Interview prep

A practical, sourced checklist of credentials and rules you should be ready to discuss. This is not a list of invented interview questions, and it is not coaching that guarantees a job.

Quoted from official pages checked November 10, 2026. Confirm current requirements, fees, and dates on those sites. This page is not legal advice and does not guarantee eligibility, certification, or licensure.

Know the official path for the role

Be ready to state, in plain words, the official sequence for the job you want:

Occupational therapist — ACOTE-accredited OT program, NBCOT OTR exam, jurisdiction license.
Occupational therapy assistant — ACOTE-accredited OTA program, NBCOT COTA exam, jurisdiction license.
Physical therapist — CAPTE-accredited DPT program, NPTE, jurisdiction license.
Physical therapist assistant — CAPTE-accredited PTA program, NPTE, jurisdiction license or certification as the state requires.
Speech-language pathologist — CAA-accredited graduate program, national speech-language pathology exam, Clinical Fellowship (for ASHA’s CCC-SLP), state license.
Speech-language pathology assistant — one of ASHA’s three C-SLPA education pathways, 100 hours of supervised clinical field work, the assistant exam, and whatever registration or license the state requires.

Credentials employers can verify

NBCOT’s Get Certified page states: “Certification is not the same as licensure.” Have both pieces straight.

State or territory license: look yours up the same way an employer would, from the board directory and the board’s official verification tool when the board publishes one.
OT or OTA national certification: NBCOT invites the public to verify if a therapist is certified. Only people who maintain Active in Good Standing status may use the OTR or COTA credential, according to NBCOT.
ASHA certification (CCC-SLP or C-SLPA): ASHA’s certification verification lets employers and state agencies check a certificate holder. ASHA states: “ASHA certification is voluntary.” It is separate from the state license.
Education: confirm the program’s status in the official ACOTE directory, CAPTE listings, or CAA program list, not on an unofficial school list.

Role and supervision, in official words

If you are interviewing as an OT or OTA, NBCOT states that the OTR professional evaluates the client, plans therapeutic interventions, completes discharge documents, and provides clinical supervision of the COTA professional, and that the COTA professional implements and documents the therapeutic interventions and provides feedback on the client’s progress. Read the full official wording on NBCOT’s OTR and COTA page and on your jurisdiction’s practice act.

If you are interviewing as a PT or PTA, APTA describes physical therapists as licensed doctors who examine, diagnose, and treat movement dysfunction, and physical therapist assistants as educated and licensed clinicians who provide care under the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapist. Those descriptions are on APTA’s careers in physical therapy pages. Supervision details still come from the jurisdiction.

If you are interviewing as an SLP Clinical Fellow, ASHA’s Clinical Fellowship guide lists checks for the Clinical Fellow, including: “Contact your state regulatory agency/licensing board for licensure requirements.” It also tells Clinical Fellows to “Confirm that each setting will be able to provide you with a minimum of 5 hours per week” and that CF mentors must “hold a current CCC-SLP.” If you are interviewing as an SLPA, ASHA’s Practice Portal states: “SLPAs and supervising SLPs are required to determine the specific requirements in their respective work settings and states.”

Practice-act literacy

FSBPT states: “A jurisprudence exam is a test of your state’s laws and rules,” and that licensed PTs and PTAs should be familiar with the practice act and rules under which they are allowed to work. Even if your interview is for an OT or OTA role, the same habit applies: read the board’s current statute and rules for that jurisdiction before you talk about what you can do unsupervised, what you can do via telehealth, or whether you can start before a privilege or license is issued.

If the job crosses state lines

Do not tell an interviewer you can start in another state under a compact unless the official compact site says you can. For speech-language pathology, the ASLP-IC FAQ states: “If your role requires supervision (such as a clinical fellowship), you are not eligible to practice through the compact.” See ASLP-IC. The PT Compact is in operation; confirm privileges on ptcompact.org. For occupational therapy, the official OT Compact homepage, in a status update of October 2026, states: “Visit the ‘Before You Apply’ webpage to learn which states are accepting OTC applications.” It also states: “You cannot practice in an OTC state under the OT Compact, even if that state has enacted OTC legislation. You can only apply when the state opens applications, deems you eligible to apply, AND your application is approved.” That update still also states: “The OT Compact is enacted in some states, meaning those states have passed legislation to be part of the compact (check out the ‘Maps’ page tabs to see which states have joined the OTC). However, the OT Compact is not yet operationalized, meaning the process to apply for and receive compact privileges is still developing.” See compacts.

Optional credentials

APTA states that PTs are not required to be certified in order to practice in a specific area, and that PTA Advanced Proficiency Pathways participation is voluntary. If a posting mentions a specialist title, match it to the official specialty source rather than stretching a general license.

What this page does not do

It does not invent common interview questions, sample answers, salary talk, or negotiating scripts. For broader career overviews, use AOTA and APTA. Association membership is not a license.