Yellowknife (Oct 31/03) - Three times she applied for the job. Three times she got it.

Fran Walsh enjoys working at the front desk at city hall. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo

Fran Walsh, the receptionist at Yellowknife city hall, says there's no job like it.

"It's a great place to work," Walsh says.

Not a job for the sedentary, Walsh says being the first person one sees when entering city hall can be, at the least, "quite hectic at times."

From fielding calls, to sending people to the proper departments, to sorting mail -- every day holds its own challenges and rewards for Walsh.

Originally from Newfoundland, Walsh first started at City Hall in 1980.

After spending seven years there she left for one year, and was hired back again in 1988.

"In 1993 I semi-retired and went back to Newfoundland, but I came back and was re-hired in 1998," she says of her long career.

And those 17 and one-half years have earned Walsh the title of the longest employed at city hall, something she is quite happy about.

She has seen five former mayors pass through and numerous employees.

While Walsh has seen many changes within the building, she says the people she encounters each day are always friendly.

"I've only ever had one experience of a customer being unpleasant, and I've never forgotten that."

On the other hand, she says having once worked at Bell Telephone in Toronto, she realizes how important it is for her to have proper telephone etiquette in her job.

"And when you are not used to doing it, it is not easy to do," she says of sounding pleasant, yet professional on the phone.

"I always try to answer the phone with a smile, and the funny thing is, I know if I don't," she says.

Characterizing herself as a "people person,",she says she meets so many people each day, she often is greeted as a familiar face when outside the office -- another nice part of her job.

And Walsh says in a job like hers, it is essential to enjoy contact with the public. "You have to be easy-going and laugh at everything as it goes, some people just aren't like that."