Dietetic technicians are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, dietetic technicians rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 8% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy dietetic technicians are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Registered dietitian
2.9
$62k
Food quality assurance technician
2.9
$36k
Home health aide
2.8
$22k
Orderly
2.6
$26k
Dietetic technician
2.6
$30k
Maitre d'
2.5
$25k
Food server
2.4
$26k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are dietetic technicians happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do dietetic technicians find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as dietetic technicians?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are dietetic technician’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are dietetic technicians making the best use of their abilities?

Are dietetic technicians happy with their salary?

Dietetic technicians rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Dietetic technicians tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked dietetic technicians how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

100 dietetic technicians

5 Star
8%

8% of dietetic technicians rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of dietetic technicians rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of dietetic technicians rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
32%

32% of dietetic technicians rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
16%

16% of dietetic technicians rated their compensation 1 stars

Do dietetic technicians find their jobs meaningful?

On average, dietetic technicians rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.6/5. While most dietetic technicians aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

We asked dietetic technicians how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.6 out of 5 stars

101 dietetic technicians

5 Star
6%

6% of dietetic technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
17%

17% of dietetic technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
31%

31% of dietetic technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of dietetic technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of dietetic technicians rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as dietetic technicians?

Dietetic technicians rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of dietetic technicians find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked dietetic technicians how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

102 dietetic technicians

5 Star
21%

21% of dietetic technicians rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of dietetic technicians rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of dietetic technicians rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of dietetic technicians rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of dietetic technicians rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a dietetic technician’s work environment?

As a whole, dietetic technicians rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked dietetic technicians how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

99 dietetic technicians

5 Star
12%

12% of dietetic technicians rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of dietetic technicians rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of dietetic technicians rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of dietetic technicians rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of dietetic technicians rated their work environment 1 stars

Are dietetic technicians making the best use of their abilities?

Former dietetic technicians on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.5/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a dietetic technician.

We asked dietetic technicians how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

99 dietetic technicians

5 Star
8%

8% of dietetic technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of dietetic technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of dietetic technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
33%

33% of dietetic technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of dietetic technicians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars