Receptionists and Information Clerks
Answer inquiries and provide information to the general public, customers, visitors, and other interested parties regarding activities conducted at establishment and location of departments, offices, and employees within the organization.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Writing
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administrative
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Telecommunications
What the work involves
- Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.
- Receive payment and record receipts for services.
- Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents.
- Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations.
- Hear and resolve complaints from customers or the public.
- File and maintain records.
- Transmit information or documents to customers, using computer, mail, or facsimile machine.
- Schedule appointments and maintain and update appointment calendars.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (49.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (27%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (45.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Receptionists and Information Clerks is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 91% of occupations compared | 88% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 84% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 62% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 67% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 97% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 76% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 80% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 93% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 12.13%
- Constant contact with others: 87.87%
n = 32, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.77%
- Fairly important: 15.29%
- Important: 4.86%
- Very important: 5.44%
- Extremely important: 72.63%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 2.48%
- Fairly important: 10.78%
- Important: 15.01%
- Very important: 14.28%
- Extremely important: 57.45%
n = 32, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 8.17%
- Very little freedom: 3.38%
- Limited freedom: 13.83%
- Some freedom: 34.24%
- A lot of freedom: 40.38%
n = 32, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 33.2%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 12.27%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 27.58%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.73%
- Every day: 23.21%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.35%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.96%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.92%
- Every day: 11.6%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 10.79%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.7%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 47.22%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 6.24%
- Every day: 32.05%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 42.7%
- Fairly serious: 30.46%
- Serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very serious: 2.18%
- Extremely serious: 4.6%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 43-4171.00 · SOC 43-4171 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8