How to hire a dietitian assistant

How to hire a dietitian assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step dietitian assistant hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The dietitian assistant hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

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

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   Hiring the perfect dietitian assistant also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents dietitian assistant salaries for various positions.

   Type of Dietitian Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Dietitian Assistant		$12-19
   Dietetic Technician	A Dietetic Technician assists dietitians in the provision of food service and nutritional programs. They develop nutritional plans to promote health, treat illnesses, prevent disease, and analyze patient data to determine patient needs and treatment goals.	$12-19
   Diet Technician	A Diet Technician identifies patients with nutritional risk using scoring guidelines and initiates referrals for dietetic assessment. They oversee food production or service and assist dietitians or nutritionists in food service supervision and planning.	$12-19

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2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Patient Care
   • Food Service
   • RD
   • Culinary
   • Nutrition Education
   • Therapeutic Diets
   • Tray Line
   • Diet Orders
   • Meal Service
   • Allergies
   • Diabetes
   • Diet Changes
   • Food Preferences

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Obtain food histories, likes / dislikes, food aversions / allergies, cultural / religious observances.
   • Perform data entry, inputting patient's diets and allergies into database, includes modifying daily dietary selections.
   • Evaluate patients' diets through one-on-one discussions regarding individual dietary preferences and desire health outcomes.
   • Assist the nutrition in identifying and encouraging the residents to maintain specific dietary needs/restrictions for residents at an inpatient rehabilitation facility.
   • Store groceries using the first in first out method.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, dietitian assistants' average salary in georgia is 52% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level dietitian assistants 39% less than senior-level dietitian assistants.
   • Certifications. A dietitian assistant 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 dietitian assistant's salary.

   Average dietitian assistant salary

   $15.58hourly

   $32,409 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level dietitian assistant salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

4. Writing a dietitian assistant job description

   A job description for a dietitian assistant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a dietitian assistant job description:

   Dietitian assistant job description example

   **Bring your heart to work! Caring people make the difference at American Senior Communities!**
   
   Compassion, Accountability, Relationships and Excellence are the core values for American Senior Communities. These words not only form an acronym for C.A.R.E., they are our guiding principles and create the framework for all our relationships with customers, team members and community at large.
   
   American Senior Communities has proudly delivered patient centered care since the year 2000, with a long history of excellent outcomes. Each of our 80+ American Senior Community is part of the neighborhood in which it exists. Our leaders and staff live in surrounding areas and know the community well. We value the same things in life that you do. The foundation of our senior living communities is based on the knowledge that we'll be part of your neighborhood for many, many years. We take great pride in our hospitality and it is ingrained in everything we do. As partners in senior care, we are not just doing a job, but following a calling.
   
   **Our commitment to our team members:**
   
   + PayActiv - Hourly employees have immediate access up to 50% of your earned pay
   
   + Quarterly wage increases and bonus opportunities (conditions apply)
   
   + Medical/Dental/Vision insurance plans - Affordable, low cost options
   
   + Convenient telehealth services for all employees
   
   + Tuition assistance and certification reimbursement
   
   + PTO and holiday pay for full time staff
   
   + 401k retirement plan
   
   + Employee Referral Bonus Program - get paid to refer a friend to join our team
   
   + Workforce Chaplains: Confidential, non-denomination resources available for employees and household family members of employees
   
   + Pathogen Reducing Air purification devices in corridors and common areas to help combat COVID-19
   
   **What will you be doing and how will you make a difference at American Senior Communities?**
   
   + Making a difference in the lives of the patients we serve by providing them care and compassion.
   
   + Document medical, food, and nutrition-related data in the medical record.
   
   + Develop and implement nutrition intervention/plan of care.
   
   + Accurately complete MDS reviews as Directed by the Registered Dietitian.
   
   + Assist with entering weights into the medical record, updating tray tickets with diet changes and participating in IDT care plan and weight meetings.
   
   + Monitoring meal, snack, and/or supplement intake to evaluate the resident's progress toward goals.
   
   + Evaluate quality and accuracy of food served to the residents.
   
   **Requirements:**
   
   + Demonstrates C.A.R.E. values to our residents, family members, customers and staff.
   
   + Associates or Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics or equivalent preferred; current student in a healthcare field (preferably nutrition-related) is acceptable.
   
   + Nutrition documentation experience.
   
   + Must be proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel.
   
   + Dietetic Technician (Registered is preferred).
   
   _We are committed to the safety and health of our team members, residents and families we serve. As such, ASC is proud to have implemented a mandatory vaccination policy, requiring COVID-19 vaccination(s) for all employees and new hires. In accordance with our mission to compassionately serve every resident with quality care and excellence, we firmly believe that vaccinating all employees is essential for our customer's safety and health. New hires, including rehires, will need to show evidence of full vaccination on or before start or receive their first dose or one dose vaccine prior to start date._
   
   _As such, we are asking those candidates who wish to request an exemption from being required to be vaccinated, submit a request for their exemption through the process outlined in the electronic onboarding paperwork. Should you have any questions regarding this, please speak with your recruiting contact directly._
   
   We are Equal Opportunity-Affirmative Action Employer - Minority / Female / Disability / Veteran and other protected categories.
   
   Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
   
   The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right dietitian assistant for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your dietitian assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit dietitian assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting dietitian assistants 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 dietitian assistant

   Once you've selected the best dietitian assistant candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new dietitian assistant. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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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