How to craft a professional front desk receptionist cover letter
Front desk receptionists have many essential duties, from answering phones and emails to ensuring customers have the best experience at a business possible. To land a job as a front desk receptionist, you need a cover letter that perfectly captures your professional drive and commitment to the job.
In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about how to write a cover letter as a front desk receptionist. Keep reading to learn about:
- Optimizing your front desk receptionist cover letter header & headline
- Personalizing the greeting on your front desk receptionist cover letter
- Writing a compelling front desk receptionist cover letter introduction
- Showing your professional value as a front desk receptionist
- Creating a memorable closing statement on your cover letter
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1. Optimize your front desk receptionist cover letter header & headline
Whenever you write a cover letter, the first step to take is creating your header and headline.
A cover letter header is often found in the top left corner of the document, detailing the company information and your professional information. This includes your name, contact information, and title.
As for the cover letter headline, this is a brief and one-sentence statement used to catch the attention of employers and compel them to read further.
Check out the below two examples showcasing how to format your header and write your headline as a front desk receptionist:
Formatting the header
While a cover letter can vary in order of information and appearance, it should generally contain around 3 lines of text and the following information:
- The company name and department you are applying to
- Your name and professional title
- Your contact information (phone number, email address, LinkedIn, etc.)
Here is an example of a well-formatted header on a front desk receptionist’s cover letter
To: The City of Chattanooga, Parks & Recreation Department
From: Jane Doe, Front Desk Receptionist
(123) 456-7890 | janedoe@email.com | linkedin.com/in/jane-doe
Writing the headline
When writing the headline of your cover letter, consider how newspapers and magazines write their headlines. It should be short and to the point, encouraging the person reading it to want to read further into the cover letter.
To format your headline, you should always use a keyword related to the position, an eye-catching number or trigger word, a powerful adjective or verb, and a promise.
Here is an example of an effective front desk receptionist headline, followed by a breakdown of each element
4 Ways My Skills as a Front Desk Receptionist Will Improve Your Customer’s Experience
Trigger Word/Number: 4 Reasons
Keyword: Front Desk Receptionist
Adjective/Verb: Improve
Promise: Your Customer’s Experience – this part of the headline shows that you plan on applying your talents specifically for their company’s purposes.
2. Personalize the greeting on your front desk receptionist cover letter
Although “To Whom It May Concern” and similar variations of the greeting were once the standard used on cover letters, employers nowadays expect a more personalized and well-researched greeting.
For a front desk receptionist, the ideal choice is to directly address the hiring manager or head of department by name in your cover letter greeting. However, if this information is not readily or publicly available, you may consider using one of the following personalized greetings instead:
To the [Company Name] Team
Or
To the [Company Name] Hiring Manager
3. Write a compelling front desk receptionist cover letter introduction
Once your cover letter header, headline, and greeting are squared away, your next focus should be on writing an effective cover letter introduction.
In this introduction, you should include the following information as it relates to your career as a front desk receptionist:
- A brief overview of your professional history and goals
- A statement on why you are enthusiastic about applying to this company
- A mutual acquaintance (when possible)
Here is an example to help demonstrate how to write a front desk receptionist cover letter introduction
To the [Company Name] Hiring Manager,
I am an experienced Front Desk Receptionist, having worked for more than 4 years as a receptionist and customer service agent at a [Former Employer]. After speaking with Jay Son, your Hiring Manager, I was encouraged to apply for this position as my skills and administrative proficiencies are a perfect match for your company’s needs.
In this example, the applicant wastes no time by immediately stating how many years of experience they have, including an additional detail of having experience as a customer service agent. Following this, they immediately make note of speaking with the hiring manager, who encouraged them to apply for the position.
4. Show your professional value as a front desk receptionist
After the introduction of your cover letter come the body paragraphs. This will typically amount to between two to four paragraphs total, detailing why you are a great fit for the company and vice versa.
As you write these paragraphs, you should aim to answer the following questions:
- What excites you about working at this company?
- What do you hope to learn from working at this company?
- What accomplishments or qualifications make you stand out as an applicant?
- What key skills do you possess that are relevant to the position?
Within these paragraphs is where you can go the most in-depth about any relevant accomplishments you hold that help to qualify you for the job.
Here is an example of how to describe an accomplishment in a cover letter
As a Front Desk Receptionist at [Previous Employer], I received the Employee of the Month Award a total of 8 times over a 2-year period. Additionally, I helped the company to transition all staff members onto a new digital platform, including the creation of new email addresses.
5. Create a memorable closing statement on your front desk receptionist cover letter
The final component of any effective front desk receptionist’s cover letter is the closing statement.
In this statement, you should include:
- An enthusiastic sentence saying you are looking forward to hearing from them
- An additional sentence stating you will follow up, including how you will contact them or how they can contact you
- A formal sign-off
Here is an example of a well-written and thoughtful closing statement on a front desk receptionist’s cover letter
With my years of experience and in-depth knowledge of your company’s industry, I will undoubtedly prove to be a valuable asset and addition to your team. I am available for calls or in-person interviews every weekday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Warm Regards,
[Applicant Name]
If you have ever wondered how a cover letter differs from a resume, this article will tell you everything about the key differences between the two.
