Post job

What does a diet clerk do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

A diet clerk is an assistant who serves meals to patients as well as assists in various processes that are related to the preparation and delivery of meals. Diet clerks must create cafeteria menu items while analyzing the nutritional values of the food that is served. They are required to check food production and food service to ensure proper procedures are always followed and maintained. Diet clerks must also supervise food service workers as well as provide training for them.

On this page

Diet clerk responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real diet clerk resumes:

  • Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
  • Assist patients with making menu choices in an informative and helpful fashion and keep track of patient's allergies and diet changes
  • Demonstrate ability to adjust patient menus base on food preferences, allergies, disease/condition according to physician specifications.
  • Develop and apply creative problem-solving methods for patients challenge with specialize diet regiments.
  • Experience hospital representative directly responsible for counseling and assisting patients on nutritional care and management.
  • Prepare confidential reports, PowerPoint presentations, correspondence, organizational charts and other documents as required.
  • Work collaboratively with WIC center nutritionist to conduct/obtain require nutritional measures for WIC participants.

Diet clerk skills and personality traits

We calculated that 29% of Diet Clerks are proficient in Patients, Allergies, and Tube Feedings. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Listening skills, and Physical strength.

We break down the percentage of Diet Clerks that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 29%

    Experienced hospital representative directly responsible for counseling and assisting patients on nutritional care and management.

  • Allergies, 10%

    Coordinate calls & receive patient calls for meal services adequate to their diet orders, restrictions and allergies.

  • Tube Feedings, 9%

    Assist with placing meal orders for patients, input doctor's orders for diets, supplements and tube feedings.

  • Customer Service, 8%

    Performed data entry/customer service/telephone etiquette with strong attention to detail.

  • Menu Selections, 8%

    Coordinate patient menu selections while accommodating individual diet prescriptions.

  • Food Service, 8%

    Maintain appropriate sanitary conditions to exceed food service quality standards.

"patients," "allergies," and "tube feedings" are among the most common skills that diet clerks use at work. You can find even more diet clerk responsibilities below, including:

Most common diet clerk skills

The three companies that hire the most diet clerks are:

Choose from 10+ customizable diet clerk resume templates

Build a professional diet clerk resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your diet clerk resume.
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume
Diet Clerk Resume

Compare different diet clerks

Diet clerk vs. Bakery associate

A bakery associate is responsible for assisting bakery chefs in producing baked goods and pastries, organizing the stock, maintaining the cleanliness of the storage area, and processing customers' orders and payments. Bakery associates monitor the inventory and request bakery ingredients and supplies from trusted suppliers and third-party vendors. They also pitch on recommending promotional campaigns and research on current bakery trends to update the menu, meeting public demands to increase sales and revenues. A bakery associate should have excellent communication and analytical skills to respond to customers' inquiries and operate the cash register.

If we compare the average diet clerk annual salary with that of a bakery associate, we find that bakery associates typically earn a $2,839 lower salary than diet clerks make annually.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a diet clerk are more likely to require skills like "patients," "allergies," "tube feedings," and "menu selections." On the other hand, a job as a bakery associate requires skills like "donuts," "bakery products," "safety regulations," and "groceries." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Bakery associates really shine in the retail industry with an average salary of $30,578. Comparatively, diet clerks tend to make the most money in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $32,011.The education levels that bakery associates earn slightly differ from diet clerks. In particular, bakery associates are 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a diet clerk. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Diet clerk vs. Sandwich artist

Sandwich artists are employees at any restaurant that specializes in sandwiches. They manage the sandwich station and answer any inquiries that customers may have on the different ingredients available. As such, sandwich artists must be familiar with all the ingredients and menu offerings that the restaurant has. They also provide recommendations to customers, crafting sandwiches based on what the customer likes. Once the customer has chosen the contents of the sandwich or a specific menu item, the sandwich artist assembles the order and serves it to the customer.

On average, sandwich artists earn a $8,238 lower salary than diet clerks a year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both diet clerks and sandwich artists have skills such as "customer service," "food handling," and "food preparation. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, diet clerk responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patients," "allergies," "tube feedings," and "menu selections." Meanwhile, a sandwich artist has duties that require skills in areas such as "quality standards," "sanitation standards," "professional appearance," and "exceptional guest." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Sandwich artists earn a lower average salary than diet clerks. But sandwich artists earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $25,042. Additionally, diet clerks earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $32,011 annually.sandwich artists earn similar levels of education than diet clerks in general. They're 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Diet clerk vs. Nutrition aide

Nutrition Aides prepare and deliver meals for residents in nursing homes or patients in medical clinics or hospitals. These professionals spend half of their time with patients and the remaining half in the kitchen - where they complete trash disposal and ware washing and deliver nourishment and food to the required facility locations. Other duties performed by nutrition aides include preparing meals as directed and dating and labeling food items as per the policy and procedures.

An average nutrition aide eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of diet clerks. The difference in salaries amounts to nutrition aides earning a $1,342 lower average salary than diet clerks.Using the responsibilities included on diet clerks and nutrition aides resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "patients," "allergies," and "tube feedings.rdquo;

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a diet clerk is likely to be skilled in "menu selections," "food allergies," "clerical support," and "culinary," while a typical nutrition aide is skilled in "tray line," "basic math," "food carts," and "math."

Nutrition aides earn the best pay in the non profits industry, where they command an average salary of $32,366. Diet clerks earn the highest pay from the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $32,011.nutrition aides typically earn similar educational levels compared to diet clerks. Specifically, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Diet clerk vs. Food service assistant

A food service assistant helps in food and beverage preparation and serving customers. Foodservice assistants make sure that great customer service is provided to clients. Their duties include answering phone calls for inquiries, providing information, selling products, and solving problems. They may function as cashiers in restaurants or any other food service institution. Upon receiving customer complaints, they escalate them to top management. This job requires people skills, communication skills, and food service knowledge.

Food service assistants tend to earn a lower pay than diet clerks by an average of $2,448 per year.While their salaries may vary, diet clerks and food service assistants both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "patients," "allergies," and "customer service. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between diet clerks and food service assistants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a diet clerk might have more use for skills like "tube feedings," "menu selections," "food allergies," and "patient menus." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of food service assistants require skills like "basic math," "kitchen equipment," "safety standards," and "cleanliness. "

Food service assistants enjoy the best pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $35,561. For comparison, diet clerks earn the highest salary in the hospitality industry.The average resume of food service assistants showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to diet clerks. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.

Types of diet clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse food preparation and restaurant jobs