Face of the Firm: Must-ask Receptionist Interview Questions

The job of a receptionist is far more demanding than what it actually seems. As such, the interview process may also be rigorous, because a lot of responsibilities are entrusted upon one. Here, we provide you with some questions that may be asked at your interview, so that you are thoroughly prepared to bag that job.

CareerStint Staff

Last Updated: May 25, 2018

A pleasant, modest and helpful receptionist creates a positive first impression about the organization. Besides a pleasing personality, a receptionist needs to have many other qualifications. Just like any other employee, he/she needs to be efficient, hardworking and sincere.

Apart from answering the phone calls, there are many other responsibilities of a receptionist. Many aspirant receptionists are not aware of this fact which is why they find interviews difficult. Here's a look into the questions commonly posed to receptionists in different fields.

Interview Questions for a Medical Receptionist

Medical receptionists are the important link between patients and doctors.

Typical medical receptionist duties would be: giving appointments, answering phone calls, giving satisfactory answers to patients' non-medical questions, may have to maintain medical records, etc. The following interview questions will give you a clear idea.

In your view, what is the most important quality for being a receptionist? Why?
What are your educational qualifications? Are you planning to study further?
List your responsibilities as a medical receptionist.
Do you mind to work overtime in the absence of your replacement or occasionally?
Why do you want to be a medical receptionist specifically?

Do you have experience working with multi-line phones?
What is your experience answering all incoming calls regarding hospital queries and patient inquiries? What is the way to transfer a call to a specific department? Can you demonstrate it?
Which are the software that you are aware about? What are your computer and Internet skills?

Do you think it is necessary for a medical receptionist to be aware of basic technologies?
Describe how you handle stressful situations.
Are you aware of any medical terminology, if an emergency arises?
If someone is late for his appointment, what do you do?
If a particular patient asks you repeatedly about a doctor's credibility, how will you answer it?

If at any point of time a patient's relatives get aggressive about something, how will you handle them?
Are you trained in first aid?
Are there any specific skills you think you will need to learn for this job?

Interview Questions for a Hotel Receptionist

Everyone is aware of a hotel receptionist; after all, she is the first person one comes across after entering the reception area!

The duties of a hotel receptionist include; booking rooms, escorting guests to their rooms, collecting bills, managing paperwork (if any) etc. The following are the most commonly asked interview questions for a hotel receptionist.

In your previous job, did such a situation arise where you had a lot of work to do in a short time. How did you manage the situation? (This question is case-specific.)
State the reason for quitting the previous job. (This question is case-specific.)
What qualities are required to become a good hotel receptionist?

What if you have to work closely with a person you don't get along with? How will you handle the situation?
Refer to the specific tasks that you did in your previous organization.
What kind of office administration hardware have you used, and what is the level of expertise that you have using these machines?

Why do you want to join this specific hotel? Why not some other hotel?
What are you better at, verbal or writing skills? How would you compare your verbal skills to your writing skills?

The typing speeds of a receptionist are quite important for their profile. Have you given any typing exams? What is your speed when it comes to typing in a word processing software, and what are the error levels that you have?
Have you ever been a guest at any of our chain of hotels? How was your experience there?

Can you give an example of a time when you had to deal with a customer complaint and how did you resolve it?
What is the importance of guest satisfaction in hospitality sector?
How do you greet guests? Do you escort them to their rooms, how?
What are the languages you are fluent in?

Interview Questions for an Office Receptionist

An office receptionist is considered as the most difficult of all the receptionist jobs. The person has to exercise patience and exhibit professionalism.

In an interview for the position of an office receptionist, you must display utmost polite behavior and have complete knowledge of the field. Here are some questions typically asked to a prospective office receptionist:

List three bad things about yourself?
Have you had any previous work experience in this field?
Why did you choose this job?
Why did you leave your previous job?
What makes you a good receptionist?
What was your most important contribution as a receptionist in your previous company?

Give an instance when you were required to multitask?
What do you know about the work that our company does?
Give a description of an ideal work profile.
How do you know that a company has gained success?
Have you ever faced a situation where you didn't know what to do? If yes, how did you solve it?

How do you react to working in a team? Describe a situation where you participated as a team player.
What is your idea of professionalism?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What is your salary expectation?
Do you have any questions for me?

Always be confident while answering any question. If you don't know something let your interviewer know; there is no harm in not knowing the answer. You can now start preparing for your interview with the help of these questions.