How To Become An Administrative Receptionist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an administrative receptionist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

An administrative reception is someone who completes administrative and clerical tasks like filing, delivering, and accepting mail. An Administrative receptionist has the responsibility to clean, organize, and maintain the reception area. They take and direct calls, manage front office administration and phone coverage. They also update client files and order office supplies, and assist in invoicing. The administrative receptionist performs data entry and filing tasks and manages the inventory of office supplies. Responding to and managing emails is also a duty done by an administrative receptionist.

There are certain skills that administrative receptionists need to have to accomplish their tasks. One of them is customer service; the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers and maintaining a professional appearance at all times since you're the first person clients see as they walk through the door. More importantly, you must be calm and professional, especially when handling clients. The educational requirements of a receptionist are a high school diploma or GED certificate, but an associate or bachelor's degree will be preferred with computer proficiency and basic math skills. An administrative receptionist earns on average $30,788 a year.

What general advice would you give to an administrative receptionist?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreAdministrative ReceptionistUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,502

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.85%

Black or African American 9.39%

Hispanic or Latino 16.43%

Unknown 3.88%

White 65.73%

Gender

female 92.00%

male 8.00%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an administrative receptionist

Explore administrative receptionist education requirements

Most common administrative receptionist degrees

Bachelor's

35.3 %

Associate

27.0 %

High School Diploma

22.6 %

Start to develop specific administrative receptionist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	18.23%
Patients	11.80%
Data Entry	10.85%
Phone Calls	8.00%
Front Desk	6.08%

Complete relevant administrative receptionist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New administrative receptionists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an administrative receptionist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real administrative receptionist resumes.

Gain additional administrative receptionist certifications

Administrative receptionist certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific administrative receptionist certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for administrative receptionists include Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) and Word 2010 Certification.

More About Certifications

Research administrative receptionist duties and responsibilities

Manage travel reimbursements, and reconcile process and forward to payroll for assign individuals.
Act as primary liaison between patients, physical therapists and physicians while accomplishing miscellaneous duties necessary for maintaining operations.
Sort first class mail, FedEx, campus mail and all incoming mail daily.
Draft correspondence and other written material, develop PowerPoint slides and graphic presentations for demographic analysts.

Prepare your administrative receptionist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your administrative receptionist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an administrative receptionist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable administrative receptionist resume templates

Build a professional administrative receptionist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your administrative receptionist resume.