Receptionist: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a receptionist?

Receptionists are the multitaskers of your business. They are often responsible for directing your customers, booking appointments, providing troubleshooting solutions and maintaining your telecommunications systems. Having a receptionist is highly useful to any business looking to provide a personalised, supportive service to their customers. 

Qualities of a great receptionist:

• Excellent communication skills
• Friendly, approachable manner
• Highly organised and methodical approach

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance receptionist

Although many companies choose to recruit a receptionist on a full-time permanent basis, you may choose to appoint a receptionist on a freelance basis. This may be if your office is remote and you are looking for someone to fulfil the role of a virtual receptionist. They may take on many similar duties to a receptionist, but instead communicate with clients or customers via online communications rather than on-site. However, if you are looking for someone to work on a less flexible basis, and work 9-5 shifts, then a full-time permanent receptionist would probably be a better fit for your company.

What are the different types of receptionist?

The job description of your receptionist may vary depending on the duties that you need to cover, and the nature of your business. If you are running a sports facility, then you will need to look for a receptionist who has specific gym or sports facility experience. You may also have different ranks of receptionist, depending on how big your front of house team needs to be. Your front of house team could consist of a receptionist manager and several junior receptionists, for example.

• Junior Receptionist: A junior receptionist deals with basic administrative duties.
  
• Receptionist Manager: A receptionist manager works with a team of junior receptionists, delegating tasks to them.
• Medical Receptionist: A medical receptionist greets patients, books appointments for patients and directs them to the right rooms.
• Gym Receptionist: A gym receptionist greets gym members, deals with memberships and books instructors.
• Hotel Receptionist: A hotel receptionist greets hotel customers, provides them with their room keys, takes phone calls regarding bookings and informs customers about the services offered by the hotel.

Where to find a receptionist?

To find the right receptionist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Internal recruitment: You can attract candidates who already have similar skills and experience working for you by advertising your receptionist role internally.
• Placing an advert on a job bulletin: If you are looking to recruit a receptionist locally, you can place a short but informative advertisement with contact details in a local job bulletin. 
• Advertising on your website: A great way to attract applicants who are already interested in your business is by advertising the role on your website, with appropriate contact details. 
• Having a stall for your business at a trade fair: You can get to know prospective recruits in person even before they apply by having a stall at a relevant business trade fair. 

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a receptionist on Indeed to find and attract quality receptionist candidates.

Skills to look for in a great receptionist

A great candidate for a receptionist role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• strong organisational skills
• willingness to help
• great communication skills
• an eye for detail
• cooperativeness

Writing a receptionist job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified receptionist candidates. A receptionist job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your job description for a receptionist, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for receptionists, according to Indeed data:

• receptionist
• admin
• customer service
• administrator
• office assistant
• administration
• hotel receptionist
• medical receptionist

Interviewing receptionist candidates

Strong candidates for receptionist positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• troubleshooting customer issues
• experience of working in a public-facing role
• personal presentation and dress code
• organisational skills and prioritisation of workloads
• communication skills and conflict resolution

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of receptionist interview questions for examples (with sample answers).