Greet and welcome guests as soon as they arrive at the office
Direct visitors to the appropriate person and office
Answer, screen and forward incoming phone calls
Ensure reception area is tidy and presentable, with all necessary stationery and material (e.g. pens, forms and brochures)
Provide basic and accurate information in-person and via phone/email
Receive, sort and distribute daily mail/deliveries
Maintain office security by following safety procedures and controlling access via the reception desk (monitor logbook, issue visitor badges)
Order front office supplies and keep inventory of stock
Update calendars and schedule meetings
Arrange travel and accommodations, and prepare vouchers
Keep updated records of office expenses and costs
Perform other clerical receptionist duties such as filing, photocopying, transcribing and faxing.
Resume Keyword Practices to Avoid
We’ve established that using resume keywords throughout your application boosts your chances of a human hiring manager seeing it.
However, be careful not to overdo it.
Packing your resume full of keywords is almost as bad as not including any at all.
Don’t forget that a real person will (hopefully) see your resume at some point. So use natural language that engages that person.
Tip
Make sure you balance hard skills vs soft skills on your resume to show you’re a rounded candidate.
Otherwise, they’ll think you’re either a bad writer — which indicates your communication skills aren’t good — or assume you’re trying to beat the ATS, making you seem dishonest.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing refers to using the same keyword again and again in an unnatural way to get your resume past the ATS.
People engage in keyword stuffing because some ATS software gives applications a higher ranking when it detects a keyword is used more. For instance, an ATS might assign a higher score to a candidate who mentions “search engine optimization” six times over one who mentions it three times.
Here’s an example of how one applicant tried to stuff the keyword “customer satisfaction” in their resume:
Boosted customer satisfaction by 47% by implementing customer satisfaction methods as part of company-wide effort to increase customer satisfaction rates.
Trained 7 new staff members in all aspects of housekeeping, ensuring that they meet health and safety standards
An applicant stuffs the keyword “customer satisfaction” on their resume.
See how extreme this is?
This technique might get your resume past the ATS, but will immediately turn off the hiring manager — ruining your chances of getting hired.