How long does it take to become a Front Desk Associate?

It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a front desk associate. That is the time it takes to learn specific front desk associate skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.

How To Become A Front Desk Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a front desk associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

The responsibility of a front desk associate is to assist the guests of the hotel or organization throughout their stay. You are to assign rooms, provide check-in, hold reservations, help guests complete registration cards, and collaborate with hotel staff. Remember that you are the first point of contact with clients of a business. Other duties include answering phone calls, overseeing the office budget, and attending to clients.

You also need to ensure that the front desk is neat, well arranged, and equipped with necessary supplies such as paper and pen. Plus, you must redirect phone calls to the appropriate department when required. You are also in charge of accepting letters, monitoring, organizing, forwarding emails, and maintaining records and files for easy documentation. You must be able to provide clients with amazing customer care services.

Good office administration and bookkeeping practices, good communication skills and organization skills, ability to multi-task, and strong knowledge about the MS office program are vital to this role. The average annual salary of a front desk associate is $28,000. Not just this, but the educational qualification is a bachelor's degree in a related field.

ScoreFront Desk AssociateUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $27,236

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.40%

Asian 9.28%

Black or African American 9.98%

Hispanic or Latino 18.94%

Unknown 6.70%

White 53.70%

Gender

female 68.75%

male 31.25%

Age - 34

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 - 34

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.8

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.3

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a front desk associate

Explore front desk associate education requirements

Most common front desk associate degrees

Bachelor's

43.4 %

High School Diploma

24.2 %

Associate

21.6 %

Start to develop specific front desk associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Phone Calls	20.78%
Math	12.57%
Customer Service	12.52%
Basic Math	11.09%
Strong Customer Service	9.98%

Complete relevant front desk associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New front desk associates 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 a front desk associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real front desk associate resumes.

Gain additional front desk associate certifications

Front desk associate 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 front desk associate certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for front desk associates include Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA).

More About Certifications

Research front desk associate duties and responsibilities

Manage customer service issues with ease and charm and train other co workers in daily operations.
Manage confidential information and documentation, including financial data, and credit card information and payroll checks.
Manage patients records by keeping all medical history, insurance and personal information update and verify abiding by HIPAA protocols.
Process reservations for business groups via opera system.

Prepare your front desk associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your front desk associate 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 a front desk associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable front desk associate resume templates

Build a professional front desk associate 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 front desk associate resume.

Apply for front desk associate jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a front desk associate job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do front desk associates rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Front desk associate reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2024

Pros

Good work life balance, low stress and responsibility

Cons

Low pay, lack of progression

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2020

Cons

Graveyard Shifts! Staying up alnight is hard most nights that I had to work from midnight to 8am. And watching people suffer the most at that hour of the night morning.

Pros

Helping People.As a child my Mom was a Nurse in Long-term Care. And as My Mom, I get the most out of life when I'm helping someone.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Cons

Rude customers who use profanity

Pros

Interacting with the public very friendly helpful in problem solving also I have patience with others

What is a front desk associate and how to become one

Front desk associate career paths

Key steps to become a front desk associate

Explore front desk associate education requirements

Most common front desk associate degrees

Start to develop specific front desk associate skills

Complete relevant front desk associate training and internships

Gain additional front desk associate certifications

Research front desk associate duties and responsibilities

Prepare your front desk associate resume

Choose from 10+ customizable front desk associate resume templates

Apply for front desk associate jobs

How did you land your first front desk associate job

Average front desk associate salary

How do front desk associates rate their job?

Front desk associate reviews

Front desk associate FAQs

How long does it take to become a Front Desk Associate?

Search for front desk associate jobs

Front desk associate jobs by state