How To Hire A Receptionist
Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Receptionist hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.
Receptionist Recruitment Guide
What does a Receptionist do?
A Receptionist is the first point of contact of visitors and guests in an office or any premise. They greet and welcome visitors, assist them if they have concerns or questions, and provide drinks or food to them while they wait. They also provide administrative support including sorting mail and other correspondences, monitoring calendar of activities, and answering phone calls.
Day to day tasks of a Receptionist
- Other ad hoc administrative tasks.
- Greet and welcome visitors and clients.
- Assist visitors in navigating the place.
- Help maintain security in the premise by checking baggage, issuing badges, collecting necessary ID, and keeping a visitors’ log record.
- Assist in some administrative tasks including photocopying, taking notes, printing, and answering phone calls.
- Prepare rooms for meetings.
- Sort and distribute mail and other correspondence.
Receptionist definition
A Receptionist’s primary responsibility is to welcome and greet visitors or clients upon coming into the office or premise. Because of this, they require skills that will enable them to assist and attend to visitors in different situations.
HIRING PROCESS
Receptionist Hiring Process
Build the ideal candidate profile
Skills needed for a Receptionist
A Receptionist must have good communication and interpersonal skills. Because a receptionist will be facing clients and visitors, they must have good customer service orientation to ensure a pleasant experience.
- Initiative
- Communication
- Multitasking
Pro Tip
For entry-level roles, you may receive more applications compared to a senior role. Ensure to highlight the skills and qualifications needed and provide an overview of what it’s like working for the company so that applicants can measure if they are a good fit.
WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION BASED ON SKILLS
How to write a Receptionist 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 Receptionist 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 Receptionist must have good rapport with customers, but it would also be nice to have a Calendly experience, or any calendar management tool.
SELECTING THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sample skill tests for a Receptionist
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Question 1
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 do you choose which ones to answer?
Question 2
Communication
Question Type: Audio
You are working as the Receptionist of a central city business tower, a group of associates has arrived for a meeting at one of the many companies within the tower.
Please record how you would greet them.
Question 3
Initiative
Question Type: Text
If you are assigned a task which you are not familiar with, what will be your process of completing it?
INTERVIEW TOP PERFORMERS
How to interview a Receptionist
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 Receptionist?
The US average for a Receptionist is $31,530 according to Glassdoor.com. Salary.com meanwhile, reports it at $36,329. The lowest reported salary is at $26,000, while the highest is at $119,000. Some employers offer additional pay including cash bonus, incentives, commissions, and sharing. The salaries being offered vary depending on the education, years of experience, and the location.
Receptionist Salary United States
Receptionists’ salaries in the United States range from $26,000 – $119,000 (USD), but the average falls between $31,000 – $36,000. Receptionists’ salaries vary depending on their years of experience, additional skills or niches they may have, industry of the company, and their location.
Source: Glassdoor.com; Salary.com
Receptionist Salary United Kingdom
Receptionists’ salaries in the United Kingdom range from £14,000 – £95,000 (GBP), but the average falls between £18,000 – £20,000 (GBP). Receptionists’ salaries vary depending on their years of experience, additional skills or niches they may have, industry of the company, and their location.
Source: Glassdoor.com; Payscale.com
Receptionist Salary Australia
Receptionists’ salaries in Australia range from $36,000 – $65,000 (AUD) , but the average falls between $46,000 – $57,000 (AUD). Receptionists’ salaries vary depending on their years of experience, additional skills or niches they may have, industry of the company, and their location.
Source: Talent.com; Payscale.com
