Careers in wellness and health promotion offer opportunities for registered dietitians to create new roles that use their knowledge and training in a non-clinical setting. If you are interested in pursuing a career in this area, the following suggestions are offered to assist you in this endeavor.
Develop necessary business skills.
Dietitians often begin their corporate experience by pitching a proposal, negotiating a fee and offering ideas on nutrition services for groups or individuals. Evaluate your skills in marketing, negotiating, writing proposals and marketing services. Small business development centers offer resources and seminars on these and other business topics.
Accrue critical communication skills.
Especially for consultants, excellent communication skills are a necessity. Fine tune your presentation skills, enhance your writing skills and develop a “show and tell” book portfolio that demonstrates skills related to wellness and health promotion. Look for opportunities to work with the local media or press and save articles or clips as part of your marketing packet.
Learn how to play the game--finding corporate contacts.
The world of health promotion has many potential decision makers. For one client, it may be the human resource manager and, for another, it is the fitness center manager. Network outside of the dietetic profession. Look for opportunities to attend meetings or present on a relevant topic to occupational health nurses, human resources managers, community health groups, and fitness professionals. Cold calls are always an option, but word-of-mouth is also a great method.
Identify needs and provide solutions.
Transfer your needs assessment skills from working with patients to helping a company understand their health care costs. The company may have a need to reduce the risk of heart disease, but is not willing to provide these services on-site. Be creative and offer telephone or email counseling that can be done during off hours. Offer to survey employees and link needs with interests and readiness to change.
Network with other professional associations.
Practice your networking skills. Attend regional or national meetings of other professional organizations, such as American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP), and the National Wellness Institute (NWI).
Consider an advanced or complementary degree.
A masters of science in health promotion or in public health will provide increased credibility and training for you to hold leadership roles. Becoming a weight management specialist, Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD), certified diabetes educator (CDE) or an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) health/fitness instructor also conveys advanced professional expertise. At the same time, no one is expecting you to wear all the hats: be comfortable defining your expertise and delegating other responsibilities by hiring qualified subcontractors.
Be passionate and persistent!
To be successful at selling a service, you must be passionate and persistent. Especially when working with large clients, it is not uncommon to require 8 to10 attempts before having a face-to-face appointment. Keep your enthusiasm high and focus on creating new career paths in wellness!
Updated August 2007.
Denice Ferko-Adams, MPH, LDN, RD – Wellness Press, LLC, President – Nazareth, PA
Author, A Dietitian’s Guide to Corporate Health Promotion |
