What does a cook/dietary aide do?
A cook/dietary aide is an individual who works along with the dietary managers, cooks, and dieticians. Dietary aides prepare meals, beverages, and snacks. They set up tables or dining areas with proper order and cleanliness. They serve meals and make sure that the hygiene and safety protocols for food are followed all the time. The skills significant for this job include attention to detail, strong communication skills, excellent customer service, and knowledge in food preparation and its safety protocols.
Cook/dietary aide responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real cook/dietary aide resumes:
- Manage the POS system (adding/deleting specials, editing prices, viewing server appetizer/dessert sales and their server report information).
- Maintain kitchen cleanliness and quality standards base on federal guidelines for license long-term care facilities.
- Assist residents with menus, questions, complaints and concerns, with compassion.
- Cook with close attention to dietary concerns, including allergies, diabetes, and kosher diets.
- Inventory and restocking, cleaning, communicating with healthcare professionals about dietary needs (such as allergies )
- Clean and operate ovens, grills, vats, boilers, tilt skillets, meat slicers, mixers and stovetops.
- Monitor and maintain accurate record keeping of patients dietary restrictions.
- Design and implement a new food serving strategy that improve patients satisfaction.
- Work collaboratively with WIC center nutritionist to conduct/obtain require nutritional measures for WIC participants.
- Work directly with assist living and skil nursing residents to provide culinary services while following specific diets.
- Maintain and record temperature on foods, coolers, freezer, storage room, and dishwasher according to requirements.
- Record temperatures for walk-in refrigerator and dishwasher.
- Use a variety of kitchen utensils and equipment including grinders, slicers, mixers and blenders.
- Assemble and serve food items to visitors and hospital staff.
- Distribute meals, help with cleanup and adhere to hospital sanitation policies.
Cook/dietary aide skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Cook/Dietary Aides are proficient in Meal Service, Food Handling, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Sense of taste and smell, Dexterity, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Cook/Dietary Aides that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Meal Service, 17%
Collaborated with management to design new programs for meal service efficiency.
- Food Handling, 15%
Acquired my Certified Food Handling Managers Certificate.
- Patients, 14%
Monitored and maintained accurate record keeping of patients dietary restrictions.
- Kitchen Equipment, 9%
Ensured cleanliness and sanitation of all kitchen equipment
- Food Service, 9%
Communicate and problem solve with Regional Manager, Food Service Manager and/or Health/Nutrition Consultant.
- Diet Orders, 7%
Examined diet orders and prepared menus
"meal service," "food handling," and "patients" are among the most common skills that cook/dietary aides use at work. You can find even more cook/dietary aide responsibilities below, including:
Sense of taste and smell. One of the key soft skills for a cook/dietary aide to have is sense of taste and smell. You can see how this relates to what cook/dietary aides do because "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." Additionally, a cook/dietary aide resume shows how cook/dietary aides use sense of taste and smell: "sorted meal tickets, filled ticket orders, and loaded tray with resident's meal, placing them on appropriate cart. "
Dexterity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling cook/dietary aide duties is dexterity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." According to a cook/dietary aide resume, here's how cook/dietary aides can utilize dexterity in their job responsibilities: "follow proper food handling procedures, uses appropriate (ppe) and employ correct lifting procedures as necessary to prevent injury. "
Physical stamina. cook/dietary aides are also known for physical stamina, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to cook/dietary aide responsibilities, because "cooks spend a lot of time standing in one place, cooking food over hot stoves, and cleaning work areas." A cook/dietary aide resume example shows how physical stamina is used in the workplace: "worked directly with elderly residents with alzheimer's disease and many physical restrictions. "
The three companies that hire the most cook/dietary aides are:
- PruittHealth78 cook/dietary aides jobs
- WellBridge Group22 cook/dietary aides jobs
- Next Level Marketing
18 cook/dietary aides jobs
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Compare different cook/dietary aides
Cook/dietary aide vs. School cafeteria cook
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, cook/dietary aide responsibilities require skills like "meal service," "patients," "food service," and "diet orders." Meanwhile a typical school cafeteria cook has skills in areas such as "cpr," "haccp," "kids," and "hot food." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
School cafeteria cooks really shine in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $33,836. Comparatively, cook/dietary aides tend to make the most money in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $29,467.The education levels that school cafeteria cooks earn slightly differ from cook/dietary aides. In particular, school cafeteria cooks are 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a cook/dietary aide. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Cook/dietary aide vs. Institutional cook
Each career also uses different skills, according to real cook/dietary aide resumes. While cook/dietary aide responsibilities can utilize skills like "meal service," "patients," "food service," and "diet orders," institutional cooks use skills like "culinary," "mixers," "broilers," and "food preparation equipment."
In general, institutional cooks achieve similar levels of education than cook/dietary aides. They're 2.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Cook/dietary aide vs. Assistant cook
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a cook/dietary aide is likely to be skilled in "diet orders," "tray line," "home health," and "excellent interpersonal," while a typical assistant cook is skilled in "dishes," "cleanliness," "harvest," and "cpr."
Assistant cooks earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $35,456. Comparatively, cook/dietary aides have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,467.When it comes to education, assistant cooks tend to earn similar degree levels compared to cook/dietary aides. In fact, they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Cook/dietary aide vs. Cafeteria cook
Types of cook/dietary aide
Updated January 8, 2025
