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

What is a front desk secretary and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a front desk secretary. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.03 an hour? That's $33,351 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a front desk secretary?

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.

ScoreFront Desk SecretaryUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,351

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.81%

Black or African American 9.14%

Hispanic or Latino 16.01%

Unknown 3.87%

White 66.45%

Gender

female 89.74%

male 10.26%

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 a front desk secretary

Explore front desk secretary education requirements

Most common front desk secretary degrees

Bachelor's

35.9 %

High School Diploma

26.9 %

Associate

23.2 %

Start to develop specific front desk secretary skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	22.41%
Front Desk	14.59%
Phone Calls	10.92%
Customer Service	9.45%
Appointment Scheduling	6.33%

Complete relevant front desk secretary training and internships

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

Research front desk secretary duties and responsibilities

Acquire knowledge of ICD-9 and CPT codes and achieve up-to-date knowledge of medical record practices, standards, and regulations.
Correspond with insurance companies and workers comp offices regarding patients benefit coverage and to retrieve authorizations when need for physical therapy.
Prepare PowerPoint inspection reports for existing clients.
Prepare and distribute financial documents including payroll.

Prepare your front desk secretary resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your front desk secretary 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 secretary 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 secretary resume templates

Build a professional front desk secretary 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 secretary resume.