What does a front desk attendant do?
A front desk attendant serves as the primary point of contact in a building or establishment, ensuring customer satisfaction. Their duties mainly revolve around greeting visitors, responding to inquiries, handling calls and correspondence, arranging appointments, and coordinating with various building offices and departments. Moreover, a front desk attendant's responsibilities will vary on the line of work or one's industry of employment. There are instances in a hotel setting where they must handle check-in and check-out processes, make reservations, and offer amenities.
Front desk attendant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real front desk attendant resumes:
- Manage confidential information and documentation, including financial data, and credit card information and payroll checks.
- Perform extensive customer service, including communicating with members, scheduling reservations, and fielding complaints.
- Count and identify clothing to charge correctly on POS system, rack clothing in order on conveyor belt.
- Serve guests in a timely and professional manner, handle money/make change, and work with a POS system.
- Monitor cleanliness and organization of yoga studio and lobby areas.
- Assist on special projects consisting of transferring reservations to new internal booking system and balancing advance deposits
- Register new patients and updates existing patient demographics by collecting patient detail patient information including personal and financial information.
- Operate PBX switchboard for the hotel, answering all questions and transferring to the appropriate party.
- Cross train on PBX duties and proper telephone etiquette in order to expedite calls and take care of guests/associates requests.
- Prepare documents and PowerPoint presentations and disseminate information.
- Provide excellent hospitality at a premier Marriott property.
Front desk attendant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Front Desk Attendants are proficient in Reservations, Customer Service, and Cleanliness. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Front Desk Attendants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Reservations, 17%
Performed extensive customer service, including communicating with members, scheduling reservations, and fielding complaints.
- Customer Service, 10%
Staffed facility control area, checked student and staff identification, checked out fitness equipment and provided quality customer service.
- Cleanliness, 10%
Ensured cleanliness and professional presentation of the facility.
- Phone Calls, 9%
Maintained and managed Gym/exercise area and equipment Answered phone calls and recorded appointments for trainers
- Work Ethic, 8%
Trained to develop discipline and work ethic .
- Guest Satisfaction, 5%
Provide exceptional customer service and promote guest satisfaction using good communication skills to secure steady repeat business.
Common skills that a front desk attendant uses to do their job include "reservations," "customer service," and "cleanliness." You can find details on the most important front desk attendant responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a front desk attendant to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "information clerks must be able to explain policies and procedures clearly to customers and the public." Additionally, a front desk attendant resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "lead the communication and reporting of all housekeepers' activity/reporting logs ran nightly reports including full night audit. "
Integrity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling front desk attendant duties is integrity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "information clerks, particularly human resources assistants, have access to confidential information." According to a front desk attendant resume, here's how front desk attendants can utilize integrity in their job responsibilities: "trusted to perform front desk and night audit responsibilities. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of front desk attendants is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday front desk attendant duties, as "information clerks who work with the public and customers must understand and communicate information effectively to establish positive relationships." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "exuded a high quality of interpersonal communication and customer service. "
Organizational skills. A big part of what front desk attendants do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to front desk attendant responsibilities because "information clerks must be able to retrieve files and other important information quickly and efficiently." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical front desk attendant tasks: "perform usual front desk/organizational responsibilities; sorting and distributing mail, answering phone calls, submitting maintenance requests, etc. "
The three companies that hire the most front desk attendants are:
- TPI66 front desk attendants jobs
- Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores38 front desk attendants jobs
- Castle Management, Inc.25 front desk attendants jobs
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Compare different front desk attendants
Front desk attendant vs. Guest services agent
Guest services agents are the ones who communicate with hotel guests who want to reserve or cancel bookings. Their job includes welcoming guests upon arrival, assigning them their rooms and suites, issuing their room keys, and collecting payment information. They organize housekeeping, transport providers, porters, and kitchen staff to meet the requirements of guests. They also resolve issues and deal with disappointed guests' complaints and coordinate third party services, including taxis, rental cars, tour guides, and airport transfers.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between front desk attendants and guest services agent. For instance, front desk attendant responsibilities require skills such as "cleanliness," "work ethic," "strong work ethic," and "facility tours." Whereas a guest services agent is skilled in "room reservations," "pbx," "relay messages," and "check outs." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Guest services agents tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,914. In contrast, front desk attendants make the biggest average salary, $28,734, in the education industry.On average, guest services agents reach similar levels of education than front desk attendants. Guest services agents are 0.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Front desk attendant vs. Guest service representative
A guest service representative is responsible for supporting the front desk operations, assisting guests with their needs, and handling guests' inquiries. Guest service representatives duties' include processing payments, leading the guests to their respective rooms, responding to the guests' requests, escalating high-level complaints, maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of the common areas, performing administrative duties, and suggesting recommendations for improving the guests' experience. A guest service representative should have excellent customer service and communication skills to increase the business's positive feedback.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real front desk attendant resumes. While front desk attendant responsibilities can utilize skills like "phone calls," "work ethic," "strong work ethic," and "facility tours," guest service representatives use skills like "guest service," "good judgment," "property management system," and "gsr."
Guest service representatives may earn a lower salary than front desk attendants, but guest service representatives earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $29,331. On the other hand, front desk attendants receive higher pay in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,734.guest service representatives earn similar levels of education than front desk attendants in general. They're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Front desk attendant vs. Night auditor
A Night Auditor is responsible for handling late-night front-desk operations, mostly at hotels or other lodging establishments. Among the primary duties involve greeting guests and handling check-in and check-outs, responding to reservations, process and collect payments, preparing reports and necessary documentation, and attending to the guests' inquiries, requests, and concerns. Furthermore, Night Auditors must also coordinate with day-shift workers to be aware of the daily reports, and as well as oversee the entire establishment's operation to ensure the guest's welfare.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, front desk attendants are more likely to have skills like "cleanliness," "work ethic," "strong work ethic," and "facility tours." But a night auditor is more likely to have skills like "check-in," "guest service," "keep management," and "check guests."
Night auditors make a very good living in the real estate industry with an average annual salary of $31,410. On the other hand, front desk attendants are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $28,734.When it comes to education, night auditors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to front desk attendants. In fact, they're 1.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Front desk attendant vs. Guest relations representative
Guest relations representatives are professionals who are responsible for providing excellent customer service to customers of a hotel or other establishment. These representatives are required to assist the front office manager in mentoring and developing front office associates by contributing valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement. They must provide general hospitality services for VIP guests by arranging transportation as well as special accommodations. Guest relations representatives must also maintain the cleanliness of guest rooms while delivering housekeeping amenities to the rooms.
Types of front desk attendant
Updated January 8, 2025
