How a consultant dietitian job can turn into a career

When considering career paths as a dietitian, consulting can be an enticing option. Working as a consultant dietitian may seem like more of a temporary solution — a short-term job that gets you through a specific season of life — but it can be so much more. Not only have our consultant dietitian jobs opened the door to many full-time opportunities, but some of our dietitians have fully embraced the consultant lifestyle and made it their career. Here’s how.

Ten years and counting

Have you heard of the Dietitians On Demand Ten Club? Each year, we have more and more dietitians who achieve the milestone of working with Dietitians On Demand for ten years. That means they have chosen to make consulting their career. These dietitians are living proof that consulting is a living, breathing career than can transition with you through moves, life changes, and more.

In an effort to make consulting an even more viable career choice, Dietitians On Demand now offers options to enroll in health insurance and a 401k retirement program to employees who meet eligibility requirements.

Transferable skills, no matter where life takes you

Working as a consultant dietitian, you will gain unique, professional and personal skills that you can apply to future jobs. One of the secrets of consulting is to immerse yourself in the facility’s culture. Learn their processes and decide what works and what doesn’t. When you move onto your next consulting assignment, incorporate some of the “best practices” you have learned along the way.

Just the same, consulting can bring out strong personal qualities in a dietitian. Think: flexibility, adaptability, creative problem-solving, independence, self-reliance, and more. Imagine this all-too-real scenario:

You arrive at your new facility for your first day, only to find out that the dietitian who was supposed to train you has already ended her employment there. The electronic medical record is unfamiliar to you, and you are due at the care plan meeting this afternoon.  

Your creative problem-solving and self-reliance instantly kick in, and you spring into action making phone calls, watching EMR tutorials, and you arrive at the care plan meeting with insightful nutrition recommendations. Scenarios like this pop up all the time in the consulting world, and we dare say that many consultant dietitians thrive on the challenge.

Consulting prepares you for (literally) anything

Our consultant dietitians have successfully navigated sudden assignment changes, natural disasters, and now, a pandemic. Consulting not only exposes you to diverse patient and client populations, off-the-beaten-path locations, and unique job settings, but it also strengthens your resilience.

You are wiser and stronger than you realize, and trust us when we say, you can rise to any occasion. We know this because we watch our consultants overcome challenges every day with grace and frankly, nonchalance. Consulting will certainly test your mettle as a dietitian, but it is a rewarding career option that more and more dietitians are choosing.

Dietitians On Demand is a nationwide staffing company for registered dietitians, specializing in short-term, temporary and permanent-hire positions in acute care, long term care and food service positions. Check out our job openings, or request your coverage today!