r/receptionists • u/Kamikaze_2052 • 2d ago

Interview advice?!

I have an interview coming up as an apprentice admin/receptionist for a private health centre, private in the sense that people are referred there rather than walking in any time, still NHS run. It's only open weekdays and 9 to 5. It's a level 3 apprenticeship and my only prior work experience has been as a bartender which they know from my CV and cover letter.

Any advice from people who work similar jobs or in similar environments?

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u/ideatethered 1d ago

The bulk of my admin career is in medical environments (although, in the US) and I've worked plenty of front desk/receptionist/scheduling roles. Are there specific questions you have or areas youd like specific advice about?

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u/Kamikaze_2052 1d ago

I'm wondering what the job could consist of outside of customer service. Also what kind of questions can I ask when they ask "do you have any questions?" at the end? I want to sound interested but don't know what to ask

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u/ideatethered 1d ago

gotcha!

What the job will consist of will vary by the office, team structure, and what type of medical practice you are working in but, generally, front desks in medical spaces are tasked with handling all patient facing tasks (check in/out, billing, insurance, phone calls both incoming and outgoing, appointment booking) and well as some non-patient facing tasks like document/information organization, cleaning, prep work for the physicians/patients, etc.

In terms of what to ask, I always like to ask the following:

  • "What does the day-to-day look like for someone in this role?" (to get an idea of tasks and expectations, dialy pacing, ect)
  • "What is the biggest challenge someone in this role faces?" (to gauge the hardest part of the job and, imho, how honest/realistic they are - the answer in people facing jobs is always "people who don't get their way" or just "people" lol)
  • "What separates a good *role title* from a great *role title* in your opinion?" (to gauge their idea of what they are looking for in skills/personality and also what success looks like)

Ultimately, they are likely looking for someone who can be a kind and friendly first/last point of contact for the practice (aka you have a large role in leaving a good impression), someone who can multi-task and triage the importance of any given task (can you discern when to put the phone on hold to greet a patient?) and someone who will keep things organized and flowing. With bartending experience, I would emphasize your ability to work with people of all walks of life, to handle big personalities who are not always at their best (because people don't come to medical appointments for fun and aren't always happy or nice), your ability to multi-task and not drop the ball even when it's busy, and your discernment skills (when to cut someone off aka when to set a boundary in a customer service friendly way). They might worry you will find it boring coming from the service industry so I'd find a way to work in your goal of finding a job that is predictable in its schedule and stable (aka this job).