Episode 37 - Tips for starting and progressing your nutrition career
Find and Fuel Your Fire Workshop
Tickets via Eventbrite
Getting a nutrition job is HARD!
The Dietetics Workforce Report 2018
- There has been a 95% increase in dietetic grads over the last 7 years.
- Grads in Vic ↑ from 65 to 127 per year from 2010 to 2016.
- There is great concern that there is an oversupply of practitioners causing difficulties in new graduates finding positions and inhibiting movement for existing employees.
- Many grads are still seeking work up to 12 mths post graduation.
- In this time, grads are driven to volunteering - but not always meaningful
- You are highly qualified. There is a significant need for your skills. We have an ageing population, chronic disease and dietitians provide such important prevention and management care
- The report highlighted that Dietitians are highly qualified, however there are obvious gaps in business and professional skills in many courses.
- Despite working in a clinical role 30% of dietitians had no clinical supervisor.
file:///C:/Users/laure/Downloads/Dietetics%20Workforce%20Report.pdf
Potential career pathways
Clinical dietetics
- Popular!
- When we’ve advertised for grad jobs there have been >100 applicants.
- A quarter of organisations reported receiving >50 applicants for junior positions and advertisements were rare!
- Hard to get grad jobs
Consultancy and private practice
- Often don’t graduate with skills for business set up and challenging to dive into sole practitioner position without prior experience. Requires ++ mentoring and supervision.
- Important for your own development but also for the reputation of the profession
Food service
Media and marketing
- Don’t expect to get here straight away - need some experience behind you
- Be responsible with what you put out into the world, social media etc. Don’t know what you don’t know.
Public health and nutrition
Eventually policy, health promotion, advocacy
- Often start as a public health dietitian, community dietitian
Food industry
- Consulting
- Food analysis and product development, sensory evaluation
- Food technology and science
- Research
Nutrition research and education
- Generally requires specialisation and smaller projects or honours, masters, PhD
https://www.deakin.edu.au/exercise-nutrition-sciences/careers-in-nutrition-and-dietetics
https://www.myhealthcareer.com.au/dietetics-career/
Our tips
- Volunteer meaningfully
- Upskill
- Get a mentor - a meaningful one
- Apply for everything - know your limits/hard passes
- Apply well
- Prepare for interviews
- Seek feedback - and actually be prepared to take it
Our upcoming workshops
Wed 26th Aug at 6pm
Sun 29th aug at 2pm
Topics to cover
How to land the job you want
- Job application preparation
- Interview (including phone/video interview) preparation
- Setting yourself apart
- What NOT to do!
- Volunteer / work experience opportunities
- Professional development
Finding your career niche / Progressing your career
- Specialising
- Quality projects opportunities in nutrition
- Education opportunities in nutrition
- Research opportunities in nutrition
- Conference / presentation opportunities
Supervision and mentoring
- Finding the right supervisor
Innovation in dietetics
- Identifying gaps
- Pitching your idea
- Introduction to grants and proposals
Delivery
- Online
- 2hr workshop
- 2 sessions - one evening, one weekend
- ‘Take home’ toolkit of resources
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