Dietary Aide interview questions and answers

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Dietary Aide Interview Questions

Dietary aides prepare and serve food according to instructions of a cook, dietician or physician depending on the facility. They work commonly in hospitals, clinics and healthcare homes.

Usually, you don’t need dietary aides to have a specific educational background although you may want at least a high school diploma in certain facilities. On-the-job training is possible so experience isn’t necessary in most cases. A food handler’s permit may be mandatory and a background check is common practice.

Your focus during the interview should be on their knowledge of hygiene and ability to follow instructions. Other skills include attention to detail, time-management and patience. Try to discover their customer service focus and interpersonal skills as well. The following questions can serve as a guide but add your own to address the requirements of your facility.

Operational and Situational questions

• Are you able to prepare basic meals? How would you rate your skills?
• How does a dietary aide ensure cleanliness and sanitation?
• What would you do with leftover food?
• How do you ensure that residents with dietary restrictions receive the correct serving?
• Do you think it’s important to communicate with residents as a dietary aide? Why?
• What do you think are common safety issues in a kitchen? What would you do to avoid them?
• Have you ever had to deal with difficult coworkers? How did you handle it?
• If a client started complaining about the food, what would you do?
• Imagine you don’t have information about a resident’s dietary requirements and they aren’t able to give you any. What do you do?
• If two other dietary aides didn’t show up for work and food had to be served as always, how would you handle it?