Diet clerks are responsible for completing general cleaning, maintenance, and sanitation of the work area. They serve meals to patients and assist in various processes related to the preparation and delivery of meals. They mark tallies of specific foods, such as vegetables and meats to be prepared in the kitchen, and prepare dietary information for use by kitchen personnel to prepare foods for hospital patients. Diet clerks earn a median sum of $28,000 annually or $13 per hour.
Diet clerks perform various duties, and as such, they possess a moderate understanding of general aspects of the job. Their responsibilities may include assisting with preparing tasks, completing general cleaning, maintenance, and sanitation of the work area. They process new diets and changes, as required, and prepare formula and memorable meals to unit pantries. They also follow standards established by dietitians to prepare portions for patients based on diet orders.
In terms of academic qualifications, diet clerks hold at least an associate's degree in food science, clinical nutrition, or other relevant fields. They typically work under the supervision of a dietitian and are expected to have good communication and interpersonal skills as well as in-depth knowledge of diet and nutrition.
Diet Clerk Overview
Working as a Diet Clerk
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a diet clerk. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.81 an hour? That's $28,735 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 69,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Diet Clerk Do
There are certain skills that many diet clerks have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed dexterity, listening skills and physical strength.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a diet clerk, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.2% of diet clerks included tube feedings, while 12.5% of resumes included menu items, and 11.8% of resumes included customer service. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the diet clerk job title. But what industry to start with? Most diet clerks actually find jobs in the health care and non profits industries.
How To Become a Diet Clerk
If you're interested in becoming a diet clerk, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 38.4% of diet clerks have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.4% of diet clerks have master's degrees. Even though some diet clerks have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a diet clerk. When we researched the most common majors for a diet clerk, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on diet clerk resumes include associate degree degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a diet clerk. In fact, many diet clerk jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many diet clerks also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or customer service representative.
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Diet Clerk Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of clinical dietitian you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title account manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Diet Clerk
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Meriter-Unitypoint Health Diet Clerk FTE; Variable Shifts Diet Clerk FTE; Variable Shifts | Meriter-Unitypoint Health Meriter-Unitypoint Health | 01/12/2021 01/12/2021 | $31,82701/12/2021 $31,827 |
Sodexo Unit Clerical-Diet Clerk Unit Clerical-Diet Clerk | Sodexo Sodexo | 01/12/2021 01/12/2021 | $29,21801/12/2021 $29,218 |
Compass Group USA Inc. Diet Clerk Diet Clerk | Compass Group USA Inc. Compass Group USA Inc. | 12/16/2020 12/16/2020 | $33,39212/16/2020 $33,392 |
Compass Group, North America Diet Clerk Diet Clerk | Compass Group, North America Compass Group, North America | 12/06/2020 12/06/2020 | $33,39212/06/2020 $33,392 |
Meriter-Unitypoint Health Diet Clerk FTE; Day Shift Diet Clerk FTE; Day Shift | Meriter-Unitypoint Health Meriter-Unitypoint Health | 11/18/2020 11/18/2020 | $31,30511/18/2020 $31,305 |
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Top Skills For a Diet Clerk
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 13.2% of diet clerks listed tube feedings on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and listening skills are important as well.
- Tube Feedings, 13.2%
- Menu Items, 12.5%
- Customer Service, 11.8%
- Food Service, 11.2%
- Diet Orders, 7.0%
- Other Skills, 44.3% See All Diet Clerk Skills