5 Physical Therapist Resume Examples Built for 2022

Why this resume works

• If you take away one detail from this resume guide, let it be this: metrics are key.
  • As a physical therapist, you need to include metrics on patient follow-through (remember, this is a common problem in PT), specific numbers on your patients per hour efficiency, the number of treatment modalities you provide, and more. 
    • Proving you can encourage patients to follow through with treatment plans, and reducing the number of sessions they'll need, is one of the top things PT hiring managers seek. 
    • Not to mention, hiring managers spend extraordinarily little time looking at your physical therapist resume. It may be as little as six seconds! Numbers will draw their eyes to your resume and get them to absorb the most pertinent information about you.
• You may opt to include a resume summary. They're not always necessary, but we recommend them if you have 10+ years of experience in your field.
  • Remember: your resume summary needs to be specialized for every job to which you apply. Include the specific job title you're applying to, the company name, and your areas of specialization as a seasoned physical therapist.

Why this resume works

• We recommend listing your work experience in reverse-chronological order, with your most recent toward the top of the page. But this is even more critical if you have been working in physical therapy for several years. 
  • Hiring managers are reviewing your sports physical therapist resume for just a few seconds, so you should aim to highlight your most recent, most impressive jobs.
• Think about relevancy. Include only your most recent three to four work experience sections on your resume. 
  • As a physical therapist, you'll have completed at least one clinical internship after completing your advanced degree. Though it’s relevant to include this information on your resume early in your career, it’s unnecessary when you’re years into your professional career. Save this information for an interview.

Why this resume works

• If you're a physical therapist with limited experience, you should consider adding relevant internship, volunteer, or even DPT school projects to your work experience. 
  • Aim to have close to six bullet points for each work experience when you lack decades of job titles. But remember to avoid the temptation to fill space with fluff. There's no need to use filler words when you can provide meaningful, quantified bullet points instead. 
    • If you're having a hard time summarizing your work, think about how many pieces of equipment you've been trained for, how frequently you participated in training events or administrative work, and what types of therapeutic modalities you've learned to use.
• Your physical therapy student resume should fill a whole page, even with just two work experience sections. Use vertical and horizontal margins, fonts, and font size to create a resume with just the right amount of blank space.
• Another way to successfully fill space is to add a resume objective.
  • A worthwhile objective should mention the target business by name, include your best experience and skills that most closely match the keywords from the job description, and display as a two-to-three-sentence snapshot of your best self. 
  • If you’re not certain how to do this, be sure to use our resume checker tool to properly format your resume in seconds.

Why this resume works

Your experienced physical therapist resume can be packed with information without overwhelming the eye. Using quantifiable metrics will save you space and provide a succinct demonstration of your skills. 

• • As an experienced physical therapist, aim to give metrics on organization, patient interactions (surveys or reviews), efficiency in patient healing and appointment length, specialties, evaluation techniques, and treatment methods.
• Emphasize the management skills you've practiced as a senior physical therapist. You may still perform more routine tasks carried out by lower-level physical therapists, but you should focus on increased responsibility. 
  • Leave the more standard PT responsibilities for your older work experience. By doing this, you will highlight growth and upper management skills.

Why this resume works

• Remember in school when professors pleaded that you read the directions on a test? Well, you should make sure to heed that advice now, also. 
  • Applicants are often so anxious to complete their applications that they miss critical information in the job description.
  • Reviewing the job description is one of the best ways you can ensure an interview. The company is telling you exactly what they're seeking.
    • Read through it several times to pinpoint the specific skills they’re looking for and find a way to incorporate them into your work experience.
• You should also use the job description to write your resume skills. 
  • In fact, this section is the second most important on your entire physical therapist assistant resume because it determines if a person will ever see your piece. 
  • That’s right. More than 200 people apply for most physical therapy job postings. Hiring managers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to scan resumes for specific skills, and these filters automatically discard applicants who leave out the job description's magic keywords.