How to find a good receptionist???

[Fukuoka]

Our receptionist for 20 years is retiring in March and I need to find a new one.
She's been with us since the beginning so I don't know where to look for a new one, any ideas?

We are just a small Optometrist Office with only 3 employee's.
Obviously taking care of the appointments, frame selecting and OHIP billing is a must!

Are there any optical classifieds?
Or should I be placing an ad in the newspaper?
How much would a person like this start off hourly $?
Please help, any input would be appreciated...

Thanks,
Ed

Good questions. Posting an ad in the local newspaper and on online sites targeting your area (i.e. Craigslist) is a good way to go. For starters, you may find it helpful to look at ads for receptionist jobs to get a sense of how to craft an ad. Then you can take a look at receptionist salaries to do some benchmarking for bringing in a new employee who may not have nearly the experience and expertise of the one who is retiring. Hope this helps! :D

[rbaker]

An old post but a constant problem; good employees. My suggestions are probably illegal, immoral and will subject you to a huge fine perhaps even jail time.

1, An older woman who is not does not have any minor children under her care. You will need her on the job 40 hours a week - every week.

2, Someone with a good work record. Does she show up every day, on time and ready to work.

3, She must be literate and have basic arithmetic skills.

3, If she chews gum, smokes, has piercings (or chronic rashes) or texts you really don't need her.

4, She must be laid back and have a really good sense of humor.

5, You must feel that you are grateful to have her as an employee considering the crappy wages and benefits that you offer.

All the rest will follow.

If you are having difficulty finding someone that meets your needs perhaps you should take a good look at your business processes. A sound, successful business always has a drawer full of applications particularly in these times of 20% unemployment.

[eyemanflying]

Okay, this is the Canadian Discussion Forum, so I hope we all understand and are familiar with the example. The example is that of two airline companies: Air Canada and WestJet Airlines.

We have Air Canada that offers many flights at comparable prices as WestJet, but yet I know people who will only fly with WestJet. Why? Because they are greeted with knowledgable, willing, friendly bottom line employees.

Why are these bottom line employees like that? WestJet offers then good pay, benefits, incredible training, and ownership. Not saying that you need to do the same, but maybe sometimes we pay too little and when we get junk we are ****** off. I can tell you that if you get a poor employee at $8.00 an our or a good employee at $10 an hour can mean substantial changes in your revenue and profit.

WestJet employees are owners - big differences over the snotty Air Canada old hags.

[Judy Canty]

An old post but a constant problem; good employees. My suggestions are probably illegal, immoral and will subject you to a huge fine perhaps even jail time.

1, An older woman who is not does not have any minor children under her care. You will need her on the job 40 hours a week - every week.

2, Someone with a good work record. Does she show up every day, on time and ready to work.

3, She must be literate and have basic arithmetic skills.

3, If she chews gum, smokes, has piercings (or chronic rashes) or texts you really don't need her.

4, She must be laid back and have a really good sense of humor.

5, You must feel that you are grateful to have her as an employee considering the crappy wages and benefits that you offer.

All the rest will follow.

If you are having difficulty finding someone that meets your needs perhaps you should take a good look at your business processes. A sound, successful business always has a drawer full of applications particularly in these times of 20% unemployment.

Must she be a "she" or would "he" refuse to work for crappy wages and benefits?

[For-Life]

Right now, we are lucky. We have the best receptionist in the world. She is in at 8am, even though her job starts at 8:30am. She leaves at 5:00pm, even though her job ends at 4:30pm. She takes no lunch break. She is cheerful. She is extremely helpful. When we have a meeting, there is always coffee in the room. She shops for work supplies after work. She does a bunch of little things that are not on her job description. Oh, and she is appreciates the opportunity she has in work.

Honestly though, I do not think I could find a replacement half as good. She has an attitude that she developed growing up.

So the answer would be, steal her away from us. Though, it would probably cost you $50k.

[For-Life]

An old post but a constant problem; good employees. My suggestions are probably illegal, immoral and will subject you to a huge fine perhaps even jail time.

1, An older woman who is not does not have any minor children under her care. You will need her on the job 40 hours a week - every week.

2, Someone with a good work record. Does she show up every day, on time and ready to work.

3, She must be literate and have basic arithmetic skills.

3, If she chews gum, smokes, has piercings (or chronic rashes) or texts you really don't need her.

4, She must be laid back and have a really good sense of humor.

5, You must feel that you are grateful to have her as an employee considering the crappy wages and benefits that you offer.

All the rest will follow.

If you are having difficulty finding someone that meets your needs perhaps you should take a good look at your business processes. A sound, successful business always has a drawer full of applications particularly in these times of 20% unemployment.

The best successes we have found in secretaries are hiring young. Kids right out of University. They come in without the baggage of past environments, actually are familiar with the computers they use, and want to prove themselves as effective.

[Jacqui]

Right now, we are lucky. We have the best receptionist in the world. She is in at 8am, even though her job starts at 8:30am. She leaves at 5:00pm, even though her job ends at 4:30pm. She takes no lunch break. She is cheerful. She is extremely helpful. When we have a meeting, there is always coffee in the room. She shops for work supplies after work. She does a bunch of little things that are not on her job description. Oh, and she is appreciates the opportunity she has in work.

Honestly though, I do not think I could find a replacement half as good. She has an attitude that she developed growing up.

So the answer would be, steal her away from us. Though, it would probably cost you $50k.

Someone like that is worth $50k, just think of how much business she's brining in.

[optical maven]

Go Craigslist as suggested earlier. You'll receive about 100 resumes in 2 days. Hire someone young whom you can train and has no baggage. Look for personality, salesmanship, etc. Start at around $14 per hour.

[Happylady]

I'll let you know what happens...

:cheers:

This is a very old thread but he never came back and told us what happened. :(

[mlm]

Go Craigslist as suggested earlier. You'll receive about 100 resumes in 2 days. Hire someone young whom you can train and has no baggage. Look for personality, salesmanship, etc. Start at around $14 per hour.

START at $14 per hour?? Holy cow, I'm severely underpaid!!!!

[uncut]

Not only Spamming, but irrelevant to thread......

Added: This post seems obtuse, because spammers post was removed.