A salon receptionist resume can help you land that essential front-desk position that keeps the entire salon running. Whether you're a fresh graduate looking to get your foot in the door of the beauty industry or a seasoned administrative professional, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know to create a powerful salon resume that conveys your strengths right from the start.
This writing guide, along with our salon receptionist resume, will show you how to:
- Choose the best format for a salon receptionist resume
- Include all the important sections that managers expect to see
- Craft a summary that speaks to your skills and catches the hiring manager's attention
- Create a page layout that stands out as attractive and professional
With 300+ writing guides and resume examples, Resume.io prides itself on providing high-quality resources to job seekers of all experience levels and in all industries.
What does a salon receptionist do?
Salon Receptionists are administrative professionals who serve as the first line of communication for salons. They are responsible for greeting people, answering phone calls, providing guests with informations, handling financial transactions, and scheduling appointments. Salon receptionists typically assist salon employees with a variety of tasks, and generally serve as a source of support for the salon.
Salon receptionists work with a variety of other professionals in the beauty and wellness industry. You may find more resume writing inspiration in our following related examples:
How to write a salon receptionist resume
A salon receptionist resume will need many of the same basic components found on all types of resumes, including:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
A salon receptionist resume should highlight a candidate’s strong administrative and clerical skills, in addition to their excellent customer service skills. Your resume should call attention to these skills, and others, which showcase your ability to serve as an effective salon receptionist. You should highlight your ability to remain on task in fast-paced environments, and utilize multitasking skills to enhance productivity. Highlight your work experience that is most closely related to administrative work, and focus on your industry specific skills first. While no specific degrees are required for a salon receptionist position, most employers are looking for someone with a high school diploma at minimum. Be sure to avoid any grammatical or structural errors, as effective and clear communication is a crucial part of this position.
ATS or Applicant Tracking Systems are algorithms built into the online application portals in use at many large and medium-sized salon chains. These resume scanners rank applications based on keywords and send only the top scoring resumes to the hiring manager's desk.
Here are some steps you can take to avoid being filtered out:
- Search the job description for "keywords" – skills, duties or experiences emphasized by the employer.
- Place these keywords on the various sections of your resume using the exact language from the job description.
- Use common section headers like "Employment History" or "Skills" so that the bots and the human HR manager can find exactly what they're looking for.
Choosing the best resume format for salon receptionists
Salon receptionists with at least a few previous positions to show will benefit from the reverse chronological resume format. This structure is based on an employment history section that showcases your relevant experience and what you learned in each role. Salon managers are most accustomed to this format, making it the best option, even if some of your experience is outside of the beauty industry.
If you're a recent grad looking for your first job, you may benefit from the hybrid format. This model begins with a "Skills" or "Experience" section which shows the salon manager what you bring to the role without having to attribute it to an exact job title. The hybrid format should still feature a shorter employment history section where you can list any work experience you do have.
Resume summary example
The resume summary is one of the few places where you'll be able to add some personality to your resume – an important quality for a salon receptionist. These 3-5 sentences are the place to highlight your biggest accomplishments and attributes. Remember to use as many powerful action verbs as you can. A strong salon receptionist is organized and works well under pressure. No need offer too many details – the summary should hook the salon manager's attention and encourage them to keep reading the rest of your resume. Find the summary from our salon receptionist resume sample below.
Dedicated and experienced Salon Receptionist with over seven years working as a receptionist in salon environments. Adept in making customers feel at home, while providing them with optimal customer service every step of the way. Bringing forth advanced scheduling skills, allowing for the effective management of busy schedules. Committed to helping salons reach success by providing them with superior administrative and receptionist services.
Employment history sample
Following the reverse chronological structure, your employment history section should begin with your most recent employment and work backwards up until about 10 years. Remember to use powerful action verbs and mention job specific roles and accomplishments related to working as a receptionist. Numbers and statistics can help you show how you handled daily pressures in a busy salon. Check out the employment history section from our resume example below.
- Served as an enthusiastic and welcoming first point of contact for this busy and high end salon.
- Scheduled all appointments and worked with stylists to ensure schedules were pleasing.
- Helped to maintain a clean and inviting salon atmosphere.
- Administered all payments and maintained organized financial records and receipts.
- Handled inquiries about the salon and provided detailed information about the salon offerings.
CV skills example
The CV skills section is the place to show an impressive balance of customer service skills and the organizational abilities needed by a salon receptionist. This section should built a coherent picture with the other areas of your CV to show that you're the right fit for the exact posting you're applying to so be sure to review the job description for the position you are applying for, and include relevant skills in your resume. Here's an excerpt from our resume sample:
- Excellent customer service skills
- Multitasking
- Organization
- Bookkeeping
- Scheduling software
- Clerical tasks
- Motivated
- Positive attitude
Salon receptionist education example
The education section is the place to list all of your degrees and certifications. While salon receptionists are not required to have formal training, a degree or one in progress can show your areas of interest or explain your background to the hiring manager. Any honors or distinctions should be noted here as well. If you hold a degree higher than a bachelors degree, you may leave out your high school. Check out the formatting of our resume example education section below.
- 2001-2005 Lakeland High School, High School Diploma Denver, CO
- 2005-2009 Community College of Denver, Associate of Marketing Denver, CO
Resume layout and design
Just like the ambiance of the salon conveys information to the customer before one hair is ever cut, the layout and design of your resume speaks volumes about your professionalism and seriousness as a candidate. Make your application stand out by creating an attractive header that contains your contact details. It's a good idea to change your header based on the look and feel of the salon you're applying to. This technique shows that you "get" the salon's branding and clientele. If you don't have time to design multiple resume layouts, a template can make this quick and easy.
- Pay attention to the formatting of your resume, making sure that it contains clearly labeled section headers
- Take into account the color scheme and branding of the salon when creating a design
- Stick with the same one or two fonts throughout your resume
- Crowd the page with too much text
- Submit a resume with typos or grammar mistakes
- Overuse color or icons – sometimes simple is best!
Key takeaways for a salon receptionist resume
- The essential sections will help the hiring manager and the resume scanners find what they are looking for
- Your summary should help convey your friendly and positive attitude which is essential for this role
- Make sure to quantify your accomplishments using numbers and action verbs
- The layout of your resume speaks volumes about you so make sure to choose your header carefully