Stop Letting Resume Mistakes Hold Back Your Nutrition Career
Identify and correct the critical errors that keep hiring managers from seeing your expertise.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Chances
Each mistake includes why it hurts, how to fix it, and before/after examples
- No snapshot of your expertise for recruiters
- ATS may skip key keywords
- Hiring managers can't quickly gauge fit
- Add a 3‑4 sentence summary highlighting your nutrition credentials, specialties, and impact
- Include 2–3 core keywords such as "clinical nutrition", "dietary counseling", "food safety"
John Doe Registered Dietitian ...
John Doe – Registered Dietitian Summary: Certified nutrition professional with 5+ years delivering evidence‑based dietary counseling, designing meal plans for chronic disease management, and leading community nutrition workshops. Skilled in clinical nutrition, food safety, and behavior change strategies.
- Dilutes focus on nutrition expertise
- ATS keyword density drops
- Recruiters waste time reading unrelated tasks
- Tailor bullet points to nutrition‑specific achievements
- Quantify outcomes (e.g., % improvement in patient compliance)
• Managed inventory for cafeteria
• Developed and implemented a low‑sodium menu for a 200‑seat cafeteria, reducing average sodium intake by 15% and improving compliance with dietary guidelines.
- ATS may fail to parse employment dates
- Creates visual inconsistency
- Can be mistaken for missing experience
- Use month-year format (MM/YYYY) consistently
- Align dates to the right margin
Jan 2020 – Present
01/2020 – Present
- Missing key qualifications that differentiate you
- ATS keyword gaps
- Hiring managers may assume you’re not credentialed
- Create a dedicated Certifications section
- List credential name, issuing body, and year
Experience: ...
Certifications: - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), Commission on Dietetic Registration, 2018 - Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS), Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists, 2020
- ATS may not recognize uncommon acronyms
- Human readers may be confused
- Reduces readability
- Spell out terms on first use, then add acronym in parentheses
- Limit jargon to industry‑standard terms
Implemented FODMAP protocol for IBS pts.
Implemented the Low Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols (FODMAP) protocol for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Include a concise professional summary
- Use action verbs and quantify results
- List relevant certifications (RDN, CNS, etc.)
- Format dates as MM/YYYY
- Incorporate nutrition‑specific keywords
- Proofread for spelling and grammar
- Save as PDF with a clear file name
- Add a results‑focused summary
- Replace generic duties with nutrition‑specific achievements
- Standardize date and location formats
- Insert missing certifications
- Optimize keywords for ATS
