Front-office managers hire for calm under pressure, systems fluency, and languages — and they can tell within one screen whether a CV shows them. Generic hospitality phrases do not survive the first scan.
What recruiters actually scan for
- PMS software by name — Opera, Mews, Cloudbeds, Protel; the exact system matters more than "computer skills"
- Scale — hotel size in rooms, and how many arrivals you handled per shift
- Languages with honest levels — front desk is often the most multilingual job in the building
- Revenue behaviour — upsells, upgrades, late check-outs, walk-in conversions
- Flexibility — nights, weekends, and whether you have run night audit
Five example bullet points
Copy the shape and fill in your own hotel's numbers.
- Handled check-in and check-out for a 120-room city-centre hotel, averaging 60–80 arrivals per shift on Opera PMS.
- Sold room upgrades and late check-outs worth roughly €900 a month against a €500 target.
- Served guests in English, Spanish, and French — the first languages of about 70% of our international arrivals.
- Resolved billing disputes at the desk; named in 14 positive Booking.com reviews in one year.
- Covered night audit twice a week, reconciling the day's ledger and preparing the arrivals report for the morning shift.
The mistake that sinks receptionist CVs
"Excellent communication skills." It appears on almost every hospitality CV and carries no information. Replace it with the systems you know, the volume you handled, and the languages you speak — those are what a front-office manager can actually compare between candidates. And list your languages even if the posting does not ask; they are shortlisting gold in European hotels.
Which template to pick
This is a client-facing role, so a polished page with a portrait works. On NobelCV, the Sidebar Rail family (the Teal Rail variant especially) is tuned for exactly this look, and Studio Column is a clean alternative if you prefer no photo.
You can build this CV free on NobelCV — no account, no signup. Start in the builder or import your current PDF. Exporting is a one-time €12 purchase, with no subscription.