http://www.jobster.com/at/company/Half+Price+Books?hbxcmp=feed&hbxsrc=rss_company_answers http://www.jobster.com/at/assets/images/jobster/logos/rss_logo.gif http://www.jobster.com/at/company/Half+Price+Books?hbxcmp=feed&hbxsrc=rss_company_answers Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:21:28 GMT Most recently updated answers at Half Price Books http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/283747?answer_class=AnswerBase 1. The people you get to work with 2. The amazing discounts 3. Getting paid to talk to people about books Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:21:28 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/283747?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/283745?answer_class=AnswerBase Sold books to intelligent yet thrifty customers. Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:19:02 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/283745?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124428?answer_class=AnswerBase 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. Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:01:26 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124428?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124438?answer_class=AnswerBase Probably the largest project I've personally been involved with at HPB was the remodel of our store. We increased our space about 40%, and we stayed open nearly every day of the construction/renovation. This required moving entire sections several times and accomodating the workers as they declared areas off-limits or safe for use. Afterwards, all of us were spending every free minute setting the sections back up in their new areas, expanding shelves of certain categories and shrinking others as space dictated. It was a massive, three-month project, but in the end, it increased sales like nothing else and we're still reaping the rewards. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:37:00 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124438?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124437?answer_class=AnswerBase Very informal, very laid-back. Basically, when you're being interviewed, the managers are trying to get an idea of who you are. They are looking for people who are willing to engage them in conversation instead of just parroting back the "best" answer that the book on interviewing told them to give (it doesn't work here - it's a bookstore, and they've seen and read all the books). The interviewers want to know about your likes and dislikes, if there are any conflicts in a schedule that make you unable to work certain times (Sundays off for church, can't work Tuesday mornings due to prior commitments, etc...), and basically make sure you are a fairly normal human being. They'll probably go over the answers you gave on the "short answer" part of the application, asking for more details or clarification on some points. The interview is your time to shine. If you've made it that far, you've nearly got it made. Just show them you've got some initiative, you aren't afraid to ask questions, and that you possess a reasonable intelligence about you. If they ask about your hobbies, or what you like to read/watch/listen to, they want you to expand on that, not just say, "I like country music and I mostly watch the History Channel." Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:34:29 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124437?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124436?answer_class=AnswerBase Mostly I miss the great friends and co-workers I had who have moved on to other prospects in life: going back to school, moving out of state, and so forth. Since I still work for the company, this is kind of a hard question to answer. Forgive me for the short reply. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:29:18 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124436?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124435?answer_class=AnswerBase Everything. And that's no exaggeration. I mean, c'mon, it's a bookstore. Political science, medicine, young adult, fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, comic books, manga, movie reviews, the newspaper, the ingredients on a bag of Doritos...if it's got words on it, I guarantee you somebody is reading it here. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:27:07 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124435?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124434?answer_class=AnswerBase The staff. Seriously, I've never worked at a place with a more laid-back, relaxed, fun-loving group of people who have also taken their work seriously without being anal-retentive about everything. The atmosphere as a worker is very nice - if you're feeling down, people will do their best to cheer you up. If you've got a personal problem you need to discuss, managers will listen. Need time off for a family emergency or need to switch hours on Saturday for Sunday? Somebody will always come through for you. You don't get that anywhere else, at least that I've found. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:25:39 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124434?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124433?answer_class=AnswerBase The buy counter is where all the action is when it comes to this type of question. Over the years, we've found all sorts of things from peoples' drug stashes and bullets to diapers and underwear in the buys we do. It never fails to make everybody else's day when one unlucky buyer encounters something out-of-the-ordinary in a box of books. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:23:24 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124433?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124432?answer_class=AnswerBase I haven't got a clue about this one. Internet access at work is pretty restricted, and most co-workers have very active lives outside of work which, for most of them, translates into not a lot of time spent on the Internet. One of the women I work with maintains a blog of her own, and I know some of the other workers read it, but aside from that I honestly can't say what blogs people are reading there. I'm not a blogger on either end, so I can't even plug anybody else's site for them. :) Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:21:52 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124432?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124431?answer_class=AnswerBase I can honestly say that there have been very few "bad teams" at my store. I can think of some co-workers who didn't fit in very well, but they didn't stick around long enough to become a problem for anybody (some of them barely lasted two weeks before deciding the store wasn't for them). Our managers are pretty good at screening for people who work well with others and will fit in with the general atmosphere of the store, so this is a very difficult question to answer; most everybody has been very easy to work with. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:20:04 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124431?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124430?answer_class=AnswerBase 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. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:17:36 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124430?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124429?answer_class=AnswerBase 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. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:14:45 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124429?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124427?answer_class=AnswerBase 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. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:03:23 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124427?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124425?answer_class=AnswerBase 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. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 07:46:21 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/124425?answer_class=AnswerBase