Experiences at Half Price Books

After I left my previous job, I decided I really wanted to work for HPB since I was such a frequent shopper there anyway. I filled out an application and waited for four months before I got the call and promptly (and rashly) told a couple of other prospects that I had found another job already before I was even hired there. They called me for an interview where I guess I made a pretty good impression, and I was hired about a week later to replace one employee who was leaving to go back to school....

The most important advice I can give is to not be intimidated. Depending on the store you get hired at, you could wind up in a location that takes in and processes thousands of items a day. Just remember that lives are not at stake here, and nobody is going to die if they can't find a paperback copy of that Tom Clancy book that came out in 1994.

Keep your eyes open. Ask lots and lots of questions - the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask. And bring your sense of humor: sure, it's a job, but that doesn't mean you can't make it fun and can't laugh with the rest of us....

It's impossible to work in a bookstore and not pick up dozens if not hundreds or even thousands of tidbits about stuff you never knew existed. After ten people have asked you for a copy of "The Bluest Eye", you won't even have to go to the computer to tell them Toni Morrison wrote it. Even being assigned to work in a section you may not care for much can open your eyes to all sorts of neat stuff you never knew existed, and even if you think you know everything about a given subject, there's nothing like finding an employee or customer who knows all that and more and learning from them.

Also important - you cannot please everybody. There will be times where, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to satisfy every customer who comes through the door. The book they want will not be available, they won't have time to wait in line for you to get to their bag of books they want to sell, or the check processing machine will go down and they won't have another way to pay. This is all part of the retail experience, I guess, and knowing that doesn't make it any easier to please people, but it does make it easier on you if you know that it's going to happen and all you need to do is just roll with the punches....

I can only list three...? OK, I'll cheat and lump some together under one category...

1) Benefits. Put simply, you will never, ever, EVER find a retail job like this that offers you anywhere close to equal benefits. The employee discount alone (50% off almost everything in the store, with a few exceptions that you "only" get 20% off on) is everybody's favorite, I'd imagine. But how about working for a company where there is no timeclock to punch? Where you get PAID for your lunch hour (and you really do get an entire HOUR for lunch)? Where you get medical, dental and vision benefits for yourself completely free of charge (there is a Premium plan as well as spouse, child, domestic partner and family plans, but if you are single and opt for the base plan for just you, you don't pay a cent)? How about a 401k plan where you are FULLY VESTED after one year of employment and the company matches you dollar-for-dollar up to 5% of your salary contribution, plus makes a generous year-end contribution to your plan from the profits they've earned? Paid sick and vacation time that accrues at a rate that lets you actually use it and store it up for a nice trip? Quarterly profit-based bonuses that are fair throughout the company (a full-time co-worker gets exactly the same bonus the president of the company gets, with part-time co-workers getting a percentage based on the hours they work)? A Christmas bonus paid in actual cash instead of some cheap fruit basket? Nope - everybody who works for the company gets these benefits once they've passed their 90-day probationary period, I kid you not (and the discount kicks in immediately).

2) Advancement opportunities. Half Price Books only promotes from within for management and corporate positions. You will never be competing with someone outside the company with a slick resume and brand new briefcase for a management position.

3) HPB hires exceptionally diverse and talented people - these are not your 'drones' you see working at Wal-Mart or Burger King, and you will not find yourself surrounded by boring co-workers. Most stores feel more like family than like work, and it isn't uncommon to hear of large gatherings of employees outside of the store for events like moving parties, birthdays and the like....

Figuring out where everything needed to go on the shelves after we had completed our store renovation. Laying out new sections where I had more or (in one instance) less space than I had before is always a major project and one that is likely to crop up at least once during your tenure if you work for the company long enough....

Customer service is always the most challenging aspect of the job. Sometimes it seems like you get asked the same question dozens of times a week, and the answers never change. Stores do not maintain a computerized inventory of the books on their shelves, so we rely on websites like Amazon.com to assist us with requests for help finding authors or titles. Since we're in the business of buying used merchandise as well, I get asked questions very frequently about how much we would pay for <suchandsuch>, and it can be difficult to explain to customers why we cannot offer quotes or ballparks or guesses without seeing the merchandise first or why two bags of books they brought today got them $5.00 and the two bags they brought in last week got them $45....

Everybody shares the same general responsibilities for the Bookseller position. Everyone works the cash register, everyone gets trained on the buy counter (though usually not until you've been with the company for a month or so - they don't want to completely overwhelm you), everyone has sections they are in charge of maintaining, everyone has a phone shift, everyone takes out their trash and empties the recycle bins, and everyone is rotated through the break room cleaning schedule. It's all pretty egalitarian, so you'll even see managers and shift leaders performing many of the same duties a normal co-worker does.

My current duties involve pricing and shelving computer software, computer science books, mathematics and technology, and assisting other buyers with pricing the books we've purchased. I've been with the company for seven years, and in that time I have worked in nearly every other section of the store....

First, fill out the ENTIRE application. Seriously. You've no idea how many potential new hires get screened out because they left the "short answer questions" section blank. It's there for a reason, and it really does get read by the people who are looking to hire you.

Second, when you fill out the short-answer section, don't just use 1-2 word answers. Write a couple of sentences at least. Make a serious effort to use good grammar and spelling - you're asking to be hired at the corporate equivalent of the library and the fastest way not to get a job there is to show that you have no idea how to use words.

Third, you really need to be nuts about books. Additional areas of nuttiness concerning computer software, comic books, LPs and whatnot are fine, but if you get hired, 90% of your work will involve books. English and Literature majors, this is your dream job as you will finally get to put all of that info you crammed into your head to good use with helping customers. If you've got previous experience working at a library, point that out as it will show you are familiar with the concept of sorting and shelving books.

Fourth, HPB is very much a "don't call us -- we'll call you" type of place. If they want you, they'll let you know. Don't use any of the "good tips for getting hired" that you read in those resume books - they'll call you for an interview if you looked good on an application, and sometimes it takes six months or more for a position to open up depending on where you apply. The store I work at has gone a year or more without hiring a single employee in the past.

Fifth, if you get called for an interview, be on time. Dependability is a huge, huge asset to have. This is common sense for any job, but trust me, you WANT to make an awesome first impression. As far as the dress code goes, you don't need to "dress up" for an interview, so don't bother with the suit and tie or blouse and skirt (you'll just get uncomfortable while you're sitting there). Jeans and a t-shirt is perfectly fine. Don't wear anything revealing (that goes for men and women), and if you have tattoos of a questionable nature in areas that can be covered, make sure you have them covered. Piercings are generally OK, as long as they aren't completely out of control. One in your lip, eyebrow or nose, though, shouldn't make much of a difference....