You’re an amazing receptionist– and you know it.

To be honest, they couldn’t do it without you.

From remembering that appointment to greeting guests and customers, coordinating meetings, and managing communications.

But when it comes to applying for a job, how do you show them you’re amazing through your resume, before they even get to meet you?

The bad news: formatting and writing a resume is a whole different beast. Most resumes are forgettable, because the person doesn’t know how to craft it effectively.

The good news: With the right tips and tricks, it’s not difficult to make your skills and experience as a receptionist shine and leave them thinking, “they’re just what I was looking for.” 

That’s where this guide comes in.

Whether you’re:

• A new or aspiring receptionist who needs to know how to impress despite having little or no experience...
• Or a seasoned receptionist with a laundry list of skills and experience, who wants to know how to make themselves stand apart from the mass of mediocre resumes.

No matter where you’re at, the guide below will show you how to format and write a stellar resume that blows the recruiter's mind.

What this guide will cover

In this guide, you’ll learn how to format and write a receptionist resume that shows recruiters you’re the only one for the job.

Including:

• How to format your resume so that it does much of the heavy lifting
• What really makes a great receptionist resume
• How to write the experience section of your resume (even if you have little to no relevant experience)
• Which hard and soft skills you should put on your resume (and how to do it)
• And how to get your resume past the dreaded ATS
• Plus much more

Your resume design communicates a lot about your ability as a receptionist. Save time crafting your resume with one of Resumebuild’s professionally designed templates. Check out our full library of template examples here.

Resume template

How to write a receptionist resume that gets your phone ringing

A great receptionist stands for several things.

They’re someone you can depend on, lean on, who keeps things organized when everything else seems to be falling into chaos.

But they’re much more than just that.

Really, a great receptionist is whatever the company needs them to be.

Maybe it’s no surprise then why many execs say they started out in reception and moved up the ladder from there, having proved that they can handle a variety of tasks and responsibilities.

You want a resume that not only proves you’re a great receptionist, but that shows you’re versatile and able to handle a variety of challenges.

There’s a lot to that, but it always starts with being smart about how you format your resume.

And that includes a few small tips that can make a big difference in how recruiters see you and your abilities.

1. How to format your resume so that it works for you

Formatting a resume is kind of like an interview.

You want to clean up, dress professionally, and generally put the best and most presentable version of yourself forward.

A typical resume, however, is downright forgettable.

Not only do they all look the same, so it’s hard to remember one when it looks exactly like all the others.

But also, nothing stands out.

What are your “unique selling points”?

What are those skills, qualities, special training, and experience that make you uniquely qualified, or simply the best candidate, for the job?

It’s formatting, in part, that helps you bring those strong points to the surface so recruiters are immediately convinced of your competency and fit.

To start, with a receptionist resume there are really two ways you can choose to go:

• Standard reverse-chronological order: Nothing special here. If you’ve got lots of relevant experience, you want the best and most recent of that to shine at the top. 
• Skills-first reverse-chronological: Same idea but with your skills section up top above your experience. This is great if you don’t have much relevant receptionist experience but lots of relevant skills from other previous jobs. 

Which you choose to go with depends on how much experience you have.

If you have little to no relevant experience, but you held two jobs before, you might have a decent list of receptionist-relevant skills you can use to fill your skills section.

By doing that your resume would go from somewhat empty and unimpressive:

WRONG

OBJECTIVE

[...]

EXPERIENCE

Team Member / Dec 2018 - Feb 2020

Taco Bell / Buffalo, NY

• Assisted customers promptly in taking orders, serving food, and answering questions
• Managed register, helping customers, taking numbers, and tallying daily batches
• Trained 3 new team members on established rules and procedures

EDUCATION

B.S. Hotel Management / Sept 2018 - In Progress

New York University / New York, NY

• High marks in communication-related coursework
• Secretary of World Travel club

To something much more memorable:

RIGHT

OBJECTIVE

[...]

SKILLS

• Applied communication skills to average 3.9 GPA on communications-related coursework at NYU

• As acting secretary of World Travel club at NYU, managed financials for the annual trip, organized members list and new memberships, and greeted new members
• Refined customer service skills in a variety of situations, from taking orders, serving food, and handling with customer issues
• While acting as restaurant manager, organized shifts, personnel, and supplies to maintain an organized working environment and improve organizational efficiency 

EXPERIENCE

Team Member / Dec 2018 - Feb 2020

Taco Bell / Buffalo, NY

• Assisted customers promptly in taking orders, serving food, and answering questions
• Managed register, helping customers, taking numbers, and tallying daily batches
• Trained 3 new team members on established rules and procedures

EDUCATION

B.S. Hotel Management / Sept 2018 - In Progress

New York University / New York, NY

• High marks in communication-related coursework
• Secretary of World Travel club

Notice how this completely changes the experience from one of “Clearly entry-level” to “Entry level with a dang-impressive skill set”.

Also, notice how I bolded that top bullet point. 

It might just be your current GPA for said coursework, but there’s no reason you can’t put that in your skills section, if it’s talking about a specific skill set.

Results, typically in the way of hard numbers, are ideal on any resume. That could be:

• X number of calls
• Or emails
• GPA
• % improvements to various processes, systems, or cash savings on supply expenses

Anything really applies here if you can cite numbers you performed or improved.  

Bold is great for drawing attention to any detail that you want recruiters to notice, particularly results like the above.

Don’t overuse it, but if you throw it into your resume a few times, it can make a big difference (no matter how you order your sections).

Why is all this so important?

How you format and style your resume will affect where recruiters look first.

The average recruiter spends just 7 seconds scanning your resume, so you need to make that time count.

They’ll always start up top and go down from there, which is why you put your most impressive stuff up high.

But more than that, you can use bold to draw their eyes where you want them to go as they read, ensuring that they don’t miss your unique selling points.

2. What makes a great receptionist resume? 

Now that you know how to format your resume, it’s time to talk about something arguably even more important:

What makes a great receptionist resume?

Formatting is important, but what really sets a great vs. a mediocre one apart?

You give them what they want.

It’s not about what skills you’re most proud of, it’s about what skills they asked for and require in their list of responsibilities.

It’s a reasonable tendency to want to flaunt your versatility on your resume.

After all, you’re never quite sure who’s going to read it.

But what really makes a great resume is how you show that versatility.

Specifically: Do you drop a huge list of skills and experience onto your resume, based on what you think is impressive or target each submission, based on the job description?

Let’s look at an example.

This was pulled directly from a recent job post for an office assistant/receptionist in Denver, CO:

“Responsibilities:

• Document entry, organizing files, gather data as needed.

• Respond and print emails

• Maintain a clean and organized office environment

• Heavy phone calls

• Other office duties as needed.

Requirements:

• Fluent in English/Spanish speaking, reading, and writing.

• 40+ WPM

• High school diploma or equivalent

• Microsoft Office savvy

• Computer savvy”

If that’s what they’re looking for, what should you highlight on your resume?

The answer is any of the above that you have experience/skills in.

For example, in your summary section, you could mention:

RIGHT

SUMMARY 

Versatile receptionist with 3+ years of experience fluent in speaking, reading, and writing English and Spanish. Ability to answer 50+ phone calls and answer 35+ emails per day with a 55+ WPM typing speed. Strong organizational skills that have allowed me to optimize previous working environments, saving time and money. 

Now that’s a summary that would make the recruiter jump to the phone.

Remember, that’s a lot better than just dropping those skills into your summary without any real numbers:

WRONG

SUMMARY 

Experienced receptionist fluent in Spanish. Ability to answer heavy phone calls and emails per day with high WPM typing speed. Strong organizational skills that have allowed me to optimize previous working environments, saving time and money. 

Not good. 

Alternatively, you could write your skills section like this and display those same points:

• Ability to answer 50+ phone calls per day
• Manage and respond to 35+ emails per day
• Fluent Spanish speaker, including reading and writing
• Perform at a 55+ WPM typing speed
• Tech-savvy with experience in a variety of programs such as Microsoft Office Suite, GSuite, and various communication software

Mention your unique selling points multiple times

What about both sections?

There’s really no rule about how often you can or should mention something in your resume.

If you have a strong point that the recruiter mentions wanting/requiring in the job post, state it 2-3 times, in your:

• Objective/summary
• Experience
• Skills
• And/or other details section (certifications, etc.)

Wherever it’s relevant, put it down.

The truth is, most recruiters are likely to miss entire sections of your resume.

So, by putting down your unique selling points multiple times, especially those which are an answer to something the job post specifically mentioned wanting, you’re ensuring they’ll notice. 

3. How to write a resume objective or summary (with examples)

Now that you know:

1. How to format your resume to stand out, and
2. Writing your resume in a way that speaks directly to what they’re looking for (so that they can tell you’re clearly the person for the job)

It’s time to get writing. 

Your resume objective or summary is the first thing recruiters will notice.

So, think of it as your “hook”.

A hook is the beginning of a story. It’s the intriguing bite of information a good show puts into the beginning of the first episode to draw you in.

Your objective or summary should work the same way.

Consider this summary example:

WRONG

SUMMARY

Experienced front-desk receptionist with knowledge in EHR and maintaining patient relations. Skilled in optimized supply purchases to reduce cost and using Kareo clinic software. 

Are you interested in reading more?

I didn’t think so.

Too vague, too short, and no real compelling numbers or data.

Now, let’s take that same summary and spruce it up:

RIGHT

SUMMARY

Front-desk receptionist with 4+ years of experience and strong skills in EHR and maintaining patient relations. Managed 35+ patients through Kareo per day. Experience optimizing costs to reduce medical supply expenses by 15%.

Nice.

Hard data and more compelling language, both take this summary to new heights.

What if you don’t have much experience?

That’s when you’d go with a summary objective.

Where a summary is good if you have lots of experience or some special training or certifications to flaunt, an objective– which is named for its characteristic objective statement (see below)– is good if you lack experience.

Take this example of a great objective:

RIGHT

OBJECTIVE

Entry-level receptionist with experience in handling prompt customer service, resolving issues, and improving organizational processes. Seeking to apply my experience in maintaining strong customer relations as a receptionist for Delawney Medical Group. 

That’s a lot better than this:

WRONG

OBJECTIVE

Aspiring receptionist with experience in customer service and organizational duties. Looking to apply my skills as a receptionist at your company.

Ouch.

I can tell you right now: they won’t be getting any calls with that one.

The first objective is far better, because it’s not only more compelling– “handling prompt customer service”, “maintaining strong customer relations”– it’s more detailed as well.

Plus, they mention the name of the company in the objective, which is always a winner and lets them know right away - you wrote your resume for them.

(Or, at least, you edited your resume to some degree before sending it to them. Which still bags you points.)

Whether you use a summary or objective, make sure your profile is compelling, detailed, and written specifically to each job post.

4. How to write your experience section to show you’re the perfect candidate

Now, let’s move on to your experience section.

First, remember what you’ve learned so far: write to each application.

This holds true here as much as anywhere else.

Your experience and skills section both need to do this, so make sure you’re applying it as you write out both sections.

So, if the job description mentions:

• Greeting clients and the check-in process

• Answering multi-line phones

• Handling incoming mail

• Daily set up of conference rooms

And you have experience in each of these areas, you could write your experience section like this:

RIGHT

EXPERIENCE

Front-Desk Receptionist / Sept 2017 - Jan 2020

Law Shakers / Cleveland, OH

• Greeted 50+ clients per day and managed the check-in process

• Answered 60+ phone calls per day using a multi-line phone system

• Handled 25+ emails per day
• Maintained central conference room so it was always prepared for regular meetings

Receptionist / Oct 2016 - Aug 2017

Erin’s Hardware / Cleveland, OH

• Greeted clients and ran cashier, processed 35+ purchases per day

• Answered phone and managed other customer contact methods
• Maintained store for compliance and local regulations

Lots of hard numbers, a good, diverse list of skills and responsibilities mentioned, and most importantly, you wrote to the job description in a compelling way.

That’s a lot better than this:

WRONG

EXPERIENCE

Front-Desk Receptionist / Sept 2017 - Jan 2020

Law Shakers / Cleveland, OH

• Greeted clients and managed the check-in process
• Answered phone
• Handled emails
• Maintained central conference room 

Receptionist / Oct 2016 - Aug 2017

Erin’s Hardware / Cleveland, OH

• Greeted clients and ran cashier, processed purchases 
• Answered phone 
• Ran store compliance 

Sure, you’re mentioning a lot of the things they ask for, but you’re not making it very compelling.

You’ve got decent verbs– “Greeted” “Answered” “Handled” and “Maintained”– but no real numbers or context in terms of what you did for the employer.

How to write your experience section if you have little to no relevant experience

Keep in mind, this applies even if your experience isn’t relevant to being a receptionist.

It’s common to move from one industry, like retail or fast food, into reception.

If that’s you, just make sure to highlight the skills and responsibilities that are relevant to being a receptionist, like our example from earlier:

EXPERIENCE

Team Member / Dec 2018 - Feb 2020

Taco Bell / Buffalo, NY

• Assisted customers promptly in taking orders, serving food, and answering questions
• Managed register, helping customers, taking numbers, and tallying daily batches
• Trained 3 new team members on established rules and procedures

You could even do this same thing with your education or skills section.

No matter how much experience you have, by drawing out your relevant skills from non-relevant experience, you can show that you’re a great fit for the position.

And if you’re not sure what to mention, here’s an example list of other duties/responsibilities you could include on your resume, depending on your experience:

• Directed guests and answered questions

• Notified doctors of guest arrival

• Maintained security system

• Monitored all telecommunications

• Operated point of sales (POS) system

• Scheduled travel arrangements

• Prepared important documents and letters

• Made sure office/business/shop complied with regulations and laws

• Ordered office supplies

• Scheduled appointments and important events

• Documented communications

• Managed administrative duties including…

5. Which skills should you put on your resume? (+ How to do it) 

Similar to your experience section, you want to make sure to not just dump a bunch of skills onto a list and call it a day.

Sure, you could do that.

But one of the simplest and easiest ways to stand out is to spend a bit extra time filling in your skills section with a little thing called context.

By context, I mean taking this:

WRONG

SOFT SKILLS

• Client-relation skills
• Good communicator
• Problem-solving skills
• Self-directing
• Patient
• Time management

And adding detail about how you used said skill:

RIGHT

SOFT SKILLS

• Applied client-relation skills to maintain good relationships with a roster of 150 clients at L. Craft Realty
• Used communication skills to greet clients and communicate over-the-phone with customers, clients, and vendors
• Applied problem-solving skills in an office setting to resolve scheduling disputes and manage supply issues
• Was patient and self-directing in handling client questions when the doctor wasn’t present and placing orders when supplies ran low
• Used time management skills in managing 55+ client phone calls, 25+ outbound emails, and regular office traffic and supply orders at Rosecrans Medical 

Beats “good communicator” any day.

The truth is, the recruiter will probably read 50 resumes with that same phrase.

After a while, it’s just not believable.

By placing your soft skills in context, it does just that– it makes them more believable, while also more compelling.

Keep in mind that this really only applies to soft skills, but that’s key as it’s the soft skills section of a resume that often gets neglected.

What else can you mention in your skills section?

Here’s a list of potential hard and soft skills you can mention in your receptionist resume. 

Just make sure to add the needed context to your key soft skills:

Hard skills

• Microsoft Office Suite
• Excel (Might be worth picking this one out exclusively if the job calls for it)
• Outlook (Same)
• GSuite
• Dropbox / Other cloud services
• Skype
• Slack
• Hangouts
• Zoom
• Scheduling software such as Calendly 
• Any EHR software (Kareo, Athenahealth)
• WPM (Use something like Typingtest to test your speed)
• Office hardware such as printers/copiers, scanners, etc.

Soft skills

• Communication skills
• Welcoming / Friendly
• Organized
• Self-motivated
• Problem-solving skills
• Conflict resolution
• Accurate
• Attention to detail
• Clerical skills
• Client relation skills
• Time management
• Punctual
• Reliable 
• Multi-tasking
• Focused

Also, make sure to mention any languages you’re proficient in including what level you’re at.

For example:

• Spanish: Native
• French: Conversational
• Mandarin: Proficient

It’s a simple addition to your resume that can literally make all the difference.

6. How to get your resume past ATS

Bam.

Now, you’ve got a heavyweight resume ready to knock recruiters out left and right.

Right?

Well, yeah… if they see it.

You’ve got one last hurdle to overcome before you can send your new and improved resume out into the world:

You’ve got to get it past ATS.

ATS stands for “applicant tracking system” and it’s a program that most job boards use to scan your resume for keywords.

When an employer posts a job listing, keywords are pulled from the words they most often use in the listing itself.

Those keywords are then used to automatically filter the resumes that show up for them.

If your resume doesn’t have the right combination of keywords based on their listing?

You won’t show up.

As in they never even get to see your resume.

So, how do you beat it?

Fortunately, that’s pretty simple.

Look through the recruiter’s job listing to identify important keywords (see: the words used most often) to drop into your resume.

Fortunately, word cloud services like Wordclouds, Wordle, or Worditout make this process so much easier.

Just copy and paste the job description into any word cloud - it will automatically create a visual that shows you what the most prominent words are.

From there, your job is simply to implant those prominent keywords into your resume a few times (and if you already have them, even better!).

That’s it!

Focus mainly on your skills section and summary/objective, as those are the main areas that ATS scans for keywords. Leave the other sections be as-is.

And keep in mind that you don’t want to ruin all the work you did and make the resume sound robotic or awkward.

Just a few more mentions of the 2-3 most prominent keywords should do the trick. 

Don’t forget an eye-catching resume design

Throughout this guide, we covered:

• How to format your resume so that it displays your unique selling points more prominently
• What truly makes a great receptionist resume, including targeting your resume based on the job listing
• How to write a resume objective or summary that immediately hooks recruiters
• Tips for writing your experience section to show you’re the perfect receptionist for the job
• What skills to put on your reswriting/ume (and how to do it)
• Plus how to get your resume past that pesky ATS

A lot goes into crafting a great receptionist resume.

Then again, you’re no stranger to hard work or thoroughness.

Still, competition is tough.

Which is why you need to do everything you can to stand out– and that includes an awesome resume design.

So, check out Resumebuild’s resume builder tool, which can help you put together a professionally-designed resume in minutes.

Just drop your information in, make a few finishing touches, and you’ve got your best resume ever.

Take your resume design to the next level by checking out our full library of templates here.