As an ABA Therapist, you use applied behavior analysis (ABA) to help people overcome social or academic difficulties. You might work with students who struggle to get along with classmates, or you might help adults with social obstacles to become more well-adjusted during daily life.
But how do you display the right combination of scientific behavioral knowledge and strategic uses of positive and negative reinforcement on a job application? How can you share your job skills and experiences with your potential employer?
We’ve helped ABA therapists like you before. Try out our ABA therapist resume examples free cover letter builder to see how they look with your unique qualifications, and don’t forget our seasoned tips for success!
Why this resume works
- No one can become a great therapist right out of college. This is where you can shine your ABA therapist resume brighter than other candidates.
- Add any past internship experiences that you undertook while doing your bachelor’s. Add metrics of how you’ve implemented all feedback and helped patients express emotions better. This shows that you’ve managed to gain both practical and theoretical knowledge in this field.
Why this resume works
- As someone who assists in monitoring the daily progress of patients, your RBT resume has got to make a good first impression.
- The best way to do so? Simple! Just add how you’ve helped in dealing with a myriad of patient types. Having bullet points like “cutting down 41% of self-stimulatory behavior incidents among clients with ADHD” will do wonders since you’re able to show your impact on special cases.
Why this resume works
- Don’t just stop at one degree! The more you can convince your employer about your knowledge of psychology, the better!
- Even if there’s a little gap between them, add how you’ve completed your education specifically in Applied Behavior Analysis. This will give your BCBA resume more credibility over other candidates.
Why this resume works
- You don’t always need to have a behavior-specific reading set of skills such as ADOS or DRO. Simply listing down your special skills in other communication-oriented methods such as PECS and AAC will be more than enough for your behavior technician resume.
- Feel free to add other skills such as Excel or Google Sheets to showcase your ability in automation and saving time in generating reports.
Why this resume works
- The only people who can judge your ability in this role are those who’ve taken therapy from you. Your behavior therapist resume cannot be complete without a metric or two about positive feedback.
- Add how you’ve helped the families of patients through your therapy accompanied with quantified bullet points. You can also show your interest in helping people early on by mentioning any past experience in social service.
Related resume examples
Adjust Your ABA Therapist Resume to Fit the Job Description
It’s time to look at the individual role: What skills do you possess that also happen to show up on the job description? ABA therapists can work in all kinds of settings, so always double-check the job ad to make sure you aren’t pitching pediatric ABA skills to an assisted living facility!
Try to be specific and technical about your skills so your prowess within your niche is clear. Avoid anything generic like “communication” and delve into how you communicate during behavioral modification exercises.
Need some inspiration?
15 popular ABA therapist skills
- NCI
- ClassDojo
- CareLogic
- Catalyst
- BIP
- ADOS
- Google Sheets
- MS Teams
- The Behavior Analyst
- PubMed
- CentralReach
- SCQ
- Stress/Fidget Toys
- PECS
- Zoom
Your ABA therapist work experience bullet points
When re-reading the job description, don’t repeat whatever is written there. You want to show more ambition than that and use your page space wisely! Look at the job requirements and answer each need or struggle with an example of when you created a similar solution.
You’ll also need to substantiate your success stories with metrics. Give recruiters quantifiable data that backs up your strengths! Lead with active verbs and language to maintain a general tone of enthusiasm, too.
- Budget savings can show off your excellence with care planning
- Patient satisfaction percentages demonstrate your effectiveness
- Improved personal ratings reinforce how your personal qualities benefit others
- Work hours saved can show your ability to optimize both care and workflow
See what we mean?
- Streamlined quarterly reporting for the behavioral therapy department by using GraphPad Prism, lowering preparation times by 1.2 hours
- Designed personalized DRO schedules for children with autism spectrum disorder, improving 34% of classroom behaviors as reported by collaborating educators
- Evaluated and assisted in improving the client intake process, cutting wait times down from 3 weeks to 1 week
- Created an annotated bibliography from PubMed searches for a distribution to all BCBAs in the department, which served as a reference for 72% of following clinical interventions
- Integrated CentralReach’s billing features with CARD’s financial systems, contributing to 14% fewer billing errors
9 active verbs to start your ABA therapist work experience bullet points
- Evaluated
- Streamlined
- Directed
- Analyzed
- Integrated
- Overhauled
- Designed
- Created
- Optimized
3 Tips for Writing a ABA Therapist Resume Without Much Experience
- Leverage academic success
- Were you on the Dean’s list? Did you simply boast an incredible GPA while pursuing your relevant degree? The schooling leading up to your job as a qualified ABA therapist is worth the space on your resume since it prepares you so thoroughly for the role.
- Consider utilizing an objective statement
- A resume objective could be a saving grace if you’re a bit green in your field. This paragraph gives you the opportunity to lay out why you want the job, connect with the organization, and quickly lay out some of your qualifying abilities. Just don’t repeat this stuff later!
- Cite internships or other projects
- Internships are great to include, too! Did you shadow a seasoned ABA therapist to learn more about the job? Did you have an internship that familiarized you with various types of behavioral modification methods and which demographics you should encourage to participate in them?
3 Tips for Writing a ABA Therapist Resume When You Have Existing Experience
- Get critical about metrics
- Metrics are almost always bound to help, but some aren’t the best. If you have a headcount or random number of projects floating around, ask yourself how it bolsters the positive impact you made. You might have worked with 14 patients in one week, but how did that affect something like patient satisfaction or retention rates?
- List only your highest education
- Make sure you highlight only the most qualifying things about yourself on your ABA therapist resume. What degree did you most recently earn that furthers your career goals? Don’t dig into the past and list previous academic milestones that are a given at your current level!
- Leverage reverse-chronological formatting
- Oh, it looks good to put your fanciest achievements at the top! Arrange your top three or four jobs on the page with the most recent one first. Then, re-order your experience bullet points until each section leads up to a crescendo of your most impressive accomplishments and metrics in ABA therapy.
Try out any of our ABA therapist resume templates and see how they look. Compare your favorites and analyze which one makes your most relevant accomplishments shine the brightest. Some resumes look better with a side column (especially if you have additional sections like academic awards).
Oh, yes! If you have Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC) credentials or additional certs in First Aid or CPR, don’t leave them out. Even if they don’t come into play every day on the job, those certifications will show your dedication and credibility!
Refer back to each job description for this one. Select job skills that relate to the specific role, like “ADOS” for a more technical role or “Stress/fidget toys” for a more youth-centered or special education-related job.
