Occupational Therapist Boolean Search String
A first-pass boolean search for sourcing occupational therapist candidates, built from the role's most-screened-for skills — adapt it with your own must-haves, or generate one tailored to your exact JD below.
"Occupational Therapist" AND "Patient assessment" AND "Treatment plan development" AND "Adaptive equipment training" NOT "recruiter" NOT "intern"site:linkedin.com/in/ "Occupational Therapist" "Patient assessment" "Treatment plan development" "Adaptive equipment training"Run this search on Google →How this string is built
The role title in quotes, ANDed with the top must-have skills for a occupational therapist — Patient assessment, Treatment plan development, Adaptive equipment training — each in quotes so LinkedIn and Google match the exact phrase rather than any word in it separately. NOT "recruiter" NOT "intern" filters out the two most common sources of false positives.
Other must-have skills worth adding
If the search above returns too many results, AND in more of these to narrow further:
- Documentation
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- OTR license
- Pediatric/geriatric specialty
- EMR systems
Other titles to search for a occupational therapist
The same job is also called OT, Occupational Therapy Practitioner, Paediatric Occupational Therapist, Rehabilitation OT. Searching only for “Occupational Therapist” misses those people, so join the titles with OR inside brackets and AND the skills after them.
Five searches to run, from broad to narrow
- Broad: every title, one core skill
("Occupational Therapist" OR "OT" OR "Occupational Therapy Practitioner" OR "Paediatric Occupational Therapist" OR "Rehabilitation OT") AND "Patient assessment" - Focused: three skills, with the noise removed
("Occupational Therapist" OR "OT" OR "Occupational Therapy Practitioner") AND "Patient assessment" AND "Treatment plan development" AND "Adaptive equipment training" NOT "occupational therapy assistant" NOT "occupational health nurse" NOT "intern" - Tools and credentials: the nice-to-haves as an OR group
("Occupational Therapist" OR "OT" OR "Occupational Therapy Practitioner") AND ("OTR license" OR "Pediatric/geriatric specialty" OR "EMR systems") - Google X-ray on LinkedIn profiles
site:linkedin.com/in/ ("Occupational Therapist" OR "OT" OR "Occupational Therapy Practitioner") "Patient assessment" "Treatment plan development" - Feeder role: people from a neighbouring job
"Occupational Therapy Assistant" AND "Patient assessment" AND "Treatment plan development"
Start with the broad search to see how large the pool is. If it is too big, move to the focused one. If it is too small, drop a skill or use the feeder search.
Noise to exclude for this role
For a occupational therapist the usual false positives are occupational therapy assistant, occupational health nurse, intern. Each one added with NOT removes a group of profiles that look similar but are not the job.
Where else to look
Good occupational therapist candidates often come from Occupational Therapy Assistant, Rehabilitation Aide, Physical Therapist. Search for them with the same core skills, then check that they are ready to move.
What to check on the profile
The client group, the settings and any specialist training.
Credentials to confirm
The registration or licence required where you hire.
Frequently asked questions
Why AND the skills together instead of OR?
AND narrows to candidates who show evidence of every listed skill — good for a first-pass search on a specific role. If that returns too few results, dropping to OR between the least-critical skills (keeping the must-haves ANDed) widens the pool without losing precision on what actually matters.
Why exclude "recruiter" and "intern"?
Those two terms are the most common source of false positives in a occupational therapist search — recruiters and internship-seekers whose profiles happen to mention the same skill keywords. Adjust or remove the exclusion if it's cutting out candidates you actually want (e.g. if you're specifically hiring for an internship).
How is this different from the full Boolean Search Generator tool?
This is a static starting-point example built from occupational therapist's most common requirements. The tool builds a tailored version from your actual job description — different seniority, location, and specific must-haves than this generic example.
What other job titles should I search for a occupational therapist?
The same job is also called OT, Occupational Therapy Practitioner, Paediatric Occupational Therapist, Rehabilitation OT. Put them in a bracketed OR group so one search covers them all, for example ("Occupational Therapist" OR "OT" OR "Occupational Therapy Practitioner").
What should I exclude when sourcing a occupational therapist?
The usual noise is occupational therapy assistant, occupational health nurse, intern. Add each with NOT so the results are people who do the job, not people near it.
Where else can I find occupational therapist candidates?
Look at people in related roles who already have the core skills: Occupational Therapy Assistant, Rehabilitation Aide, Physical Therapist. Search for them with the same skills and check whether they are ready to move across.
Hiring a occupational therapist? The rest of the toolkit
- How to write the job description →
Titles, must-haves, credentials and a starting posting.
- Interview questions to ask →
Role-specific questions and what a good answer contains.
- Run the whole hire in one place →
Jobs, CV review, interviews, offers and checks together.