The Receptionist is often the first person customers, clients, and other visitors to the company meet. That’s why they have to be professional, warm, and welcoming at all times. They have to greet visitors, direct them to the right people or departments, and ensure that their first impression of the company is pleasant. A great Receptionist knows how to turn a stuffy office into a welcoming space.
As the face of the company, you want to ensure that when you hire a Receptionist they are the perfect person for the job. That’s why it’s important to have a well thought out hiring process in place, and asking the best Receptionist interview questions early on is a crucial step to achieving hiring success.
When you go about interviewing a Receptionist, you want to look out for the following skills and qualities:
- Impeccable people skills.
- Warm and friendly yet professional and presentable.
- Great communication skills both in person and over the phone.
- Excellent time management skills
Interviewing a Receptionist
You have received dozens of applications for your Receptionist job opening and now it’s time to invite a few of the lucky applicants to an interview. To ensure you have the highest chance of finding the perfect candidate, you need to be prepared. By asking the right interview questions you are more likely to separate the good from the bad. And that’s where our list of Receptionist interview questions comes in handy.
Please note, though, that these questions are relatively general as they are meant to be asked early on in the interview process. Once you move on to the next round of interviews you should prepare more experience-specific questions tailored to your company and your candidate.
How to open the Receptionist job interview
Even though your new Receptionist should be a great communicator they might still be nervous about the job interview. This is natural, and it doesn’t have to pose a problem. To ease these nerves a bit we do advise you to start the interview with some easy opening questions. This helps the candidate settle in and feel more comfortable for the remainder of the interview.