Receptionist Job Description: What To Expect

If there is one thing that we can be sure of as a society, it’s that we all have differing opinions as to the receptionist duties we expect gals (and guys) to fulfill. 

Whether you’re hiring to fill one or more receptionist jobs, or if you’re a job seeker looking to polish your targeted receptionist resume, let’s go over and find out exactly what the expectations are for a receptionist and their job description.

Receptionist Job Descriptions

Front Desk Representative

At a local Las Vegas fitness club, they’re looking for the following in a receptionist:

As a Front Desk employee, you must possess great customer service, a high level of professionalism, dependability and have a positive attitude even during the busiest of times.

At EōS, we work together as a team, and want those who can contribute and work independently as well.

We are looking for someone who is proficient at multitasking and works well in a high stress atmosphere.

Front Desk Associate

A Las Vegas spa is seeking a receptionist that can:

Answering phone calls. Setting and checking members and guests in and out for appointments. Greeting members and guests upon arrival. Promoting the Wellness Program. Re-engaging inactive members. Keeping management apprised of member concerns and following manager’s policies, procedures and direction. Accepting constructive criticism in a positive manner and using it as a learning tool. Upholding the Massage Envy brand’s core values of optimism, gratitude, excellence, consistency and empathy. Staying updated on retail products and promotions. Recognizing and supporting team goals and creating and maintaining positive relationships with team members.

Law Office Receptionist

A local law group is seeking a receptionist that can perform the following duties:

Law Office currently looking for an energetic, upbeat and friendly addition to our Firm. This is an entry level position with room for advancement. Duties will include, but are not limited to: answering and transferring multiple phone lines, greeting clients, faxing, copying, scanning, and other miscellaneous office duties. Applicants must be detail oriented individuals with strong computer skills, interpersonal skills and exceptional phone etiquette. Professional attitude and appearance is a must! Prior office experience is not necessary, but always a plus. If you feel you would be a positive addition to our office, please forward your resume.

Administrative Assistant / Receptionist

Las Vegas is a (perhaps surprisingly) great place to work and life. A local mortgage company wants a receptionist who:

• Posess a strong work-ethic
• Must be attentive to detail 
• Must be computer proficient (Excel, Word, Gmail, Google, etc.)
• Capable to analyze information and data entry
• Teachable
• Responsible
• Dependable
• Punctual
• Always seeking to improve efficiency
• Commitment to confidentiality
• Essential organizational skills
• Exceptional verbal communication

Front Desk Receptionist

There’s also a medical office seeking a receptionist that can perform the following:

Fast pace, busy hearing center is seeking front office receptionist. Must be friendly and outgoing and demonstrate patience with others. Duties include: greeting patients, answering phones, making and confirming appointments, insurance confirmation and billing, selling misc. hearing aid accessories, computer entry of daily patients, and other misc. office duties.

See, there are plenty of things that can be expected of your receptionist. The main conumdrum that small businesses often face, however, is finding qualified receptionist candidates.

So, what are the main duties a receptionist should perform?

If your receptionist is in-house:

• Answer your main office number when available to do so.
• Take down messages.
• Data-entry tasks. 
• Filing paperwork.
• Set your appointments.
• Handling printing and faxing of documents.
• Send and receive mail/packages.
• Run errands out of office.

If you have a virtual receptionist:

• Answer all of your business lines professionally and cheerfully.
• Handle each and every call according to your direction.
• Filter out spam/telemarketer calls.
• Provide excellent an excellent customer experience to your callers.
• Take down all of the information necessary to schedule an appointment.
• Call client back to confirm scheduled appointment.
• Use their training to ensure accurate message taking.
• Provide detailed instructions to your office, for your service, and the like.
• Never let any call go to voicemail. 

How much should a receptionist be paid?

The average hourly wage for a receptionist position in various major cities. This is not including any additional overhead for payroll expenses (estimate about an additional 10%). Source: Indeed Salary.

Chicago

Hourly: $12.12
Monthly (part-time): $1,050.40
Monthly (full-time): $2,100.80
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $10,504

Dallas

Hourly: $12.28
Monthly (part-time): $1,064.27
Monthly (full-time): $2,128.53
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $10,642.67

Denver

Hourly: $13.04
Monthly (part-time): $1,130.13
Monthly (full-time): $2,260.27
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $11,301.33

Las Vegas

Hourly: $11.67
Monthly (part-time): $1,011.40
Monthly (full-time): $2,022.80
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $10,114

Los Angeles

Hourly: $13.57
Monthly (part-time): $1,176.07
Monthly (full-time): $2,352.13
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $11,760.67

Manhattan

Hourly: $14.50
Monthly (part-time): $1,256.67
Monthly (full-time): $2,513.33
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $12,566.67

Miami

Hourly: $10.85
Monthly (part-time): $940.33
Monthly (full-time): $1,880.67
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $9,403.33

Phoenix

Hourly: $12.12
Monthly (part-time): $1,050.40
Monthly (full-time): $2,100.80
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $10,504

Portland

Hourly: $13.40
Monthly (part-time): $1,161.33
Monthly (full-time): $2,322.67
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $11,613.33

San Francisco

Hourly: $16.24
Monthly (part-time): $1,407.47
Monthly (full-time): $2,814.93
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $14,074.67

Washington, D.C.

Hourly: $13.58
Monthly (part-time): $1,176.93
Monthly (full-time): $2,353.87
Monthly (5 full-time receptionists): $11,769.33

Virtual Receptionist vs In-Office Receptionist

Is there truly a case to be made for just having a virtual receptionist?

Of course! But we’re a little bit biased on this one. Here are some of the benefits to keeping your business on track with a virtual receptionist:

A Virtual Receptionist Is Cheaper

In the aforementioned receptionist hourly wages, you’ll see that even having a part-time receptionist will cost you at least around $1,000 per month. Full-time (40 hours per week) will run you upwards of $2800 per month. 

With a virtual receptionist – like Abby Connect’s fabulous answering service – you’ll pay $279 per month to get 80-104 hours of live, friendly, professional phone answering during business hours. Not to mention, you’re getting 5 dedicated full-time virtual receptionists for that price. 

All in all, you’d be paying 1/56th of the cost for the same coverage if you went with an answering service like Abby Connect.

A Virtual Receptionist Is Happier

We go the extra mile to make sure that our receptionists are happy. From regular team building events to daily fun activities in office, an Abby virtual receptionist will always sound cheerful and greet your callers with the utmost professionalism at all times. Not to mention, they’re paid above the average receptionist wages.

A Virtual Receptionist Is ‘Plug and Play’

Abby Connect virtual receptionists are ready to go when you are! We provide them with an intensive training program to ensure that they’re on the money when your first call rings in. You don’t have to worry about spending hours upon hours training and retraining your receptionist.

A Virtual Receptionist Gives You Better Work-Life Balance

A good answering service is available 24/7. A great virtual receptionist gives you the best quality ’round the clock, so you can focus on actually building your business, then go home and actually have a life … all because you know your business phone calls are being properly handled by the professionals.

Do businesses only need an in-house receptionist?

There are definitely some cases where you can absolutely get along having just a front desk receptionist.

Limited Hours of Business

If your business absolutely only requires you or any of your employees to be reachable during a narrow, finite scope of hours, then you should be fine having only an in-house receptionist.

No Business Phone Number Listed

If you’ve chosen to go the route of highly limiting which customers/clients have access to you and your business phone number is not listed (or doesn’t exist), then you should be able to get away with hiring a person to greet your customers when they come in and not to answer any phones.

Customer Experience is Not a Priority

Perhaps your business is cut-throat and you like it that way. Maybe it’s as simple as ‘a to b’ and you don’t see the need to implement a great culture of customer service in between. If that’s the case, you’ll probably be just fine without a virtual receptionist.

The Times When You Can Use Both

Many busy and buzzing offices will find that between handling in person tasks and answering a slew of phone calls can be quite a feat for even two or three receptionists to handle at times! If a high-end customer experience is what you’re looking for – regardless of industry or company size – then you may want to consider getting your receptionists some backup.

In-Person Greeting Required

If your receptionists are busy welcoming visitors or checking in clients, the last thing you want is for them to be distracted with a constantly ringing phone. It can easily stress them out, make them lose their focus on what’s right in front of them, and cost you a not-so-nice review online … which is never good for business.

Back-Up/Overflow Calls

Even if your receptionists can handle the workload you’ve got for them, perhaps they all take a lunch together. Maybe one’s sick and the other is in the restroom. It could be that your marketing efforts have been so successful, you have so many callers that there are not enough lines to even accomodate them (no one likes a busy signal!). If that’s the case, you may want to considering bringing on a virtual receptionist to help provide backup when your incoming calls don’t have enough people to answer them.

Miscellaneous Office Duties

Any employee should be able to play a multi-faceted role. If your receptionist is busy handling other tasks you’ve given them, this is when a virtual receptionist would really come in handy, to ensure that everyone is greeted in a timely manner and professionally when calling in to your business phone number.

All in all, a receptionist’s job is never done. They may clock out, but then so can your potential customers. A virtual receptionist will make sure that you don’t lose any more leads.