Receptionist CV Example

Talented receptionists are essential to the healthy functioning of any office. It’s no wonder then that employers are quite choosy about who they hire to work as receptionists.

If you want to be invited in for an interview, you’ll need a CV that quickly demonstrates your qualifications, experience, and relevant skills.

To help you get started, here are three expert tips for writing an outstanding receptionist CV:

1. Write a strong receptionist personal statement

Your personal statement is the first place an employer looks on your CV to see if you’re well-suited to the position.

As a receptionist, if your personal statement doesn’t effectively demonstrate that you have the relevant skills and experience needed to manage the front desk, managerial schedule, and dozens of phone calls, then your receptionist CV may be lost in a pile of passed-over candidates.

A good receptionist personal statement should be 3–5 sentences, be formatted as a short paragraph or as bullet points, and sit at the top of your CV, right beneath your name and contact information.

Your statement should briefly introduce you as a candidate and summarise some of your key qualifications and skills that make you ideally suited for a job as a receptionist.

Here’s an example of a well-written receptionist personal statement:

Customer-focused Receptionist with 5+ years of experience working in the public and private sectors. Adept at handling challenging clients and managing heavy workloads, demonstrating excellent telephone and customer service skills as well as commitment to quality, accuracy, and efficiency. Skilled communicator with the ability to develop strong relationships with clients and set them at ease. Instrumental in maintaining records, handling multi-line phone systems, and database management with 100% accuracy.

This sample is effective because it highlights key receptionist skills and experience throughout, using numbers to provide concrete examples of what the candidate has accomplished.

If in doubt, break your personal statement into three sentences:

• Explain your professional experience
• Highlight your skills and accomplishments, using numbers where possible
• State a career objective

2. Highlight your receptionist skills on your CV

Being a receptionist demands a range of skills, from technical computer skills to soft skills such as being able to multitask.

Showing employers that you have the abilities needed to excel as a professional receptionist will make it much more likely you’ll be phoned for an interview.

While there is a designated skills section on your CV, that shouldn’t be the only place you list your receptionist skills. You should also work them into your personal statement and your work experience section as well.

Including receptionist skills in your work experience section helps demonstrate exactly how you’ve used them to accomplish something at work.

Here’s an example of how you can include your relevant receptionist skills in your work history section:

• Restructured office scheduling and record management system, improving accuracy by 27%

From this bullet point, a hiring manager can gauge that the candidate is proficient in office scheduling, record management systems, and is highly accurate. The vast improvement in accuracy (27%) shows the candidate’s skill in these areas.

If you’re not sure exactly what skills to highlight, here’s a list of hard and soft reception skills to include on your CV:

Receptionist CV Hard Skills

Operating systems (MacOS, Microsoft Windows)	Data protection/GDPR compliance	Microsoft Office	Software skills (such as Kayako or Zendesk)
Data management skills	Typing speed (WPM)	Mail and email management	Productivity software (Slack, Evernote)
Conference calling software (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)	Office equipment maintenance	Supply management	Language skills

Receptionist CV Soft Skills

Time management	Scheduling	Organisational skills	Event planning
Travel planning	Problem-solving	Interpersonal skills	Customer service
Communication skills	Attention to detail	Adaptability	Multitasking

3. Use the receptionist job description in your CV to write your work experience section

With so much competition for well-paying administrative positions in the UK, you want your CV to make it clear to employers that you have all the skills and experience they’re looking for in a receptionist.

One of the best ways to do this is to use the receptionist job description in the job advert to write your CV. Employers often list all the keywords (qualities, skills, and experience) they’re looking for in a candidate. By using these same keywords in your CV, you can demonstrate what a perfect fit you are for the job.

Here’s an example of a receptionist job description from a job advert, with keywords underlined in blue:

All of these terms and phrases give a very clear picture of what the employer wants to see on a CV, so your job is to incorporate them into your work experience section.

Here’s an example of how to tailor your work experience section to this receptionist job description:

This example is effective because the candidate mentions both the technical skills (Microsoft Teams System, Outlook) and soft skills (friendly, professional, communication skills) required for the role.

A hiring manager looking at this work experience section will see that the candidate is a good match for the role, with the relevant skills and experience to perform the receptionist job well.

By using the language you see in the job listing, you can greatly improve your chances of getting noticed and phoned for an interview.