When you are seeking a job as a Receptionist, it is essential to first check out a top-notch Receptionist resume sample. You want to make sure your resume stands out from the rest by being both informative and compelling to read without bombarding the recruiter or hiring manager with irrelevant information.
Receptionists can work in a variety of industries and also in small, medium, or large companies. Other job titles you can look out for under the Reception category include Clerk Specialist, Community Liaison, Front Desk Receptionist, Greeter, Member Service Representative, Office Assistant, Receptionist, Scheduler, Senior Receptionist, Unit Assistant.
How to create a resume into an interview-winning document, will be easier with our: How to make a Resume Guideline for Receptionist Roles
What you can read in this article
Or download these examples in PDF at the bottom of this page for free
1. Contact Information: Name, Address, Phone Number, Email.
Be sure to include alternative contact channels, as well as your LinkedIn profile URL details.
2. Profile Summary: This introduction to your resume must make an impact on the reader. Include a broad overview of your background, years of industry experience and the industry sectors of interest. You should be specific and state which job you are applying to (1-3 sentences max).
3. Qualifications Summary: Provide accurate details about the certifications and qualifications you have completed with the institution, qualification name, and dates. Don’t forget to include qualifications you are currently completing too. For Receptionist roles, a high school diploma is often the only requirement, but some job openings may need post-school certifications too. You may also want to list the short courses, workshops, and in-house training you have received to provide more credibility to your resume.
4. Relevant Reception Experience: Clearly state your employment history by giving details regarding the last ten years of experience, up until your current position. Use punchy sentences with bullet points to list your most important reception activities. Receptionist jobs usually exist in industries where you interact with customers and consumers face to face, such as retail products, car sales, electronics, food products, garments, gear, medicine and another type of consumer products bought over the counter or from a retail outlet or shop.
However, reception roles could also be telephonic only where high volumes of customer calls need to be transferred to relevant departments each day. These may include insurance companies, federal offices, government institutions, telecommunications providers and banks. You have to be specific. State the purpose of your job clearly (face to face or telephone), as well as the industries you have worked in.
5. Other Employment Experience: This will consist of permanent work history outside of reception duties, but still in the customer service environment or temporary and vocational jobs where you were actively dealing with clients or customers. Only elaborate on these with job descriptions if you have less than five years of sales experience. Otherwise, just list job title company and duration as to make sure there are no gaps in your employment history.
6. Skills Summary/Key Skills: Incorporates keywords from the job posting and your specific skill set. This adds much-needed credibility to your resume.
7. Education/Licenses/Certifications/Relevant Coursework/Training: Start with post-school diplomas or accreditations if applicable. List any professional development courses, workshops or programs you completed that better prepared you to work as a Receptionist such as customer service strategies, conflict, switchboard applications, conflict resolution techniques, industry, and product training.
Regardless of your experience as a Receptionist, there are a few vital things that recruiters and managers need to know about you to ensure that you are the right fit for their team.
The first aspect to highlight is the scope of your reception role. There are millions of businesses out there with every imaginable product on offer to customers. It would be best if you were specific about the industry you have worked in, whether you dealt with walk-in clients, the size of the switchboard of PABX system and the average number of calls you deal with in a day.
Secondly, a Receptionist often is the ‘’face of the business’’ sitting at the front desk or lobby area of the company. You need to show them that you are capable of providing excellent customer service, handling multiple client requests at the same time, deal with complaints in an appropriate manner.
Next, a Receptionist is also involved in admin support duties such as messaging distribution, scheduling appointments and sending information emails to clients. These duties may include answering inquiries and providing information to the general public, customers, visitors, and other interested parties regarding activities conducted at the establishment. Often you may be required to play the role of a “human Google Maps assistant” to provide directions and addresses regarding the location of departments, offices within the organization.
In this section be sure to mention the systems and applications you are familiar with like Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Zoom, Webex, VoIP, Clarity, and Agile CRM (these are mere examples).
Finally comes the targets, goals and KPI metrics that you need to hit. Be number specific here for example how many incoming customers in a day, split between regulars and new customers, average daily calls taken or the number of switchboard extensions you are responsible for.
*Cool Tip for a stellar resume
You can really create an excellent first impression by breaking your job description down into the main responsibility areas of a Receptionist.
Hiring managers have large numbers of resumes to screen and limited time to read them all in detail. Keep your career summary concise and to the point. Add the most relevant information first to capture their attention while they’re quickly scanning your resume. They want to see immediately that you can handle multiple calls and provide excellent customer service!
Start your career summary with your years of experience in the industry and the primary duties you performed. Use the job description as your guide when deciding on which tasks to add. The more your resume relates to the job description of keywords, the better fit you will seem.
Next, add a line that showcases any outstanding qualities that will add value to the company. A hiring manager would be interested to know if you have “strong people skills, creative engagement abilities, excellent multi-tasking abilities and that you are pro at handling difficult customers.” It’s important to note that these qualities should be proven with examples in the professional experience section to re-enforce your message.
Highly skilled front office receptionist with diverse on-the-job experience, including hospitality, retail, and healthcare settings. Experienced in customer service and front desk software applications. Completed various customer service workshops and holds a certification in conflict resolution skills.
Professional receptionist with strong interpersonal skills and a friendly disposition. Excellent multitasker and with a diplomatic personality to handle customer complaints with utmost courtesy. Familiar with numerous Phone system management tools, scheduling software systems, and presentation applications
Experienced desk worker with eight years of experience at an insurance company. In-depth knowledge of the insurance and financial services industries. Adept at scheduling and organization of on site and off site meeting engagements
An employer would expect to see the following proven foundational duties and skill sets within an applicant’s resume. Herewith are a few examples of primary Receptionist duties in various industries.
You may be tempted to copy and paste the list of duties you performed under your accomplishment section. The drawback to doing this though, is that you won’t stand out from the other applicants with similar experience.
Your goal is to think about what sets you apart, what you are most proud of, or what you achieved in your previous roles. Now communicate these through action-packed statements that grab the reader’s attention.
When writing your resume, you should be answering questions like “How much?” or “How many?” It would be best if you include numbers which provide a ‘’proof of work’’ element to your resume. For instance:
The education section forms an integral part of your resume, even if you do not have a degree. Receptionists these days also have access to career development training. In short, indicate What, Where, and When regarding your qualifications, certifications or courses or workshops completed. The name of your qualification, institution, and date of completion is more than sufficient. Unless you are a graduate with limited working experience, there is no need to include major subjects or course curriculum topics.
Remember to include current qualifications you are in the process of completing. Regarding courses and certifications, discretion and relevance must be considered. An art course in India does not carry weight if you are applying for a Receptionist role at an IT company in the Midwest.
Completed Secondary and Tertiary Education must be listed as follows:
Start with the commencement date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees. For courses, you can just list the date of completion. Next comes the full name of the qualification, then the full name of the institution, and then the City or abbreviated State name. List your high school diploma details similarly, but only include this when you have less than five years of working experience.
Here are some examples of a Receptionist Resume with more than five years of experience:
2012-2013 Medical Receptionist Certificate, Lincoln Technical College, IN
2016-2018 Diploma in Healthcare Administration, Purdue University Global, MI
Although the reception field requires specific technical skills, employers also consider soft skills. These are the personality traits or skills that indicate to your fitness as a Receptionist who will add value by meeting set out targets, has adequate knowledge, and sufficient experience answer customer queries or direct them to the appropriate contact person. Incorporate these into your summary, or profile, and into your accomplishment statements.
| Diploma in Office Administration | High School Diploma | Principles of Customer Service Certificate |
| GED | Executive Office Assistant Course | Advanced Office Management Course |
| Front Desk and Telephone Skills Workshop | Short Course in Conflict Resolution | Front Desk Professional Image Building Certificate |