How to hire a dietary clerk

How to hire a dietary clerk, step by step

Here's a step-by-step dietary clerk hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a dietary clerk job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new dietary clerk
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the dietary clerk you need to hire. Certain dietary clerk roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a dietary clerk to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a dietary clerk that fits the bill.

   This list presents dietary clerk salaries for various positions.

   Type of Dietary Clerk	Description	Hourly rate
   Dietary Clerk	Food preparation workers perform many routine tasks under the direction of cooks, chefs, or food service managers. Food preparation workers prepare cold foods, slice meat, peel and cut vegetables, brew coffee or tea, and perform many other food service tasks.	$12-17
   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... Show more	$8-14
   Food Service Worker	Foodservice workers are employees at restaurants, food trucks, or any outlet that provides food to customers. They may be assigned to welcome customers, take food orders, prepare food orders in the kitchen, serve food, handle customer payments, clean up the tables once the guests leave, or maintain the whole store's cleanliness... Show more	$10-17

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Food Handling
   • Allergies
   • Compassion
   • Patient Meals
   • Clerical Support
   • Food Service
   • Tray Line
   • Patient Menus
   • Meal Service
   • Customer Service
   • Data Entry
   • Diet Changes
   • Meal Changes

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
   • Edit and modify the menus according to the diet, food preferences, allergies, etc.
   • Enter patients orders and special request into department computer system ensuring full accountability of each meal serve.
   • Document clinical findings, such as allergies and correctly enter pertinent data for processing.
   • Maintain proper communication skills when speaking to patients concerning their menu
   • Prepare confidential reports, PowerPoint presentations, correspondence, organizational charts and other documents as required.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your dietary clerk job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A dietary clerk can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, dietary clerks' average salary in tennessee is 45% less than in rhode island.
   • Seniority. Entry-level dietary clerks 30% less than senior-level dietary clerks.
   • Certifications. A dietary clerk with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a dietary clerk's salary.

   Average dietary clerk salary

   $15.12hourly

   $31,444 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level dietary clerk salary

   $26,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a dietary clerk job description

   A dietary clerk job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a dietary clerk job description:

   Dietary clerk job description example

   Under the direct supervision of the Patient Services Manager: Process all diet changes. Maintains patient kardexes for patient food preferences, nourishments, and other pertinent information. Maintains high customer service standards in communications with patients and nursing. Maintains tray count records and other data as required. Takes leadership while checking trayline to provide tray accuracy and efficiency. Promotes efficiency of trayline to affect a minimum speed of three trays per minute. May handle confidential patient information. Performs duties in a safe and sanitary manner. Develops through orientation and continuing education, knowledge and skills as appropriate for patients of any age, including the child, adolescent, adult and geriatric patients, and the terminally ill.
   
   1 Accurately processes all diet changes, admissions, discharges, and transfers according to established time schedule and procedure. Prevents backlog of work to maximize time available during busy periods.
   
   2 Corrects and updates menus as required by diet changes. Follows through with updating nourishment and tubefeeding information in the nourishment rand and diet sheets. Keeps change log for the Menu Clerk.
   
   3 Answers telephones in courteous manner; records and processes all patient information on a timely basis following established procedures.
   
   4 Maintains organization of Diet Office and assists in maintaining an adequate inventory of Diet Office supplies. Appropriately files computer reports and diet requisitions.
   5 Maintains an accurate tray count.
   
   6 Processes and communicates diet information in an accurate and timely manner to trayline. Immediately communicates significant patient or nursing concerns to the Patient Services Manager. Immediately informs Dietitians or Patient Services Manager of patient problems or unusual diet orders.
   
   7 Accurately reports all computer problems to Patient Services Manager and Information Systems. Implements downtime procedures and assists nursing units in doing so.
   
   8 Demonstrates cost consciousness by canceling nourishments and trays in a timely manner.
   
   9 Takes leadership while checking trayline. Requires that each tray be accurately completed.
   
   10 Takes trayline temperatures and reports any temperatures outside of the acceptable range to either the cook or the manager on duty.
   
   11 Immediately notifies management of any sick call.
   
   12 Attends Diet Office meetings as scheduled. Attends department meetings/inservices as scheduled.
   
   13 Adheres to department punctuality and attendance guidelines. Provides proper notification for absence or tardiness. Never abuses or takes advantage of sick time. Does not abuse break or lunch periods. Consistently signs in and out at start and end of shift and for lunch breaks.
   
   14 Follows all safe and sanitary practices for food handling, preparation and storage. Consistently follows labeling and dating guidelines.
   
   15 Practices a "clean as you go" philosophy; completes all scheduled cleaning assignments; utilizes free time (defined as at least fifteen (15) minutes between scheduled activities) to complete unassigned sanitation projects.
   
   QUALIFICATIONS/JOB REQUIREMENTS:
   
   EDUCATION:
   
   • High School Diploma or Equivalent required.
   
   EXPERIENCE:
   
   • One-year previous Diet Office experience preferred.
   
   • Basic knowledge of therapeutic diets
   
   
   Facility Name: Seton Coastside
   
   Shift: Variable
   
   External Company Name: AHMC Healthcare
   
   Street: 1900 Sullivan Ave

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find dietary clerks for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any dietary clerks they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level dietary clerks with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your dietary clerk job on Zippia to find and recruit dietary clerk candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting dietary clerks requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new dietary clerk

   Once you've found the dietary clerk candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new dietary clerk. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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