandemic and economic changes, a good Google search shows they’re still taking place.

Explore The Non-Clinical PT

The Non-Clinical PT

Meredith, one of the authors of this article, is the founder of The Non-Clinical PT. They provide pathways to non-traditional career opportunities for all rehab professionals, including PTs, OTs, SLPs, and assistants. The site is chock-full of great information to help you launch a non-traditional OT career.

Here are a few resources offered by The Non-Clinical PT:

  • Non-Clinical Jobs and Networking for PT/OT/SLP Professionals – This is a free Facebook group where you can connect with other non-traditional OT, PT, SLP professionals.
  • Non-Clinical Career Crash Courses – These are low-cost courses designed to help you pursue specific career paths in the non-clinical world. With each course enrollment, you get job application materials (sample resumes, sample cover letters, etc.) and recommendations for how to interview, search for jobs, and more!
  • Non-Clinical 101: The Complete Guide to Launching Your Non-Clinical Career (Save $75). This is Meredith’s flagship course. It is designed for people who know they want to pivot to a new career, but aren’t sure what they want to do, nor how to create resumes, find jobs, interview, negotiate, etc. Non-Clinical 101 gives lifetime access to a proven four-step system that helps you identify which roles are best suited for you, then walks you through the process of getting there. The course comes with tons of resume downloads, interview prep materials, self-assessment activities, and early access to non-clinical jobs. Plus, you get ALL of her crash courses included with your enrollment. If you use the affiliate link above, you can save $75 on lifetime enrollment!
Meredith Castin of the Non-Clinical PT

Our friend, Meredith Castin, will walk you through launching your non-clinical career

Network, network, network

Networking has a new meaning since the pandemic struck, but there are plenty of ways you can make connections.

First of all, you can join some of the free Facebook groups below.

You can also look outside the rehab world and join groups geared toward the career path(s) of your choice.

There are also plenty of in-person events out there. Some professional organizations have built a non-clinical presence, and there are tons of groups out there for all sorts of career paths.

In preparation for these events, you’ll want to:

Print some business cards.

You’ll want to have your title and a personal email address on hand for anytime you meet folks at networking events, healthcare hackathons, or even happy hours!

Get a professional headshot.

A headshot is an easy way to start establishing your personal brand. Use it on your LinkedIn page, in your bylines, and for your online profile in professional networking groups. I (Sarah) got one done in the early stages of my website and, honestly, it has just made life easier. It feels like every company I work with requests my headshot at some point.

Identify problems that you would love to solve

If you develop a skill set that solves a specific problem that people are having—and a problem that you enjoy solving—you will become extremely marketable.

For example, most OTs and PTs have a very difficult time selling themselves and their services, and very few are savvy with social media and digital marketing. If you make yourself an expert salesperson, or you learn the ins and outs of online sales strategies, you will easily excel in a role as a social media manager, or where you’re marketing (selling) rehab practitioners’ services.

For me (Sarah), my hobby of writing an OT blog became a career when I switched my mindset. Rather than seeing my website as a fun pastime, I realized that I was serving fellow OTs—I was solving a problem by filling in gaps in the information about OT careers that was available online. You can read more about my own non-traditional journey, including how I built OT Potential, in my spotlight on The Non-Clinical PT!

I made solving this problem my focus and went after the skills I would need to solve it:

  • I read about copywriting.
  • I learned about website building.
  • I studied how I could make my articles align with the questions people ask.

Start making some money

Unless you get really lucky and land the first non-traditional job you apply to, you’ll probably wind up slowly easing out of your day job and into your new career. If you’re a writer, designer, usability expert or anything else, once you have your basic skills established, a great place to start is by picking up freelance work.


 

9 popular non-traditional OT jobs

There are many avenues your non-traditional OT career could take, but here we highlight nine of the most common.

1. Writing

Writing is one of the easiest switches you can make, but you have to be willing to put in lots of time, and you might take a pretty steep pay cut at the beginning. Writing is awesome, though. It’s flexible, you can do it from anywhere, and it’s really easy and fun if it comes naturally to you. You’ll know if you’re one of those people pretty quickly 🙂

Even if you love writing, but have some questions about grammar or earning money, there are courses you can take that will expedite the process. That said, you don’t need any additional training to write for your next career!

How to get there:

The first thing you’ll need as a writer is to get published online. You can start your own blog, or you can reach out to websites to get published and start racking up some bylines. A byline is an attribution for authorship of an article. Sometimes it’s accompanied by a picture and short bio. Your first byline is most difficult to attain.

Here are some examples (Meredith’s is cooler):

Your first by-line is an important step to your writing career!
Here's Sarah's first byline.

Consider reaching out to write a guest post for your favorite publication. Here are some sites that sometimes accept high-quality guest posts from occupational therapists.

Once you have a few published articles under your name, you can start using sites like Upwork to start getting freelance and contract work.

If you want more info, here’s a comprehensive guide on Meredith’s site that covers transitioning from clinician to copywriter. She also offers a great Non-Clinical Crash Course on Writing. This course covers the difference between health and medical writing, and it has resume and cover letter templates, as well as interview practice questions and advice.

2. Education

The world of education is filled with opportunities for OTs. You can become an OT professor, an adjunct instructor, a tutor, a subject matter expert, or a con-ed instructor.

How to get there:

Given the number of paths you can take within education, there’s really no one set path to get there. Definitely contact your school’s alumni association to see if there’s anything you can do to network or put your name out there.

You’ll also want to beef up your resume to reflect any research, tutoring, lab assisting, or clinical instructor roles you’ve held since your student years. If you were a career changer, any previous leadership or instructing roles are relevant, too!

Reach out to companies like MedBridge, OccupationalTherapy.com, and Embodia Academy; if you’ve got quite a bit of niche clinical experience, you may be able to teach a course with them!

Also, check out Arameh’s interview on her career path into OT academia and what she has found fulfilling and challenging about it. 

Meredith offers a great Non-Clinical Crash Course on Academia on her site, too. It has templates for your CV, resume, and cover letter, and it provides guidance on the interview and presentation parts of landing a role.

3. Consulting

OTs are usability experts, and we’re perfectly positioned to take on consulting roles involving workplace safety, design challenges, and the removal of barriers in parks, office buildings, and residential complexes.

We can also move into roles where we consult with practices to help them improve their billing and workflow practices. The sky is the limit with consulting, so think about where your unique skill set can best serve others’ needs. Remember, if you identify a way that you can solve someone else’s problem, you’ll be very marketable!

How to get there:

This is one of those times when you’ll have to get out and volunteer and network as much as possible. When there is new construction in your area (especially smaller projects like parks or municipal buildings), reach out and offer your services for free. Then list those experiences on your resume.

If you’re lucky enough to live near any of the 10 ADA centers in the U.S., you can also offer to volunteer. Once you’ve made contacts with key players in the contracting and architecture/design industries, you can really beef up your resume (or maybe even your references, if you make nice)!

Non-Clinical 101 also contains an entire lesson to help you learn how to identify your marketable skills, find clients, and price yourself.

4. Management

Director of Rehab and OT Supervisor probably sound familiar to you. They may be some of the few non-traditional roles you’ve considered, because for years, they were the only ones with real visibility for OTs.

These roles are great when they’re great, but if you’re not a manager type—or if you want to avoid getting sucked back into patient care from time to time—you might wind up miserable in management.

How to get there:

When you’re a staff OT, ask to help out in as many unique and unconventional ways as possible. Organize lunches and in-services. Offer to cover the scheduling board or take point on busy days.

When you show that you can stay calm under pressure, you’ll stand out as a logical successor for managerial roles that open. Even if you don’t move up in your existing company, you can list what you’ve done on your resume and start applying for lead roles at other facilities.

5. Rehab liaison

If you love patient care, but hate the physical and emotional toll it takes, definitely look into becoming a rehab liaison (or clinical liaison). Rehab liaisons, also known as “intake coordinators” or “intake liaisons,” are responsible for finding the right patients for inpatient rehab facilities/inpatient rehab units (IRFs/IRUs).

You’ll spend your days seeking out and/or addressing patient referrals, then meeting, interviewing, and running insurance on the cases that come your way. Liaisons face quotas, so if you hate productivity requirements, you might not enjoy this role. That said, the quotas are usually very reasonable, unlike clinical productivity expectations these days!

How to get there:

Try to work in multiple acute care hospitals within your region and get to know the case managers in those facilities. This might mean picking up a few per diem OT jobs for a year and networking as much as possible with case management during that time. Then, when you apply for the rehab liaison roles, play up your connections big time—you’ll need them! Also, note any experience you have with running insurance or auditing charts. It’ll help your case!

6. User experience/user interface (UX/UI)

Usability is what we know as OTs! There are tons of software and tech companies that need help with usability. The main issue is that, even though we have the perfect background for these roles, we are not landing them. This is a real issue that we OTs need to address as soon as possible.

It’s not just young, tech-savvy OTs going into usability design, either—check out this inspiring story about a 90-year-old occupational therapist who’s helping design products for older adults at IDEO.

How to get there:

You’re going to need to network as much as possible. Go to usability meetups. Join online forums. Also, you’ll definitely want to take few courses on usability and user experience to legitimize yourself as a candidate. The initial leap into a non-traditional role will be the most challenging, but once you’re there, you’ll rock it!

Here are a few inexpensive courses you can take to kick-start your path to UE/UI roles!

If these courses seem a bit daunting (even though they’re designed for relative beginners), consider taking a basic course in Adobe Photoshop, like this one!

7. Assistive technology professional and/or seating mobility specialist

If you enjoy working with patients, but you hate the time constraints and pressure of traditional settings, you can consider a role as an assistive technology personnel (ATP) or seating mobility specialist (SMS). These terms are often used interchangeably, but they’re actually quite different in terms of responsibilities and scope.

  • ATP professionals create accessibility technology for those with disabilities. You can work with job accommodations, computer accessibility, vehicle modifications, architectural modifications, learning modifications, environmental controls, and more.
  • SMS professionals are actually specialized ATPs! They spend their days creating seating, positioning, and mobility solutions for people with disabilities, and tend to spend quite a bit of their days working with wheelchairs.   

How to get there:

You’ll need special certifications from Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America for both ATP and SMS roles. This means a time commitment—and, yes, a money commitment. You’ll also need to take exams to get certified.

8. Home safety professional

If you enjoy working with new people all the time, you might really enjoy a job in home modification (also known as home safety). These roles are ideal for OTs who have an eye for noticing potential hazards in people’s homes.

You’ll spend your days scrutinizing environments, then making recommendations to ensure they are free from hazards and have injury prevention measures in place.

How to get there:

If you’re going in this direction, check out Home Modification OT Alliance! Networking is also vital. Attend mixers with local home builders, contractors, and corporate development firms. Get business cards printed with your OT credentials (and any other special certifications you pursue).

9. Health Tech

Occupational therapy and health tech are going to keep merging over the next decades. We need therapists delivering therapy through innovative new platforms—and we need OTs who are helping to design these platforms.

How to get there:

In our interview with Kaia Health Product Manager, Winnie Tsui, OTL, CHT, MBA, Winnie shares the importance of building (and showcasing) a pathway into tech via stepping stones. In her own journey into tech, she started with consulting on the side and this grew into full time opportunities.

For your own journey into health tech, we’ve made this post of influential health tech companies for you to look into. Find your favorites, then watch their career pages to see if one of the positions might be for you!

occupational therapy technology

 

OTs who are rocking non-clinical work

Seeing is believing, and these occupational therapists have successfully transitioned into non-clinical roles! Take a look at all the interesting ways you can leverage that OT degree, if you’re ever ready to try something new!

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Conclusion

It is possible. There are people doing it. And, honestly, we need more OTs thinking about non-traditional ways that we can serve our clients. 

Looking creatively at your career and skill set may enable you to help more people than ever would have been possible in 1:1 therapy.

We hope this article helped you think of some new ways you can reimagine your career!

Got more questions for us? Leave them in the comments! 


About the Authors

Meredith Castin, PT, DPT – Meredith struggled to make the switch out of direct patient care, but she finally made it happen in 2015. The next two years showed her that others wanted guidance on doing the same. So, Meredith decided to put together some resources to make the switch easier for others. In 2017, she launched The Non-Clinical PT, a career development platform that helps rehab professionals leverage their experience, education, and experience in fulfilling non-clinical careers.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L – Sarah wasn’t looking to leave patient care, but about five years into her career, realized that she could potentially help more patients by serving occupational therapists through her website, OT Potential. She now spends her work days connecting OTs with new research in the OT Potential Club. She is also the host of the OT Potential Podcast.


CEUs via Podcast based exclusively on new research

17 replies on “Your Guide to Non-Traditional OT Jobs”

Disability Access Consulting is also an emerging role for OTs. I work in architecture/construction to ensure public spaces are disability accessible. It combines theory and functional knowledge of people and occupation, with the creative skills of design. A perfect match for me!
Tanisha Cowell

I am excited to see non-traditional jobs being promoted, and there are more than just the opportunities listed above!! Occupational injustices present an exciting non-traditional/non-clinical community based setting in which to do holistic OT treatment. Going non-traditional doesn’t need to mean non- treatment! Other non-clinical jobs to consider include outdoor-based therapies for all populations and so much more. OT has so much potential and I encourage all practitioners out there to follow their passion and use their skills to enable the potential of any population in any setting who needs increased holistic health:)

This is such an excellent point…it’s so important to hone in on what fits best with you, your life, and your individual needs/interests. Whether treating or not treating, OTs have so much to offer the world!

Very informative & encouraging site! Glad I found you at the perfect time in my career.

Hi Sarah! Thank you that means a lot! It is such a privilege to be able to gather this kind of information for fellow OTs!

Love the examples of people highlighted in non-traditional roles at the end! I bet an OT could find a rehab equipment sales job if they wanted or something similar. Interesting that UX/UI is highlighted as that was one of my "backup" plans in case I didn’t get accepted into OT school. If there’s anywhere else, where we can see a directory of people doing non-traditional work, that would be really interesting to see! Thanks for the great article 🙂

Thank you, Andy! Definitely…equipment sales jobs are perfect for OTs and OTAs! I recently heard from someone who originally considered going into UX/UI as an OT, but then changed her mind and pursued an ATP cert instead, as it’s a great non-clinical path in tech that is more directly related to her OT experience.

I graduated with a masters in occupational therapy however I have taken the board exam and have been unsuccessful after several attempts. I am working as a paraprofessional in the school but I feel I can find something that uses my knowledge and skills closer to what I went to school for. Any suggestions?

Just happened upon this outstanding website!!!! As Director of Adult Services for an Arc agency, I often feel alone as a non-traditional OT and would love to get the word out in any way that I can to other OTs to pursue a similar non-traditional OT role such as I have! Through my work, I have been able to promote the profession as well as take on multiple Level II students even during the pandemic to learn about community based OT. If there is anything that I can do here on this website or collaborate with evidenced based research or any type of publication to get this good word out, please do let me know!!! Rock on, OTs!!! 🙂

Hi Karen! I would love to connect with you and chat – is there a way to share contact info here? I am an OT with 20+ years experience in SNF but really needing a change. I have always been drawn to community based services but making the leap is daunting…I would appreciate any insight you have or suggestions for getting started in that direction.

I am very interested in this also. Have a few yrs of home health under my belt and haven’t worked for a few years. Would like to return in a position of managing or directing somewhere other than rehab if not there. Thank you so much!

Hi Karen ! I loved reading your post! I am a COTA working in a non traditional setting. I love it but I am struggling with some things. I would love to connect with someone who I can just connect with and get some feedback.

Always appreciate the content and the transparency! Thank you so much for this specific post – I think as creative as we OTs are it’s so hard to envision a career outside of direct patient care with the fear of judgment and let down (from others and ourselves). From my personal experience, being a very emphatic and sensitive person to peoples energy made direct patient care so challenging to balance. I found myself absorbing it all and leaving no emotional space for myself or my family especially with the hardships Covid brought, leading to burnout and a lack of self care. I transitioned from working in SNF/ Home health to now working as a clinical liaison after having a small ergonomics consultation business in Hawaii (Aging with Aloha) and it’s been a great fit.
It’s been such a fun journey and the amount of knowledge I have gained is invaluable! Way to open this conversation and look forward to keeping in touch.

I loved reading your post! I am a COTA working in a non traditional setting. I love it but I am struggling with some things. I would love to connect with someone who I can just connect with and get some feedback. Can we share contact information on here
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