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Consultant dietitian skills for your resume and career
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Natalie Cooke PhD, RDN,
Natalie Cooke PhD, RDN
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical consultant dietitian skills. We ranked the top skills for consultants dietitian based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 17.2% of consultant dietitian resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a consultant dietitian needs to be successful in the workplace.
15 consultant dietitian skills for your resume and career
1. Patients
Here's how consultants dietitian use patients:
- Formulated menus and nutritional plans of care for regular and therapeutic diets based on medical/physical condition of patients.
- Conduct nutrition assessments and provide medical nutrition therapy to Capital Caring hospice patients; counsel families and caregivers.
2. Nutrition Assessments
Here's how consultants dietitian use nutrition assessments:
- Completed nutrition assessments and assessed nutritional status to determine appropriate nutritional intervention and provided individual nutrition education to each client/family.
- Provide nutrition/lifestyle counseling, nutrition assessments, and health fair body composition analysis, glucose and cholesterol screening.
3. Weight Loss
Weight loss is defined as a loss of mass in a person's body weight. Skills linked to wight loss are usually sought after in health and exercise industries; such skills might be involved in the creation of personalised weight loss goals and plans and exercise regimes, or they might more medical and scientific in nature, being used in work with patients who are irregularly or unusually suffering from negative side effects of weight loss.
Here's how consultants dietitian use weight loss:
- Key Opinion Leader/lecturer enhancing knowledge of involuntary weight loss and interventions to physicians/clinicians.
- Develop and implement weight loss programs and materials Provide nutrition therapy and counseling
4. Medical Nutrition Therapy
Here's how consultants dietitian use medical nutrition therapy:
- Provide medical nutrition therapy to parents or guardians for developmentally delayed children specific to their disorders for Children's Medical Services.
- Develop and implement individualized nutrition plans for medical nutrition therapy in accordance with the resident's medical program goals and objectives.
5. Long-Term Care Facilities
Here's how consultants dietitian use long-term care facilities:
- Provided nutrition consulting services to long-term care facilities throughout Missouri.
- Provided nutritional care including dietary assessments, care plans, MDS, RAPS, and education for various long-term care facilities.
6. Nutrition Education
Here's how consultants dietitian use nutrition education:
- Provide nutrition education and nutrition counseling prior to discharge for diabetes management, weight management, or diet modification recommendations.
- Conducted weekly nutrition education classes designed to educate military families and communities towards promoting health and wellness and physical fitness.
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Minimum Data Set or MDS refers to a standardized assessment tool used in Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities. It assists social services specialists with developing, organizing, and conducting programs to resolve and prevent problems relevant to substance abuse, human relations, or dependent care.
Here's how consultants dietitian use mds:
- Completed nutritional assessments, care plans, MDS's * Attended weekly interdisciplinary care planning meetings * Proficient in Point Click Care
- Complete monthly sanitation audits and staff in-services - Complete Annual, Quarterly and Change of condition MDS assessments and Care plans
8. Diabetes
Diabetes refers to a disease of uncontrolled sugar levels in the body.
Here's how consultants dietitian use diabetes:
- Provided outpatient counseling on a variety of subjects, including weight management, diabetes, heart health and pediatrics.
- Performed clinical nutrition on high risk residents such as diabetes, wounds, weight changes and tube feeders
9. Nutritional Risk
Here's how consultants dietitian use nutritional risk:
- Participate in interdisciplinary team meetings concerning residents at nutritional risk at skilled nursing facilities and hospitals.
- Identified residents at nutritional risk, providing nutritional or other recommendations to appropriate staff.
11. Meal Service
A Meal Service is a service provided by a company or an organization in which food is provided to a group of people. Homeless shelters provide a meal service, for example, but so do many education facilities, like high schools. Some companies provide their employees with meal service, though unlike for some of the other kinds of meal service, employees must pay for this food out of their own pocket.
Here's how consultants dietitian use meal service:
- Observe meal service weekly checking that tray slips, menus, & recipes are being followed by dietary staff.
- Performed sanitation and meal service/test tray audits to assure adherence to state and local regulations.
12. Federal Regulations
Federal regulations refer to the set of rules, both general and permanent that are published in the Federal Register by the agencies of the federal government and the executive departments. Federal regulations are the large body of rules that govern federal practice. Examples of these laws include taxes and financial regulation, discrimination law, wages law, and so on.
Here's how consultants dietitian use federal regulations:
- Performed routine sanitation inspections according to Texas Department of Health regulations as well as federal regulations in food management.
- Supervised dietary department food service operations and clinical care for compliance with State and Federal regulations.
13. Food Safety
Here's how consultants dietitian use food safety:
- Conduct ongoing food safety education for kitchen staff and implement dietary quality assurance programs across all facilities.
- Develop menu, provide guidance regarding food safety and food procurement, portion sizes, cooking methods and temperature documentation.
14. Food Service Operations
Here's how consultants dietitian use food service operations:
- Monitor food service operations to ensure conformance to nutritional, safety and quality standards.
- Monitored food service operations and menu modifications.
15. Clinical Nutrition
Here's how consultants dietitian use clinical nutrition:
- Develop policies and procedures, therapeutic menus and educational materials pertaining to clinical nutrition diagnosis.
- Provide nutrition assessment and organization for clinical nutrition in rehabilitation and long term care facilities.
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What skills help Consultants Dietitian find jobs?
Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.
What skills stand out on consultant dietitian resumes?
Natalie Cooke PhD, RDN
Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs for Nutrition Science, North Carolina State University
Students need to seek out opportunities to gain both technical, discipline-specific, and more general, "soft" skills. A strong resume for a student graduating with a degree in nutrition science will include relevant hands-on experience in addition to strong academic credentials. These experiences include paid and unpaid internships and jobs in nutrition and health-related settings, including community-based and clinical settings; undergraduate research experience in nutrition, food science, or other life science disciplines; undergraduate teaching experience where students serve as teaching assistants for life science courses; volunteer experience with nonprofit organizations; and leadership experience through involvement with clubs and other on- and off-campus organizations.
Skills gained through these various experiences might include being able to (1) design and conduct a research study under the direction of a faculty member, (2) read and interpret scientific literature to make a judgment about the evidence for a nutrition-related topic, (3) effectively communicate scientific information in an accessible way through community-based nutrition education, (4) create an eye-catching and informative handout, social media post, or article for a blog, or (5) demonstrate critical thinking standards while providing feedback to others.
Skills gained through these various experiences might include being able to (1) design and conduct a research study under the direction of a faculty member, (2) read and interpret scientific literature to make a judgment about the evidence for a nutrition-related topic, (3) effectively communicate scientific information in an accessible way through community-based nutrition education, (4) create an eye-catching and informative handout, social media post, or article for a blog, or (5) demonstrate critical thinking standards while providing feedback to others.
What soft skills should all consultant dietitians possess?
Natalie Cooke PhD, RDN
Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs for Nutrition Science, North Carolina State University
In June 2020, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities released two reports, one quantitative and one qualitative, on gaps in employability skills (https://www.aplu.org/news-and-media/News/aplu-releases-two-reports-on-gaps-in-employability-skills-and-workforce-preparedness-among-college-graduates). As the Executive Summary (https://www.aplu.org/library/from-academia-to-the-workforce-executive-summary/file) reports, the 11 skills that were identified as "critical growth areas" include: (1) understanding role in the workplace and having realistic career expectations, (2) recognizing and dealing constructively with conflict, (3) accepting and applying critique and direction in the workplace, (4) listening effectively, (5) communicating accurately and concisely, (6) realizing the effect of decisions, (7) building professional relationships, (8) navigating change and ambiguity, (9) identifying and analyzing problems, (10) transferring knowledge from one situation to another, and (11) asking good questions.
Additionally, critical thinking is an essential skill for nutrition science professionals, including being able to critically evaluate scientific literature about a topic to inform decision-making and information shared with the public. Nutrition scientists want to make sure that they are sharing information with the public that is based on research. Teamwork is also an essential skill needed in any setting, but especially in healthcare settings, where work is often collaborative with many members of the healthcare team. Similarly, in a research setting, interdisciplinary work is highly valued. Empathy is also essential for healthcare providers.
Additionally, critical thinking is an essential skill for nutrition science professionals, including being able to critically evaluate scientific literature about a topic to inform decision-making and information shared with the public. Nutrition scientists want to make sure that they are sharing information with the public that is based on research. Teamwork is also an essential skill needed in any setting, but especially in healthcare settings, where work is often collaborative with many members of the healthcare team. Similarly, in a research setting, interdisciplinary work is highly valued. Empathy is also essential for healthcare providers.
What hard/technical skills are most important for consultant dietitians?
Natalie Cooke PhD, RDN
Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs for Nutrition Science, North Carolina State University
Different fields in healthcare will have competencies that they expect their professionals to have mastered. For example, a working group from the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior created a list of Nutrition Educator Competencies for Promoting Healthy Individuals, Communities, and Food Systems (https://www.sneb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Competencies_Page_21.pdf). These competencies are organized into ten categories: (1) Basic Food and Nutrition Knowledge; (2) Nutrition Across the Lifecycle; (3) Food Science; (4) Physical Activity; (5) Food and Nutrition Policy; (6) Agricultural Production and Food Systems; (7) Behavior and Education Theory; (8) Nutrition Education Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation; (9) Written, Oral, and Social Media Communication; and (10) Nutrition Education Research Methods. A technical skill for a nutrition educator in the area of "Written, Oral, and Social Media Communication" is: "Engage and educate through simple, clear, and motivational language appropriate for diverse audiences." These technical or discipline-focused skills can be gained through engaging in internships and gaining work experience under the direction of nutrition educators and/or registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs).
One way to learn what hard/technical skills are required of jobs is to start looking at job descriptions years before planning to apply for a job. That way, a student can carefully select experiences to help develop those skills over time, making them a stronger applicant for the job they wish to apply for in the future.
One way to learn what hard/technical skills are required of jobs is to start looking at job descriptions years before planning to apply for a job. That way, a student can carefully select experiences to help develop those skills over time, making them a stronger applicant for the job they wish to apply for in the future.
What consultant dietitian skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Jeremy Akers Ph.D.
Dietetics, Graduate Program Director, James Madison University
Since you will be required to have a master's degree to sit for the RD exam in 2024, I would suggest thinking about pursuing a graduate degree.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about consultant dietitianList of consultant dietitian skills to add to your resume
The most important skills for a consultant dietitian resume and required skills for a consultant dietitian to have include:
- Patients
- Nutrition Assessments
- Weight Loss
- Medical Nutrition Therapy
- Long-Term Care Facilities
- Nutrition Education
- MDS
- Diabetes
- Nutritional Risk
- Menu Planning
- Meal Service
- Federal Regulations
- Food Safety
- Food Service Operations
- Clinical Nutrition
- LTC
- Nutrition Services
- Patient Care
- Nutrition Support
- Staff Training
- Acute Care
- Weight Management
- Tube Feedings
- Sanitation Inspections
- Individual Nutrition
- Therapeutic Diets
- In-Service Training
- State Regulations
- Allergies
- Group Homes
- Diet Education
- In-Service Education
- Eating Disorders
- Disease State
- Educational Materials
- Nutrition Interventions
- Staff Education
- Menu Development
- Pressure Ulcers
- Hypertension
- QA
- Enteral Nutrition
- Enteral Feedings
- Long-Term Care Residents
- Food Quality
- JCAHO
- Senior Care
- Developmental Disabilities
- Health Fairs
- Heart Disease
Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025