Business & Admin · CV Template
Receptionist & Front of House CV Example
By the WhizCV team
A receptionist CV is your first impression on paper, just like you are the first impression in the lobby. Employers scan for warmth, reliability, and the ability to handle a ringing phone, a queue of visitors, and a full inbox all at once without dropping the ball.
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Written by the WhizCV team · fictional person · figures are illustrative
Chloe Bennett
Receptionist
[Town]07700 900146chloe.bennett@example.com
Profile
Organised and friendly, with two years of weekend work in a busy café alongside my A levels. I am looking for my first receptionist role and I am comfortable with a ringing phone, an inbox and a queue of people at once.
Experience
Team Member · Example Café
- Serve around 150 customers on a Saturday shift and take phone orders at the same time.
- Trusted to open up and cash up on my own after six months.
- Handle complaints calmly and pass on anything I cannot fix to the manager.
Volunteer · [School] open days
- Welcomed visiting families, signed them in and directed them to talks.
Education
[Sixth form college], [Town] · A levels in Business, English and Psychology
GCSEs including English and Maths
Skills
Customer service · Phone manner · Outlook and Word · Cash handling · Spanish (conversational)
Priya Shah
Receptionist
[Town]07700 900672priya.shah@example.com
Profile
Receptionist with five years on busy front desks in a law firm and a GP surgery. I run the switchboard, manage visitor sign-in and meeting rooms, and keep diaries for three partners.
Experience
Receptionist · Example Solicitors LLP
- Answer about 100 calls a day and put them through to the right team first time.
- Greet and sign in visitors, and book meeting rooms and refreshments for client meetings.
- Manage diaries for three partners in Outlook, including overseas time zones.
- Set up a shared room-booking calendar that ended double bookings.
Surgery Receptionist · Example Medical Practice
- Booked appointments and handled repeat prescription requests on the practice system.
- Kept patient information confidential at a busy front desk.
Skills
Switchboard · Diary management · Visitor management · Outlook and Teams · Confidentiality · Data entry
Education and training
[College], [Town] · A levels
First aid at work · Fire marshal training
Hannah O'Connor
Front of House Manager
[Town]07700 900803hannah.oconnor@example.com
Profile
Front of house manager with nine years in corporate reception. I lead a team of four receptionists across two sites, look after visitor security and meeting spaces, and I am the first contact for our building managers.
Experience
Front of House Manager · Example Group plc
- Lead four receptionists across two office sites, including rotas and holiday cover.
- Introduced a digital visitor sign-in and trained the team to use it.
- Run meeting-room and event bookings for around 300 staff.
- Manage the catering, flowers and cleaning suppliers for both receptions.
Senior Receptionist · Example Consulting Ltd
- Covered the switchboard and a busy lobby, and trained every new receptionist.
Skills
Team leadership · Rotas · Visitor security · Meeting and event bookings · Supplier management · Microsoft 365
Training
First aid at work · Fire marshal training · [Management course, as completed]
How to structure your Receptionist CV
- Profile: the kind of front desk (office, surgery, hotel, salon) and the volume you handle.
- Experience: calls, visitors, bookings and the systems you used, newest job first.
- Skills: switchboard, diary management, booking systems and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, by name.
- Education and training: short. Add first-aid or fire-marshal training if you hold it.
No paid experience yet?
Reception is often a first office job. Employers hire on manner, reliability and organisation.
- Retail, hospitality and call-centre work all count: they are customer-facing and busy.
- Say how many people or calls you dealt with in a shift, even roughly.
- Name the tools you can already use: email, calendars, spreadsheets, a till or a booking app.
- Mention any languages you speak. Front desks with international visitors value them.
Common mistakes
Adjectives instead of volume
'Friendly and professional' is on every CV. '60 visitors a day' is only on yours.
Leaving out systems
Booking tools and phone systems are often named in the ad. If you have used them, name them.
Too long
One page is enough for most reception roles. Cut duties every receptionist does.
Receptionist CV professional summary example
Open with two or three lines covering what you do, how long you have done it, and one measurable result.
Friendly front-desk receptionist who handled 120+ calls a day and greeted 80+ daily visitors while maintaining a 98% positive feedback score on visitor surveys.
Core skills for a Receptionist CV
The skills worth naming in your skills section. Different from the ATS keywords below, which are the terms a parser scans for.
- Multi-line phone handling
- Visitor management
- Appointment scheduling
- Front-desk administration
- Microsoft Outlook
- Customer service
How to write a standout Receptionist CV
Three things hiring managers and applicant tracking systems look for — get these right and you clear the first screen.
Put numbers on your front desk
Reception is high volume. State call and visitor figures like 'Managed a busy switchboard of 100+ calls daily' so employers see you can handle the pace.
Lead with people skills
Phrases like 'greeted', 'reassured', and 'resolved' show you handle people warmly. Pair them with a result such as a visitor satisfaction score or reduced complaints.
List your booking and phone systems
ATS scans look for specific tools. Name the systems you used, such as a visitor sign-in app, a switchboard, or Outlook calendar, to match the posting.
ATS keywords for Receptionist CVs
Applicant tracking systems scan for role-specific terms before a human reads your CV. Weave the ones that genuinely apply to you into your summary, skills, and bullets.
Receptionist CV bullet point examples
Achievement-led bullets that show impact with numbers — concrete beats vague. Adapt them to your own results.
- Managed a multi-line switchboard handling 120+ calls daily, routing every call within an average of 15 seconds.
- Greeted and signed in over 80 visitors per day while keeping the lobby calm during peak morning arrivals.
- Reorganised the meeting-room booking system, cutting double-bookings from 6 per week to nearly zero.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about writing a Receptionist CV.
What skills should a receptionist list on a CV?
Highlight phone and switchboard handling, visitor management, appointment scheduling, customer service, and the booking or calendar tools you used, backed by call or visitor volumes.
How do I write a receptionist CV with no experience?
Lean on transferable skills from customer-facing or volunteer roles, such as handling enquiries and staying organised, and emphasise reliability, communication, and a friendly manner.
Should a receptionist CV include a photo?
In the UK and US it is generally better to leave the photo off to avoid bias and keep the focus on your skills, unless the employer specifically asks for one.
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