Finally secured my first job as a New Grad OT | How I did it

A huge professional milestone! It was honestly a challenging task securing this first job, especially as a new grad occupational therapist. For some reason I had the notion that once I graduated occupational therapy school, passed my NBCOT exam, and obtained my state licensure that securing my first job would be a seamless process. In this episode, I discuss how I approached the OT job hunting period, how I modified it over time, and how I ebbed and flowed through the different phases during this job search. Overall, it was a transformative experience and ultimately it came down to 3 occupational therapy job offers out of numerous job applications. Timestamps: (1:08) Brief OT resume prep, using LinkedIn (3:45) No response after sending out initial job applications (4:23) Widening my job search parameters, theories & realizations of why I'm not getting any job offers (7:30) Organizing OT jobs in tiers | Tier 1 (my "dream" jobs), (9:10) Tier 2 (practical/stepping stone job) | adapting to change in timelines and plans (12:00) Tier 3 (not actively pursuing) (13:45) Demystify work/job benefits | health insurance, student loan forgiveness | what do you need and what do you want? (14:53) Asking your level 2 fieldwork site/clinical instructor (16:10) Working as an OT/PT rehab aide | staying afloat, honing my patient interaction skills, getting my foot in the door (18:01) Applying to jobs is a full-time job! (19:30) Finally hearing back | maintaining confidence during this time | the story of 3 job opportunities (24:20) The dream job is out there | trusting the process TLDL = Too Long Didn't Listen (25:31) | Key takeaways Follow Once Upon OT on insta: https://www.instagram.com/once_upon_ot/ Thank you for reading along!