Today, almost every company has reception positions. This role is crucial as it stands for the first point of contact that links an organization with its partners, affiliates, and customers. And that’s why this job matters so much in the business landscape.
A professional receptionist handles a huge number of duties. This may include:
- Greeting guests
- Answering the guests’ questions
- Maintaining the office (keeping it safe and clean)
- Answering phone calls
- Managing mail
- Coordinating meetings
- Arranging travel
Pro Tip: This list could go on and on. The role of a receptionist in every team is essential. That’s why employers and recruiters are being extremely careful when choosing an employee for this post.
If you want to work as a receptionist, you need excellent communication and some other skills, and a great receptionist resume.
In our guide, expert writers will provide you with:
- Great receptionist resume examples
- Steps to writing a top-notch reception job description resume
- Winning tips to land a job
How to Write a Receptionist Resume
If you are not sure how to write a resume for a receptionist job, we are here to land you a helping hand! Every team member at SkillHub is a real master of his craft with years of experience in the writing business. Our team has helped thousands of professionals to get excellent resumes that win jobs.
Now, we’ll share our experience with you to help you write a great receptionist resume with ease.
- First of all, leverage the receptionist job description for resume writing. A job description always has all the hints you need to create an impressive resume, so don’t hesitate to use it to your benefit.
- Start with a powerful resume summary or objective to drive attention right away.
- Form your experience section. Don’t forget to tell potential employers about your achievements to show them how you can help their company.
- Mention your education.
- Make a list of your best skills. Make sure that all skills you mention on a resume are relevant to the job. Also, be sure to mix hard and soft skills together to show potential employers that you have everything they are looking for.
- Use extra sections to tell a bit more about yourself.
Pro Tip: Following these steps will help you craft a perfect resume that will enhance the effectiveness of your job search. But, before you get started, we encourage you to study some well-written receptionists resume examples to get an idea of how it should look like at the end.
Choose the Right Template for a Receptionist Resume
Every hiring manager receives tons of resumes every week. Guess what happens to most of them? They get shoved into a pile on the desk and never reviewed again.
No recruiter will read every resume they get. One will quickly scan it for the key points and, if it doesn’t have what he’s looking for, it’ll be sent to the bin. So, what can you do to get noticed? Your goal is to pick the best option from many receptionist resume templates. The one that will engage him from the first lines and help you land an interview.
A perfect receptionist resume template should go heavy on white space and use big section headings for clarity and readability. It should be tailored to the receptionist resume duties. Also, it should follow a reverse-chronological format because it helps it easier to navigate. And it should include the following sections:
- Contact information
- Receptionist resume summary or objective
- Work experience
- Education
- Key Skills
- Additional sections like volunteering, awards, certifications, interests, etc.
Finally, it should also come in a supported file format. PDF should work in most cases. But, always clarify the preferred file type before you apply for a specific job.
Write a Receptionist Resume Summary or Summary Objective
To drive the recruiter’s attention and show yourself as a worthy applicant, start your receptionist resume with a summary or objective.
A summary should include a snapshot of your career and showcase your best accomplishments, qualities, and skills. Use a summary if you possess relevant work experiences.
An objective fits candidates with no (or little) work experience best. It shows your strong sides and explains why you are a good fit.
Receptionist resume summary:
Expert receptionist with a BA in communications and 6+ years of experience in both private and public sectors. Self-motivated, diplomatic, accountable. With strong computer, problem-solving, and customer service skills. Looking to occupy a receptionist position at [company name].
Receptionist resume objective:
College graduate with a BA degree in Business Administration. Outgoing and responsible, striving to broaden my skill set and grow within an organization. Seeking to leverage my technical and organizational skills as a receptionist at [company name].
Put Your Education on Resume for Receptionist
Are you required to have a college degree to get employed as a receptionist? Not necessarily. But, does your resume receptionist need an education section? It sure does!
Recruiting firms may look at your professional experience first. But this doesn’t make your education less important. So, if you have a degree, be sure that potential employers and hiring managers will want to know this!
When listing your education on a receptionist sample resume, include the following details:
- College name
- Years of attendance
- Degree type
- Your major (and minors, if you have them)
This should be just enough if you’ve got enough experience. However, if you are an entry-level worker, with a gap in your experience or skills, you can expand your education section to make up for the things you lack. Some additional information you can provide includes:
- GPA
- Academic achievements, honors, and awards
- Relevant coursework
- Favorite fields of study
Put Skills on a Receptionist Resume
Every employer wants to know what makes you good for a specific job before they employ you. They will be paying special attention to your receptionist skills resume section. That’s why you need to make it flawless!
If you want to know how to put your receptionist skills on a resume the right way, here is a step-by-step instruction:
- Create a list of all your skills.
- Study the job description to identify what skills-related keywords are there.
- Check your list of skills against the list in the job description to find matched skills.
- Shape your skills section. Insert your most vital skills first and indicate the level of proficiency.
Here is a list of the most sought after receptionist resume skills:
Hard
- MS Office
- VOIP
- Administrative skills
- Data entry
- Typing 90 WPM
- Filing
- Planning
- Scheduling
Soft
- Organizational skills
- Multitasking
- Time management
- Attention to detail
- Prioritizing
- Collaboration
- Listening
- Adaptability
- Conflict resolution
Add Contact Info to Your Resume
Next, add a contact info section to your resume if you haven’t done it yet. And, if you did, check it once again!
Your contact section is the most important part of your job application. You have to ensure that it is up-to-date and error-free. Otherwise, how will anyone recruit you if they don’t have your accurate contact details?
The key contact details that have to be in every receptionist resume sample are:
- Name
- Phone number
- Location (optional)
- Professional email address
Pro Tip: If you have any job-related web presence, you can include some relevant links on your resume for receptionist.
Add Other Sections to Your Effective Resume
What distinguishes a brilliant resume example for receptionist from a mediocre one? A mediocre resume may have all the main sections in it, but it only tells about its owner’s skills and experience, whereas a brilliant resume proves them.
If you are wondering how to craft a winning resume that proves your skills and makes you stand out, just add some extra sections to it. If you tailor your additional sections to the receptionist job description for resume, you can get plenty of benefits.
They can set you apart from other candidates, show your uniqueness and personality, and showcase your verifiable accomplishments.
Here are some effective additional sections for resume receptionist that you can consider:
- Certifications
- Honors and awards
- Additional training
- Blogging
- Participation in conferences
- Academic achievements
- Volunteer experience
- Hobbies and interests
- Languages you speak
If you can boast any of the above, that’s great! Putting additional sections to your resume can really help you get more interviews with less effort and in less time. These extras make your resume memorable and personal. And, if you manage to relate your outside-of-work achievements and interests to the job, it can also highlight that you are a good fit for the chosen position.
Use Key Action Verbs
Resume keywords and action verbs serve several purposes. First of all, their use ensures that your resume is visible for an applicant tracking system (ATS). An ATS system is resume-scanning software recruiters use to weed out the applications that don’t match job requirements. Respectively, if you don’t use the right words, your resume can remain unnoticed.
Action verbs, in turn, are used to avoid cliches and make a resume more memorable. Here are some great action verbs you can use in your receptionist resume:
- Filed
- Archived
- Ordered
- Assisted
- Organized
- Followed up
- Greeted
- Created
- Received
- Coordinated
- Implemented
- Researched
- Welcomed
- Developed
- Logged
Front Desk Receptionist Resume Sample
Now that you know how to create a general resume for a receptionist role, you may wonder how to create a solid resume for a front desk receptionist job in particular.
The first thing you should do is carefully read the front desk receptionist job description. To write a resume you have to clearly understand the front desk receptionist duties, which include:
- Allowing employees’ access to the office;
- Greeting visitors;
- Answering and transferring calls;
- Answer questions;
- Schedule appointments, etc.
When writing this resume, you should make an emphasis on your communication skills. Some other front desk resume skills to spotlight include organization, friendliness, positive attitude, being outgoing, and responsible.
In terms of hard skills, a front desk receptionist should be well aware of the standard office procedures and be proficient with office equipment.
Also, working at the reception front desk requires you to have an appealing and, not less important, professional appearance. Therefore, you may want to add a professional headshot photo to your resume for front desk.
As for other resume writing tips, you can stick to the guidelines provided earlier. If you follow them and keep in mind the peculiarities of the job, you will create a perfect resume!
Office Receptionist Resume Sample
An office receptionist doesn’t necessarily have to work at the front desk. Thus, the requirements for the office receptionist job may be somewhat different and you should keep this in mind when writing a resume.
Office receptionists are responsible for handling various administrative tasks in the office. These tasks can range from call answering and being the first point of contact for the clients, partners, and other individuals to maintaining databases clean and updated.
This job requires candidates to have a solid skillset (with the biggest emphasis on hard skills) and a few years of experience in the office environment. So, that’s what job seekers should focus on in their receptionist resume samples. When writing a resume for office receptionist jobs, follow the guidelines and tips discussed earlier. Be sure to include such relevant skills as data entry, typing, filing, and administrative skills. Although a big benefit would be proficiency with word processing software and spreadsheets.
In terms of education, don’t focus on it too much in your resume. Typically, it is enough to have a high school diploma to land a job. However, if you have a degree or relevant on-the-job training, be sure to mention it but only briefly.