25 May Be nice to the Receptionist

Pretty obvious right? Well… apparently not.

If you have ever been the Receptionist (and plenty of us have), you know exactly what I’m talking about. I have been yelled at,  ignored, hung up on and had people speak down to me.

Let’s make this clear – Your interview begins the moment you walk through the front door.  How you treat others says a lot about a person.  When you go somewhere for an interview, your potential employers assessment of how you engage with people begins when they are not even in the room. Behind closed doors people ask the Receptionist their thoughts and opinions on how you communicated with them and your behaviour whilst you were waiting. Ultimately, if you treat the Receptionist like crap, they assume that is how you are going to treat everyone else.

As sad as this sounds, I’m always very surprised when a candidate walks in for their interview and holds out their hand to introduce themselves to me.  This is especially so when they ask for MY name! It doesn’t seem like much, but it IS a big deal. Treat Receptionists as you would any other business colleagues, and don’t regard them as “subordinates.”

Finally, … don’t forget to acknowledge and thank them when you are leaving. Every interaction counts, and failure to appropriately farewell them will also reflect negatively on you.

By Kirsten Kerr
Candidate Resourcer