Copy this receptionist job description and adjust it for your front desk, whether that's a corporate lobby, a dental office or a busy salon. It's free to use and edit. After the template, we cover what the job is like through a real shift, 2025 U.S. pay from O*NET, interview questions that show how candidates handle a crowded lobby, and tips to write a post that fits your setting.
Receptionist job description template
What a receptionist does
Picture the first two hours of a shift. The receptionist opens the desk, checks voicemail and the day's appointment list, then handles a wave of arrivals while the phone rings. One visitor is early, one is at the wrong address, and a caller wants to reschedule for the third time. Between rushes they sort packages, confirm tomorrow's bookings and update the visitor log. O*NET's task list for the occupation matches this mix: answering and forwarding calls, greeting and directing visitors, taking payments, keeping appointment calendars and resolving complaints.
Receptionists work with almost every team, since everyone's visitors and calls pass through the desk. In a clinic they coordinate with nurses and billing staff. In an office they work with the office manager, security and facilities. They often notice problems first, like a broken door lock or a confused new hire on day one, and they pass them to the right person.
The setting shapes the job more than company size does. A corporate lobby is about hospitality, security and phones. A medical or dental front desk adds insurance checks, payments and privacy rules. A salon or gym front desk is closer to sales, with bookings, memberships and retail. In a small business, the receptionist may also cover admin work, which edges toward an administrative assistant role.
Skills and qualifications
A high school diploma is the usual bar. In O*NET's survey for Receptionists and Information Clerks, 49% of respondents said new hires need a high school diploma or equivalent, 26% said some college and 21% said a post-secondary certificate. No license is required for the general role, though some medical offices prefer training in their software.
Salary
O*NET groups this job under Receptionists and Information Clerks (43-4171.00), a group that also covers information desk staff, registration clerks and greeters. Based on 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, O*NET shows a U.S. median of $38,010 a year, or $18.27 an hour. The 10th percentile is $28,760 and the 90th percentile is $49,950.
Most receptionist jobs are posted with an hourly rate, so convert the range before you post. Specialized front desks, such as medical offices or corporate headquarters, often pay above the median, and California's median for the group is $44,100. Include your pay range in the ad. A growing number of states and cities require it, and hourly candidates often filter by pay first.
Interview questions for receptionist candidates
- "The phone is ringing, a delivery driver needs a signature and a visitor is waiting to check in. What do you do first?" Strong candidates acknowledge everyone quickly, put the caller on a brief hold or answer and ask them to hold, and handle the fastest task first so no one feels ignored.
- "A visitor arrives for a meeting, but the person they're meeting isn't answering and isn't on the calendar. How do you handle it?" Look for politeness, a check with a backup contact or manager, and a safe place for the visitor to wait without letting them wander in.
- "Tell me about a time you dealt with someone who was upset." Good answers describe listening first, staying calm and getting the issue to someone who could solve it, in a clear STAR story.
- "Take this mock message for me." Read out a call with a name, number and request. Check spelling, the number and whether they repeat it back to confirm.
See our full list of receptionist interview questions for more scenarios, red flags and a scoring rubric you can share with the hiring team.
Writing tips for this role
- Put the schedule near the top. Shift times, weekends and whether the desk is covered alone are the first things receptionist applicants check.
- Name the setting in the title when it matters. "Medical receptionist" or "dental front desk" reaches people with the right software and privacy experience.
- Don't require a degree. It filters out experienced front-desk staff from retail and hospitality, who often bring the exact skills you need.
- Say how busy the desk is. "About 80 calls and 40 check-ins a day" helps candidates who thrive on pace self-select in.
- List languages as a plus, not a filter, unless most visitors speak that language and the job truly can't work without it.
Screening receptionist candidates with AI
Front-desk roles depend on how someone sounds and responds, which is hard to judge from a resume. NTRVSTA's AI interviewer runs a live, two-way first round, by video avatar or audio only, so you hear how a candidate greets, listens and handles a tricky situation. Questions adapt in real time to each answer, interviews can run in multiple languages, and candidates can take them at any hour, which helps people currently working day shifts. Each interview produces a score breakdown that includes communication and English proficiency, plus video snippets and a shareable report.
One honest note: if you're hiring dozens of hourly front-desk staff a week through text-message applications and instant scheduling, a conversational hiring tool built for that flow may fit better. Our guide to high-volume hiring software compares the options.
Questions
What should a receptionist job description include?
The job title, location and schedule, who the receptionist reports to, the main duties (phones, visitors, scheduling, payments if any), the systems they'll use, required experience, the pay range and how you hire. Shift times and whether the desk is ever covered alone matter a lot for this role, so state them clearly.
Do receptionists need prior experience?
Not always. Many strong receptionists come from retail, hospitality or call center work, where they handled lines of people and difficult conversations. If you can train on your systems, ask for customer-facing experience rather than front-desk experience specifically.
What's the difference between a receptionist and a front desk coordinator?
Often nothing but the title. When there is a difference, a front desk coordinator usually handles more scheduling, check-in and payment work, common in clinics, gyms and salons, while a receptionist focuses on greeting visitors and routing calls. Use the title that matches the work and include the other as an alternate.
Hear what an adaptive, audio-only AI interview sounds like for a front-desk role: book a 20-minute demo, or try a sample interview right now. You can also browse every job description template or read our interview scorecard template to score candidates consistently.
