Receptionists

• Nature of the Work

  All organizations want to make a good first impression, and this is the job of the receptionist, who is often the first representative of the organization that a visitor encounters. In addition to traditional duties such as answering telephones, routing calls to the appropriate individuals, and greeting visitors, a receptionist may serve a security function-monitoring the access of visitors and determining who belongs and who does not.

  Receptionists generally are expected to answer questions from the public and provide information about the organization. Their day-to-day duties, however, can vary depending upon where they work. Receptionists in hospitals and doctors' offices may obtain personal and financial information and direct patients to the proper waiting rooms. At beauty or hair salons, they arrange appointments, direct customers to the hairstylist, and also may serve as cashier-taking payments for services and products. In factories, large corporations, and government offices, they may provide identification cards and arrange for escorts to take visitors to the proper office. Those working for bus and train companies respond to inquiries about departures, arrivals, stops, and related matters.

  Increasingly, receptionists use multiline telephone systems, personal computers, and facsimile (fax) machines. Many receptionists take messages and may inform other employees of a visitors' arrival or cancellation of an appointment. When they are not busy with callers, they may be expected to perform a variety of secretarial duties including opening and sorting mail, collecting and distributing parcels, making fax transmittals and deliveries, updating appointment calendars, preparing travel vouchers, and doing simple bookkeeping, typing, and filing.

• Employment

  Receptionists held about 1,019,000 jobs in 1994, accounting for over two-thirds of all information clerk jobs. More than two-thirds of all receptionists worked in services industries, and almost half of these were located in the health services industry-doctors' and dentists' offices, hospitals, nursing homes, urgent care centers, surgical centers, and clinics. Manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, government, and real estate industries also employed large numbers of receptionists. About 3 of every 10 receptionists worked part time.

• Job Outlook

  Job opportunities for receptionists should be plentiful due to strong employment growth and high turnover. Employment of receptionists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2005 because so many receptionists work for firms in services industries-industries that include physician's offices, law firms, temporary help agencies, and consulting firms and that are expected to continue to show strong growth. In addition to openings from growth, several hundred thousand openings are expected each year from the need to replace receptionists who transfer to other occupations, seeking better pay or career advancement, or who leave the labor force altogether.

  Opportunities should be best for persons with a wide range of clerical skills and experience. Many receptionists also perform secretarial duties and often employers look to hire receptionists with good word processing and computer skills, coupled with strong interpersonal and communications skills.

  The demand for receptionists may be tempered somewhat by the increasing use of voice mail and other telephone automation. Where several receptionists may have been required to answer the company's telephones in the past, voice mail now makes it possible for one person to do the job of many.

  Since establishments need someone to perform their duties even during economic downturns, receptionists are less subject to layoffs during recessions than other clerical workers.

• Sources of Additional Information

  Information on working conditions, training requirements, and earnings appears in the Information clerks introduction to this section.

  State employment offices can provide information on job openings for receptionists.

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