5 Signs It’s Time to Leave Your Dietitian Job

Written By: Kelan Sarnoff, MS, RDN

Are you happy in your current job? If you had to pause before answering that, keep reading.

The truth is, most of us stay in our jobs well past the burnout point. We convince ourselves that it will get better when another dietitian is hired. Or when flu season is over. Or when auditing season is over. But as time passes, the job never gets better, and we never fully recover from burnout. 

It’s hard to leave a comfortable job, and fear of the unknown keeps a lot of talented dietitians stuck in roles that stopped serving them a long time ago.

I experienced this myself when I moved two states away for a new job, and it ended up being a terrible fit. I loved the nature of the work, but the work environment was a level of micromanaging I never knew possible. I found myself imagining different scenarios where my boss would retire, but that’s not a real strategy. So I left after two years with zero regret.

If you’ve been wondering whether it’s time to move on, here are the signs I tell my coaching clients to watch for, plus what to do if you recognize yourself in this list but can’t leave yet.

Should I leave my dietitian job?

Here are 5 signs that it’s time to leave your job.

1) The Sunday scaries have turned into every day dread.

If you have the occasional nerves or dread because you have a hard day or a client that drives you crazy, that’s one thing. But if you’re waking up more often than not, dreading your job, it’s not a “push through it” problem.

I promise that it’s not going to get better. I see this a lot, especially with dietitians in the clinical or outpatient settings. They feel like they SHOULD like this type of role, but deep down it’s not value- or skills-aligned. By the way, you do not need to “do your time in clinical”. If you’ve tried out a few different clinical roles and don’t love it, it’s probably not the right fit.

And that’s 100% okay. There are dozens of other dietitian jobs to test out.

If you have the Sunday scaries, you’re most likely in a position that isn’t a great work environment for you OR it’s not a good skills fit. Both of these are challenging to fix and, if we’re being honest, are not likely to improve any time soon.

You can wait out or you can acknowledge that it’s time to move on.

2. You’re no longer learning or no longer inspired to learn.

Career growth doesn’t have to mean a promotion or moving into a manager-level position. Career growth means expanding your skills and knowledge.

If you’re in a role where you have stopped absorbing new information or learning new skills, you’ll eventually feel stagnant and uninspired. I see this manifest in a few different ways with clients. 

In the clinical or outpatient setting, RDs feel like they’ve learned everything there is to know about a certain disease or condition. Or they are no longer exposed to challenging cases, and the day-to-day becomes monotonous. 

I also see this with people who have climbed up the career ladder and realize that they now sit in meetings all day and feel disconnected from what brings them true satisfaction.

For most of us, we are inspired by growth and learning. We need new challenges to be intellectually fulfilled. If this rings true for you and you’re not feeling challenged in your current role, it’s probably time to start looking outside of your comfort zone for your next opportunity.

3. There’s no room for upward growth, or you’ve capped out your earning potential.

If advancement or better pay simply isn’t available where you are, no amount of hard work will change that math. 

The best way to get a raise is to leave your current position. Unfortunately, pensions went away, so did the incentive to spend your life with one company. 

Of course, I recommend advocating for higher pay, but if you’ve already done this work with no results, it’s not going to magically change. 

With my clients, I see this coming into play when the next step up is a managerial role, and they have no interest in overseeing others. 

Moving to a new company or a new industry within nutrition/dietetics is the most effective way to increase your income.

Not sure what you’re earning potential is? Check out my post on The Highest Paying Dietitian Jobs: An Overview of RD Salaries or run your numbers through DietitianSalaries.com.

4. Your workplace is toxic and it’s only getting worse.

This is a really hard situation to manage and I’ve been in several toxic situations myself. You have a few different options. You can wait it out and hope that the toxic person leaves. But there is no guarantee that this will happen. 

I tried to wait out my own toxic boss because I thought she would retire at age 62. News flash- she’s still going strong at almost 70.

You can also address the toxic situation directly with a manager, supervisor or HR. But this is challenging if the toxic situation is because of management. 

If your options are waiting it out or leaving, leaving is usually the most reasonable solution. You don’t have to suffer in a toxic environment just to make it to your 1-year mark or your 2-year mark or another arbitrary timeframe.

You don’t owe it to anyone. And while yes, you are valuable and unique, we’re all replaceable. It’s not your responsibility to figure out how the company will handle your vacancy. 

5. You’re questioning whether you’re even still interested in dietetics and nutrition anymore.

If you’ve found yourself wondering if you should leave dietetics altogether, I promise there are other opportunities out there for you.

You do not need to leave behind your degree, the years of schooling, the unpaid internship, etc.

You might need to leave behind your “idea” of what a dietitian can do.

Let me explain.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of different career opportunities within the field of nutrition and dietetics. I have featured over a dozen dietitians in unique roles in my RD Career Series.

Here are some examples:

-Nutrition Informatics
-Clinical Informatics
-Healthcare Partnerships (medically tailored meals)
-Campus Dining
-Corrections Department
-Product Development/Marketing
-Food Scientist/RD
-Regulatory Affairs (Supplement)
-Nutrition Research (foodservice)
-Non-Profit & Regulatory Affairs
-Nutrition Policy & Food Access
-Nutrition Communications & Strategy
– Commodity Board RD
– Medical Science Liaison

As you can see, very few are “traditional” dietitian job. The solution isn’t leaving behind the field of nutrition and dietetics. The solution is expanding your knowledge of what is possible in the nutrition and wellness space.

Are you ready to leave your current RD role?

If you’ve made it through these five questions and you’re feeling uneasy, that’s normal. It can be hard coming to terms with not being able to change aspects of a job that you wish were better.

As you move through this discomfort, the first step is simply recognizing the feeling and permitting yourself to start the exploration phase of the job search process.

Once you do, you’ll be surprised how much opportunity is actually out there — yes, even in today’s job market. It won’t be an overnight process, but you have to start somewhere.

As a career coach for dietitians, I have helped dozens of dietitians navigate this exact process. And my biggest piece of advice is to follow your gut feeling. Chances are, if you’ve made it all the way to the end of this post, you’re truly hoping for someone to tell you that it’s time to leave your role. So here is that little push if you need it.