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Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

People classed as Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks accommodate hotel, motel, and resort patrons by registering and assigning rooms to guests, issuing room keys or cards, transmitting and receiving messages, keeping records of occupied rooms and guests' accounts, making and confirming reservations, and presenting statements to and collecting payments from departing guests. On the six-type interest model it reads CSE, meaning orderly work with data, records and clear procedures comes first, followed by helping, teaching or caring for people. The preparation level is some preparation, typically a few months to a year of learning on the job. O*NET’s skill data points to speaking, social perceptiveness, and service orientation as the ones to build. A regular part of the work is to make and confirm reservations. It tends to suit people who want orderly work with data, records and clear procedures, and it offers little for anyone seeking research, analysis and working through hard problems.

What they do

Accommodate hotel, motel, and resort patrons by registering and assigning rooms to guests, issuing room keys or cards, transmitting and receiving messages, keeping records of occupied rooms and guests' accounts, making and confirming reservations, and presenting statements to and collecting payments from departing guests.

Main tasks

  • Make and confirm reservations.
  • Greet, register, and assign rooms to guests of hotels or motels.
  • Verify customers' credit, and establish how the customer will pay for the accommodation.
  • Post charges, such as those for rooms, food, liquor, or telephone calls, to ledgers, manually or by using computers.
  • Issue room keys and escort instructions to bellhops.
  • Advise housekeeping staff when rooms have been vacated and are ready for cleaning.

Skills

  • Speaking
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Service Orientation
  • Active Listening
  • Coordination
  • Time Management

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You like clear rules and getting the details right.
  • You get energy from helping other people move forward.
  • You want to start work after a short stretch of training.
  • You are comfortable relying on speaking and social perceptiveness.

May not suit you if

  • You get restless with routine, records and exact procedures.
  • You want to spend most of your time analyzing and researching. Investigative rates 1.0 out of 7 here.
  • You want a career built on years of advanced study.

Interest profile

O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code CSE takes the three highest, and Conventional comes first here.

Preparation

Some preparation. Most people start with a high school diploma, then learn from experienced coworkers over a few months to a year.

Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED). This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.

Also called

  • Desk Clerk
  • Front Desk Agent
  • Front Desk Associate
  • Front Desk Attendant
  • Front Desk Clerk

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.