This was one of the responses in a discussion string over on ERE (did you know you can search these strings for "keywords"?) in January of '05. Caron Osberg, Recruiter, QCI deserves credit for this.
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First, my qualifications. Second, my list of gatekeeper "rules".

I started my working life Lo! These many years ago as a receptionist in a law office. I was a flighty little 18-year-old girl who was told to keep people at bay. There are people a lawyer wants to talk to and there are people a lawyer doesn't want to talk to.

A few years later as a slightly less flighty 24-year-old, I got a receptionist position in the executive suite of a big manufacturing company. Corporate HQ was in another state: I was the guard dog for the CEO, CFO, Controller and VP of HR (in a union environment). Under them were the worker bees directly involved in doing secret mission C-suite type of work. Let's just say at this level, there are a lot of people who don't want to talk to a lot of other people.

Then I went to college and at a hardly flighty 30 years old I got a job with Olsten Staffing Services. I was required to pound the pavement every single day - no telephone work for me unless I did it from home. Did I apply my experience as gatekeeper? You bet I did. Here's what I know (apologies for the gender roles below):

Rule #1: A receptionist also has ethical issues to grapple with on a daily basis.
Rule #2: A good receptionist is lying from the moment she sits down at 8:00 until the moment she leaves at 5:00.
Rule #3: Her job is not so much to help you as to keep you away while making you think she is helping you.
Rule #4: When she is gone after 5:00, it's true that the CEO will pick up the phone himself.
Rule #5: A bad receptionist is easy to spot. A good receptionist should know enough to be a 'smiling assassin.' In other words, you don't know for sure how much her brain is recording and to whom she is relaying the information.
Rule #6: When you are physically in front of a receptionist, be careful of everything. Someone in HR or an executive assistant will ask her how you acted, how you treated her, what you said and what you did while you cooled your heels in front of her. And you thought you sat there for no reason, didn't you?
Rule #7: She WILL remember your voice.
Rule #8: She will remember if you ticked her off the first or even the 15th time you called.
Rule #9: She does have a sense of humor.
Rule #10: It is hard to deflect a heartfelt request for help. You also may hit her on a day when she is tired of telling people that Mr. Highstuff is in yet another meeting.
Rule #11: It is likely she is lying to you. Did I already mention that?
Rule #12: She goes to lunch. Who covers for her? Most likely lunch is covered by someone who doesn't really want to be answering the phone. That may be a very good time to call.
Rule #13: She may not be a receptionist. She may be a switchboard operator.
Rule #14: She'll tell someone that you call repeatedly.
Rule #15: As we have already heard, she's been trained to spot you as a recruiter before the phone even rings.
Rule #16: On the other hand, she ALWAYS knows more than anyone realizes. She sees The Fax, puts through The Call, makes The Photocopy, etc.
Rule #17: She knows who is important and who isn't important regardless of how important they think they are. That includes you.
Rule #18: There is always a slim chance she will take pity on you once or twice, but if she thinks for one nano-second that you think she's stupid, you're done. Everyone at work tells her she's got the most important job in the whole company and yet she knows she makes the least amount of money. Add to it and you will feel her displeasure.

Anything I've missed? I'm sure there is something. I doubt I have told you anything new, but it is a good habit to keep these things in mind.

Especially Rule #7.

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