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Topic: Why is receptionist such a dirty word?
| Author | Message |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 11/6/2007 7:19:11 PM | show profile I'm a 24 year old woman who's spent the past two years looking for a full-time job in publishing. I have a Bachelor's degree and some graduate work under my belt, and I do the receptionist job through a temp agency. I do all the things receptionists usually do: I answer phones, handle incoming and outgoing mail, do data entry, greet visitors, etc. I also run errands and help out with mailings that various departments need to get out. I do it quickly and efficiently, and I'm smart about it. It's the lowest rung on the totem pole, but the people at the place were I work seem to like me a lot. I've come to realize that most receptionists are transients like myself, on their way to better things. Most of them don't know what's going on most of the time simply because they aren't around long enough to find out. But there are outsiders, especially people over the phone, who really give you a run for your money: the office I work at has two offices, the main one in Manhattan where I work, and another in the Bronx. For some reason nobody in that other office ever answers their phone. But I get people who call back repeatedly and chew my ear off because those people aren't answering their phones. "I want to talk to a real, live person," the person will shout. There's nothing I can do about it, and I obviously can't tell if anyone's at their desk or even page them. But why do so many people run roughshod over the receptionist? Why are we treated like Wilkommen mats? And why, when I tell people what I do, do they look at me funny? Is there really a stigma attached to being a receptionist? And isn't an assistant, anywhere in any industry, just a glorified receptionist, anyways? |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 11/6/2007 7:22:29 PM | show profile They're actually called SECRETARIES ... ...but girls these days have such an inflated sense of self that they refuse to call themselves that. |
| Nikongirl | Posted – 11/6/2007 7:36:41 PM | show profile >>>They're actually called SECRETARIES ... ...but girls these days have such an inflated sense of self that they refuse to call themselves that.<<< Inflated sense of self? Hahaha....Matt - you kill me. Actually, secretaries are not generally receptionists, although receptionists are often secretaries. Perhaps you could adjust your horse. It seems a bit high. |
| edigerj | Posted – 11/6/2007 7:41:58 PM | show profile No Such Thing as a Dirty Word You said yourself, that you don't plan on being a receptionist forever, so why take it so personally? Some of the best managers, editors, publishers, began as receptionists. There is only a stigma attached to something if you choose to see it that way. People that look at you funny for holding such a job, are clearly idiots and not worth impressing. Work hard, ignore the asses and take comfort in knowing that you will get what you want someday. Who knows, you might be their boss someday. |
| minette mechante | Posted – 11/6/2007 9:01:52 PM | show profile | email poster The same thing happened to me during my tenure as a receptionist. I was at an investment bank where all of the receptionists (myself included) had college degrees, and two of them were in grad school, and people still spoke to us as if we were two-year-old monkeys. There are a couple of factors at play, I think: one is the trope that people who are insecure about themselves act superior to others. (You know that the people who are rude to receptionists are also terrible to waiters and store clerks.) And when something does go wrong, you're the first person people encounter--and being the receptionist, you can't exactly yell back. There does seem to be a stigma, though I don't know why. Even so, I rarely referred to myself as a receptionist in non-work settings; instead, I'd tell people I was a writer and editor (which was true), only mentioning the reception gig as a way to pay the bills. If it didn't change anyone's perception of me, it certainly helped me to think of the receptionist job as only a means to an end. |
| UnemployedNNJ | Posted – 11/7/2007 10:30:17 AM | show profile Sadly I am one of those people who refused (and still refuses) to work as a receptionist after I graduated college. I went weeks without work because I did not want to be a receptionist even if it was temporary. I was a receptionist when I was 19 earning a meager $10 an hour and I encountered some of the nicest and some of the rudest people (aside from when I was a cashier at Marshall's they are the worse customers). But nonetheless, even though I won't do the job I have great respect for some of those that do it. Those that use it as merely a stepping stone to get to where they want to be. They have positive attitudes and are actually willing to crack a smile for everyone they encounter. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 11/7/2007 7:39:54 PM | show profile Matt, I love you but sometimes you are a bit out of touch. Most publishing companies have receptionists (usually to keep the writers away from the editors) but hardly anybody has secretaries any more. As for the OP, there's no reason to take your day job so personally. The only one who can make you feel inferior is YOU. Do the job, and considerate a challenge - if you're really interested in publishing, the skills you acquire for speaking politely and evenly on the telephone to irate individuals, snooty types, and the clueless will be of considerable value later on. And if you think your friends are giving you a stigma, just say, "I'm temping for a publishing company, answering phones." That's all. Full disclosure: my very first three office-type media jobs I got on the basis of my phone voice and manner (no jokes from you Matt on that). |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 11/7/2007 8:05:56 PM | show profile Yes, Virginia, secretaries still DO exist ... ...except now they call themselves "assistants". |
| foodlit | Posted – 11/7/2007 11:42:17 PM | show profile Secretary is an outdated word. The current term is administrative assistant. Don't pay any attention to anyone who gives you attitude about being a receptionist, that's their issue, their insecurity making them act like an ass. A receptionist can be a stepping stone if you make it happen. I've seen it time and time again. In fact at one of my clients right now, the newly appointed CEO is a woman who started years ago as a receptionist and worked her way up and went to school in the evening for an advanced degree. One of my sister's close friends started in the mailroom at an investment house, as a temp and now makes over a million dollars in a sales role within that same company. In the last company I worked at, we hired a receptionist, an eager energetic college grad who was the best receptionist we ever had, but she was so much more than that. When it was slow, she went looking for things to do. She came in early, she stayed late. She offered to do the things that no one else had time or desire to do, and she did them with a smile. As soon as there was an opening, she was promoted into the temp division, and was the best temp counselor we ever had. Clients loved her, candidates adored her. She wanted to move out of temp and into permanent placement and once she did, within a year, she was a top biller, making over $200,000 a year. There is a saying, 'cream rises to the top', and it's true. Even more true is that you have to make it happen, be visible, be cheerful, and create your own job. Good luck! :) Pam |
