Occupation
Receptionist
Receptionists are the first point of contact for an organization, greeting visitors, directing calls and enquiries, and handling the small administrative tasks that keep a front desk working. The role combines steady public contact with routine clerical work.
Also known as: Front desk clerk · Front office assistant · Switchboard operator
Occupation content
Part of Government, policy and administration
What the work involves
- Greet visitors, confirm appointments, and issue passes or sign-in records.
- Answer and route incoming calls and take accurate messages.
- Respond to general enquiries or direct them to the right department.
- Receive and distribute mail, deliveries, and courier items.
- Book meeting rooms and maintain the appointment or visitor schedule.
- Carry out filing, data entry, and other clerical tasks between enquiries.
How people commonly enter
- A secondary school qualification with employer-provided on-the-job training.
- A short office or reception skills course at a college or training provider.
- Entry through temporary or agency placements at a front desk.
- Movement from a customer service or retail position.
Typical training: Short course or on-the-job training
Licensing: Not typically licensed
Typical work context
Public facing · Desk based · Predictable routine · Team based
Related interests
Conventional (organizing) · Social (helping)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
- Customer-service judgment
- Data checking and clerical accuracy
- Typing and keyboard skills
- Multitasking and monitoring
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Government, policy and administration.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- O*NET OnLine — occupation search: receptionist · United States
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- UK National Careers Service — Explore careers · United Kingdom
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- Canada Job Bank — Search job profiles (search: receptionist) · Canada
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Government, policy and administration in Canada, not a figure for Receptionist. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Government, policy and administration family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Government, policy and administration: education pathways
Some roles in Government, policy and administration may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Government, policy and administration: licensing
Find jobs
These are live, user-controlled searches on each source's own site for “ Receptionist”. Novus Learn does not fetch, store, or rank these results, and job availability never changes your exploration match score.
- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)