Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Hiring a certified hand therapist means matching a licensed clinician’s hand therapy experience to your referrals, orthosis work, and surgeon communication needs.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
A Certified Hand Therapist may be an occupational therapist or physical therapist with additional hand therapy certification. You need to know which license fits your position and which cases the clinician has treated recently. We screen for that distinction, along with custom orthosis experience, documentation habits, and communication with referring providers.
A clinic receiving postoperative tendon referrals needs different recent experience from one treating mostly repetitive strain complaints. Ask how much of the candidate’s current schedule involves hand and upper-extremity care. Then ask for a de-identified example that shows their role, restrictions, documentation, and provider contact.
Look closely at orthosis fabrication and follow-up. If your position includes custom devices, ask what the therapist fabricates personally and how they address fit concerns. Their answer should separate hands-on experience from observation.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
License and certification: Confirm whether the candidate holds an occupational therapy or physical therapy license in the practice state. Verify current CHT status through the Hand Therapy Certification Commission. Ask about any restrictions or pending renewal issues rather than treating the certificate as a substitute for licensure.
- Recent case mix: Ask, “Which hand and upper-extremity diagnoses made up your recent caseload?” A useful answer identifies postoperative and nonsurgical work, referral sources, and cases managed directly. It also names areas where the clinician would need orientation or further review.
- Orthosis fabrication: Ask, “Describe a custom orthosis you fabricated and a fit problem you addressed afterward.” Listen for the device’s purpose, fabrication responsibilities, follow-up observations, and documentation. Clarify whether another therapist handled difficult fabrication tasks in the previous practice.
- Referral communication: Ask, “What would you do if the referral and postoperative instructions conflicted?” Look for recognition of the discrepancy, contact with the appropriate provider, and documentation of clarification. Do not accept an answer that simply assumes the intended instructions.
- Scheduling and records: Ask, “How do you manage evaluations, treatment visits, orthosis work, and notes within a clinic day?” Useful answers explain appointment structure, interruptions, and how unfinished documentation is handled. Compare that approach with your actual booking model.
- Coverage boundaries: Ask, “Which cases would you discuss with a colleague or refer elsewhere?” A credible answer names limits and available support. Confirm whether the therapist would work alone, share cases, or cover broader rehabilitation visits beyond hand therapy.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We look at backgrounds in outpatient hand therapy practices, hospital outpatient rehabilitation departments, orthopedic groups, and multidisciplinary rehabilitation clinics. Those settings can produce different experience with surgical referrals, orthosis fabrication, and shared case review. We ask what the candidate actually did rather than drawing conclusions from the employer’s setting alone.
A therapist may consider moving for a larger hand-focused caseload, closer surgeon collaboration, different scheduling, or access to another experienced hand clinician. Others may want less general rehabilitation coverage. We test those preferences against your position so a candidate does not discover an unexpected caseload split after accepting.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is advertising for either an OT or PT without checking which discipline your service model supports. Set the acceptable license before screening, and distinguish essential duties from preferences. Another is assuming every CHT regularly fabricates custom orthoses. Ask about recent devices, equipment used, and follow-up work before describing the person as ready for that assignment.
Leaving general rehabilitation coverage undefined. If the therapist will also treat patients outside the hand service, disclose those visits and ask about relevant recent experience.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us your accepted discipline, referral mix, orthosis duties, schedule, and available clinical support. We compare credentials, recent case experience, and work preferences with those details. You interview, assess clinical skills, and complete credentialing before employment. Your employer credentialing and clinical assessment remain distinct from our screening of credentials, work history, and fit.
Define the position
Identify whether CHT certification is essential for this opening or whether you would consider a licensed therapist pursuing it.
Review screened candidates
We bring forward specific interview points, including gaps in surgical exposure or fabrication experience that deserve your clinical review.
Complete your hiring review
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
National median annual wage. SOC 29-1122, Occupational Therapists.
BLS reports Occupational Therapists as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Certified Hand Therapist (CHT), its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
Open roles
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Should we restrict this opening to occupational therapists?
That depends on your practice model and assigned work. Review the role with your clinical leadership before accepting either discipline, rather than assuming certification makes their practice scopes identical. Start with the patients your practice sees. A certification alone does not describe someone’s daily caseload.
Does CHT certification replace an OT or PT license?
No: CHT is an additional certification, not the underlying professional license. Confirm an active, appropriate state license and current certification separately.
How can we assess custom orthosis skills during hiring?
Ask for de-identified examples and detailed discussion of fabrication and follow-up. Your clinical reviewer can decide whether a practical assessment is appropriate for the duties.
Can we hire a therapist who is working toward CHT certification?
Yes, if certification is a preference rather than a condition of your opening. State that distinction clearly and assess current hand therapy experience without presenting planned certification as earned.
What should we disclose about surgeon referrals?
Describe referral types, communication channels, and access to postoperative instructions. If the therapist will be the only hand clinician, explain how questions receive clinical review.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Share your referral mix, accepted license, and orthosis duties with Healthcare Headhunters. We can help you define the search and assess relevant candidate backgrounds.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.