The skills of the staff team

A receptionist is usually the first person a visitor, client or patient meets or speaks to on the phone. As a receptionist it's down to you to make that all important, good first impression, so above anything else you'll need to have a good rapport with people to make them feel looked after and at ease.

The world is your oyster when deciding where you want to work as just about every organisation has at least one receptionist. If you don't think the corporate world is for you, think about becoming a receptionist at a school or hospital or if you have a passion for sport, you could think about working at a leisure centre.

Larger companies tend to have busier reception desks so here you might be part of a small reception and security team. Working for a small company you'll be able to take on some additional administrative work. If you choose to work as a doctors' or dentists' receptionist you'll probably be expected to make appointments as part of the job.

Wherever you choose to work there will be a basic set of tasks you'll be in charge of:

• Greeting visitors, offering them refreshments and directing them to the right person
• Answering queries
• Answering calls and taking messages
• Screening phone calls
• Keeping the reception area tidy
• Looking after the 'visitor' book and security passes
• Receipt of courier parcels

Receptionists are often the nominated first aider in the building.

We've touched already on some of the key skills needed to be a receptionist. You have to enjoy dealing with the public and have a polite, helpful manner. You'll also need to look the part too.

If an employer were to write a list of desirable qualities a receptionist should have it would no doubt cover the following:

• An outgoing personality
• Good written and spoken communications skills
• The ability to stay calm under pressure
• Good organisational skills
• Be discreet and tactful
• Be courteous but firm when dealing with difficult customers
• A good memory for faces - regulars like to be remembered
• Efficient and well organised
• Self-motivated and able to use initiative
• Confident when using a computer and office equipment
• An interest in the business

As with many jobs in the secretarial and admin field, you don't need any formal qualifications to get started. Increasingly however, employers do prefer that you have GSCEs in maths and English and basic IT skills.

If you really want to stand out, a foundation GNVQ/GSVQ in Business or Hospitality and Catering might set you apart from the crowd. If you speak a foreign language you should play this up too as many companies have visitors and clients from overseas and will be pleased to have someone who can welcome them in their mother tongue.

Age is no barrier and mature candidates with good general office experience may have an advantage. Temping is a good way to get experience and it's not uncommon for temp positions to lead to a permanent role.

Most of your training will be on the job, led by more experienced members of staff who will really help improve your skills in areas like phone manner, first impressions, listening skills and customer care.

You may be encouraged to work towards NVQs/SVQs in Reception, Business or Customer Service. There are some colleges which offer these courses - either for general reception or more specialist courses for the likes of medical or hotel reception duties.

The OCR (RSA) also offers more general administration and customer service based courses.

Adding a completely different string to your bow, your employer might also send you on a first aid course if you are interested. It's common that receptionists are one of the trained first aiders on site, which makes sense as people will always know where you are if needed.