Receptionists

Nature of the Work
Employment
Job Outlook
Sources of Additional Information

(D.O.T. 203.362-014; 205.367-038; 237.267, .367-010, -018, -022, -026, -038, -042, -046, and -050; 238.367-022 and -034; 249.262 and .367-082)

• Nature of the Work

  All organizations want to make a good first impression, and this is often the responsibility of the receptionist, who may be the first representative of the organization a visitor encounters. Receptionists answer questions from the public and provide information about the organization. In addition to traditional duties such as answering telephones, routing calls, and greeting visitors, a receptionist may serve a security function within an organization, such as monitoring the access of visitors.
  
  The day-to-day duties of a receptionist can vary depending upon the type of establishment in which 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. 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 fax machines. Despite the widespread use of automated answering systems or voice mail, many receptionists take messages and inform other employees of a visitors' arrival or cancellation of an appointment. When they are not busy with callers, most are 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, word processing, and filing.

• Employment

  Receptionists held about 1,074,000 jobs in 1996, 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

  Employment of receptionists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2006, because so many receptionists work for firms in services industries—including physician's offices, law firms, temporary help agencies, and consulting firms—that are expected to experience significant growth. Job openings should be plentiful due to the large size and high rate of turnover associated with this occupation. In addition to openings from growth, thousands of 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.
  
  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. However, 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. Because 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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