How To Hire A Front Desk Agent
Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Front Desk Agent hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.
Front Desk Agent Recruitment Guide
What does a Front Desk Agent do?
A Front Desk Agent usually works in a hotel, motel, resort, or any establishment that has guests regularly coming in to stay. They are responsible for greeting the guests when they come in, answering their questions, taking care of their baggage, and recommending restaurants or activities that they can do. They are essentially the go-to person for all guest enquiries.
Day to day tasks of a Front Desk Agent
- Greet guests coming in and thanking those who are leaving.
- Process the check-in and check-out of the guests.
- Post the fees and charges to the appropriate accounts.
- Assist guests who have requests.
- Answer phone calls and assist in any concerns.
- Anticipate the needs of the guests and offer recommendations or solutions to any problems.
- Coordinate with internal teams to ensure guest satisfaction.
Front Desk Agent definition
A Front Desk Agent’s primary responsibility is to process the arrival and departure of guests of hotels, motels, or resorts. It starts from greeting them upon arrival, verifying the registration’s information, processing payment, providing the room keys, up to recommending good restaurants or activities that they can do while staying in the establishment.
HIRING PROCESS
Front Desk Agent Hiring Process
Build the ideal candidate profile
Skills needed for a Front Desk Agent
A Front Desk Agent should have a customer centric mindset at all times as they will be interacting with guests and customers. They should also be good at multitasking so they can manage multiple requests at a time.
- Initiative
- Communication
- Multitasking
Pro Tip
For entry-level roles, you will receive a huge number of applications compared to a more senior role. Ensure to give details about the company’s goals and objectives, and how the role will help the company in achieving them. This will help the applicants gauge if the role is fit for them.
WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION BASED ON SKILLS
How to write a Front Desk Agent job description
Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Front Desk Agent job description:
Job Title: What position are you hiring for?
Summary: What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities: An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements: Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits: Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer
Pro Tip
In building your candidate profile, remember you’ve already identified what skills are needed to succeed in the role. Here’s where to list your “must-have” skills and maybe a couple of “nice-to-have” skills. For example, a Front Desk Agent must be able to multitask, but it would be nice to have experience in hotel management software.
SELECTING THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sample skill tests for a Front Desk Agent
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Question 1
Communication
Question Type: Text
It’s your first day at your new job. At the Monday morning meeting you are asked to introduce yourself to the rest of the team, including the Director who is sitting in on the meeting.
Please record and upload a video of yourself doing this.
Question 2
Initiative
Question Type: Text
Tell me about a time when you took the initiative to share important knowledge or skills to help someone else
When answering, think about why you offered to help?
How did you help them?
Question 3
Multitasking
Question Type: Text
You just came back from holiday and had 3,000 unread emails and you could only answer 50 of them.
How would you choose which ones to answer?
INTERVIEW TOP PERFORMERS
How to interview a Front Desk Agent
Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.
Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.
Making An Offer
How much does it cost to hire a Front Desk Agent?
The US average for a Front Desk Agent is $28,949, according to Salary.com, while it is at $29,917 as reported by Glassdoor.com. The lowest salary is reported at $26,000, while the highest is reported at $127,000.
Front Desk Agent Salary United States
Front Desk Agents’ average salaries in the United States range from $28,000 – $30,000 (USD). The lowest salary is reported at $26,000, and the highest is at $127,000. Salaries depend on several factors like educational background, years of experience in the profession, and location.
Depending on the specific establishment, some companies offer service charges, tips, bonuses, or commissions as additional pay.
Source: Salary.com; Glassdoor.com
Front Desk Agent Salary United Kingdom
Front Desk Agents’ average salaries in the United Kingdom range from £19,768 – £20,061 (GBP). The lowest salary is reported at £15,000, and the highest is at £33,000. Salaries depend on several factors like educational background, years of experience in the profession, and location.
Source: Glassdoor.com; Payscale.com
Front Desk Agent Salary Australia
Front Desk Agents’ average salary in Australia is around $50,980 (AUD). The lowest salary is reported at $29,000 and the highest is at £59,000. Salaries depend on several factors like educational background, years of experience in the profession, and location.
Source: Payscale.com, Glassdoor.com
