Flexible Receptionist for bouwens&
Although every client and every office are unique, a Flexible Receptionist does have a certain range of tasks and responsibilities. Vianne van den Boomen explains what her work as Flexible Receptionist for bouwens& entails.
Vianne van den Boomen is one of bouwens&’s many Flexible Receptionists. She welcomes guests and employees at several of bouwens&’s clients’ offices. The work is different every day, which can be challenging at times. Vianne tells us about her daily work and about how she found bouwens&.
From ground stewardess to Flexible Receptionist
It’s not an unusual path for hosts and receptionist to follow; from a job in aviation or hotel services to a position in corporate hospitality. Both environments require the ability to interact with well-informed and critical clients and surpass expectations. Being no different, Vianne gains 5 years of experience working as a ground stewardess at Schiphol Airport after her TIO studies. It turns out to be an exciting and challenging job, just like being a Flexible Receptionist. “I worked for quite a few airlines and they all had a different check-in system. You really have to pay attention!” As every airline has a different kind of clientele, the way to address people also varied per flight. “You could always see if a flight was filled with businessmen or families going on a holiday. So we knew when we had to act more formal and when we could approach the work a bit more laidback.”
Flexible Receptionist loves change, always
It is this diversity in the work that attracts Vianne, so she reluctantly says farewell to the aviation industry in a time of cutbacks. But, as it goes in life, as one door shuts, another one opens. Today, Vianne has been a Flexible receptionist for bouwens& for two years, and to great mutual satisfaction.
She works at a number of clients that offer her the diversity in the work that she came to love in aviation. One day she works with Zuidas lawyers, the next day she takes the train to the Bijlmer area to be the face of an IT company. “That’s a very nice and relaxed place to work, with all those ict guys and girls.”
From lawyers and IT to a radiostudio
The week after that Vianne puts her experience to work in the dynamic (editorial) offices of Business News Radio and Het Financieele Dagblad, right across from Amstel Station. “Obviously this is something completely different than lawyers. If only for the many guests for radio and the newspaper that walk in all day long and whom we have to escort to their meetings.” At the time of this telephone interview Vianne is working at the main offices of BOVAG. There she receives company relations, or groups that rent the meeting room. “This can be all kinds of people, because BOVAG lets the room to third parties. Another factor that ensures variety.”
What does a Flexible Receptionist actually do?
Although every client and every office are unique, a Flexible Receptionist does have a certain range of tasks and responsibilities. “One of our main tasks is welcoming guests and making them feel at home. We also perform administrative tasks such as answering the telephone and managing email traffic. In between all that we have to always be alert to see if a guests needs to be taken to a meeting, and if the waiting area is clean. We receive packages, arrange taxis for guests, escort them to the door… We actually do quite a lot, hahaha!”
Flexible Receptionist and the reception handbook
Because you are dealing with different cultures, protocols, and personnel, having an up to date handbook for the reception is extremely important. “Especially when you haven’t been somewhere for a month, a lot may have changed. At some companies this still is really a book, but at many others it’s a file that requires a password to be opened. Because of the recently introduced new privacy laws, many clients are moving towards digital handbooks.”
Tips for possible future Flexible Receptionists!
We ask Vianne if she would recommend her job to other people. “Of course! Look, you do have to adapt to different environments all the time, so you have to like this process of constant change.” That makes sense, because being a Flexible Receptionist constantly presents you with new things to learn and new challenges. Something that you are prepared for and guided in by the main office. “Usually there’s an introduction meeting with the facility department to see if there’s a ‘click’. In that meeting the client explains the type of reception and interaction they want to offer their guests.” Then there are training days on which the regular receptionists walk you through the tasks at that specific client. “If you know and understand that basis and once you have some experience, you can make the job your own quite quickly. That’s what makes it so much fun!”