receptionist

Your job is to monitor the front desk and direct visitors entering the office, guiding them to their appointments and ensuring the reception area remains tidy.

Your job is to assist executive assistants with repetitive tasks, like screening calls or handling mail. You also write memos to staff and summarise reports from various departments for the executives.

In a company with a dedicated human resources (HR) department, you sit at the entrance of the department's offices. You also perform an array of administrative tasks, like tracking sick leaves or holidays, filing paperwork for new starters, and planning employee travel.

As a receptionist, your main duty is to support your co-workers. This assistance can take many forms, including:

• Welcoming visitors: as a receptionist, you meet, greet and direct visitors to the correct person when they enter the business's premises.
• Answering phone calls: a receptionist answers incoming calls and deals with queries made through the office line. You answer calls politely and speak to callers professionally. You either forward the call to the appropriate employee or take a message and deliver it to the right department.
• Managing mail: your job involves preparing outgoing mail and notifying the courier to pick up deliveries. You also receive incoming mail and distribute them to the intended recipients.
• Performing clerical and financial duties: as a receptionist, you assist other employees with photocopying, filing documents or ordering office supplies. You also maintain office equipment and report malfunctions. Sometimes, you manage petty cash payments and do basic bookkeeping duties.
• Maintaining the reception area: as a receptionist, you ensure the entrance to the office is clean, organised and maintained. It is important to maintain the area’s safety and cleanliness standards. You keep basic office supplies, such as pens and paper, stocked and also order supplies required in the office areas.
• Managing the office calendar: as a receptionist, you are responsible for managing the company’s calendar. You keep the office calendar updated with the list of events. To streamline meetings and appointments, you rely on specific software tools, like visitor management systems and Calendly or Google Calendar.

As a receptionist, you usually work indoors at a desk. Most receptionists work in a lobby or reception area, but some have desks within an open floor-plan office. As a receptionist, you can work for public, private and charitable organisations in informal, creative or casual workplaces. Depending on the environment, receptionists wear uniforms or dress in casual to formal business attire. Most receptionists work alongside a team of administrative assistants, but others work alone. Some receptionists work remotely and use voice calls, live chats or video calls to assist customers.

Depending on your employer and the industry you work in, you'll interact with various professionals when working as a receptionist. Some of the colleagues you work alongside include security officers, personal assistants, administrative assistants and cleaners. You also work in close proximity with executive assistants, data entry clerks, accountants and customer service representatives.

Since a receptionist's main duty is interacting with customers, their schedule usually follows the same hours as the business they work for. The majority of receptionists work from Monday to Friday, up to 40 hours a week. A receptionist's shift includes 30- to 60-minute lunch breaks. There are also part-time receptionist jobs available, which offer around 15 to 30 hours a week. Some part-time receptionists work only a few days a week, while others work around 4 to 6 hours multiple times a week.

As a receptionist, you have the opportunity to advance to other positions within your company. In large offices, you can be promoted to a head receptionist position. However, the most common job growth opportunities come from lateral movement. As a receptionist, you get deeply acquainted with the business. You learn how the company runs, understand its customers, and know how various employees interact. If you're motivated and a good fit within the company's culture, you'll likely receive a promotion to work in other departments. Receptionists go on to be administration assistants, office managers, HR employees and more. These career opportunities make the job of a receptionist a good entry position into your desired field. If you don't have the education or experience to get your desired job, being a receptionist helps you get started.

Working with Randstad offers you a range of benefits.

• always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
• a range of jobs in your area

As a receptionist, you work in a company office and ensure the reception area runs smoothly. Your job is to greet visitors and direct them to their appointments. You answer phones at the reception, receive correspondence and respond to emails. You also run errands for other office workers and ensure the workflow is seamless.

As a receptionist in a hotel, you greet visitors and assist them with the check-in process. You maintain a positive and friendly demeanour when interacting with guests and promptly respond to their questions and requests. Other duties include managing guest bookings or reservations and answering phone calls.

Working as a receptionist is an exciting career, but it can also be stressful at times. For many industries, the hardest part of being a receptionist is managing the increasing number of phone calls.

As a hotel receptionist, you collaborate with various professionals, making the ability to work well with others very useful in the role. You also require good phone etiquette and patience.

You don’t need higher educational training to become a receptionist, but having a degree makes you more competitive in the job market. Most employers provide on-the-job training to guide you on how to use their specific office management system. Your experience working in entry-level administrative roles also improves your chances of landing a receptionist job.

Finding a job near you as a receptionist is easy. Search our job offers. Have you found what you're looking for? Then submit your application using the ‘Apply’ button top right on the page. No jobs available right now? Then log in or register an account to send us your resume and we'll pass it on to a recruiter who will contact you if an opportunity opens up for you.