Now Hiring: Full Time Bookseller

Pulpfiction Books, Vancouver’s largest independent bookstore, seeks a mature, enthusiastic individual interested in joining us as a full time bookseller in late January or early February 2015.

The successful candidate will:

• Work a full 40 hours per week.  This is a full time position.

• Not currently be attending college or university full time, or plan to within two to three years.

• Be available for a variety of shifts, including mornings, evenings, and weekends at all three of our locations.

• Possess good practical intelligence, and the ability to work quickly and multitask under pressure.  The job involves a lot of physical and mental activity, and is best compared to fast-paced warehouse or restaurant work.  Those interested in standing behind a cash desk socializing and/or being paid to read will not be a good fit with us.

• Be client-focused.  Every time we hire we invariably interview someone who knows lots about books, but very little about client service, and even less about sales.  We can teach our retail systems to almost anyone, but we can't teach empathy and good judgment, which are more elusive components of character, and highly prized around here.

• Have previous customer service or supervisory experience.  Previous book-related experience is preferred but not required. Some of our most valuable staff came to us with no previous bookselling experience.

• Have a wide familiarity with contemporary literary fiction and non-fiction.

• Already possess an undergraduate degree or equivalent work history.

• Bring other skills and abilities to the table.  Examples: social media (Twitter; Blogger); basic accounting and/or bookkeeping skills; carpentry; HTML; SQL, PHP & MYSQL coding experience, etc. etc. etc.

We offer competitive compensation and a vibrant, entrepreneurial work environment.

To apply for this position, please forward a detailed resume to pulpbook@gmail.com. Please, NO phone calls, non-resume email queries, or walk-in requests for employment.

We thank all applicants for their interest, but may, depending on resume volume, not be able to reply to everyone.

Now Hiring: Full-Time Bookseller

Pulpfiction Books, Vancouver’s largest independent bookstore, seeks a mature, enthusiastic individual interested in joining us as a full time bookseller.

The successful candidate will:

• Work a minimum of 24 and up to 40 hours per week.  The position will be part time in the short term, but will likely become full time within a 4 month period.

• Not currently be attending college or university full time, or plan to within the next 12 months.

• Be available for a variety of shifts, including mornings, evenings, and weekends.

• Possess good practical intelligence, and the ability to work quickly and multitask under pressure.  Please note that this position involves a lot of physical and mental activity, and is best compared to fast-paced warehouse or restaurant work.  Those interested in standing behind a cash desk socializing and/or being paid to read will not be a good fit for this position.

• Have previous customer service or supervisory experience.  Previous experience in bookselling is preferred but not required. Some of our most valuable staff came to us with no previous bookselling experience.

• Have a wide familiarity with contemporary literary fiction and non-fiction. 

• Already possess an undergraduate degree or equivalent work history.

• Bring other skills and abilities to the table.  Examples: social media (Twitter; Blogger); basic accounting and/or bookkeeping skills; carpentry; HTML; SQL, PHP & MYSQL coding experience, etc. etc. etc.

We offer competitive compensation and a vibrant, non-corporate work environment.

To apply for this position, please forward a detailed resume to pulpbook@gmail.com. Please, NO phone calls, non-resume email queries, or walk-in requests for employment.

We thank all applicants for their interest, but may, depending on resume volume, not be able to reply to everyone.

Now Hiring: Shelving Monkey

PFB is seeking a literate, hard-working high school student and/or university undergraduate interested in 20 hours of part-time work per week from September to April.  Availability afternoons & weekends required; some flexibility in scheduling; specific hours t.b.d.

Duties: shelving books, moving boxes, light cleaning, assisting senior staff.  Some basic training in buying/pricing used books will be provided, but the position basically involves shelving books 90% of the time.

Please note that this position involves a lot of physical activity, and is best compared to warehouse work.  Folks interested in standing behind the cash desk socializing and/or being paid to read will not be a good fit for this position.

Compensation: $10/hr + competitive discount on new and used books.  Possibility of full-time summer work for the right candidate.

Please, no phone calls or walk-in requests for work.  Resumes to pulpbook@gmail.com, att: SHELVING MONKEY COMPETITION.

We're (Still) Hiring

Pulpfiction Books, Vancouver's largest independent used & new bookstore, is hiring for a full-time (40 hr/week) position, available immediately, and two part-time (20-30 hr/week) positions with flexible start dates later on in the fall.

Successful candidates will have:

• AT LEAST 2 years of used/new bookselling experience, with additional experience warmly welcomed.  Please note that bookselling experience is ESSENTIAL for these current positions; while we *theoretically* welcome resumes from folks with no bookstore experience at all, we're super-busy at the moment and have no time to train new staff from scratch.

• The ability to think quickly under pressure in an absurdly busy retail environment, and abundant common sense.

• Deep familiarity with relatively obscure authors and micro-genres.  If Kenneth Patchen, the Strugatsky brothers, Jack Ketchum, Tucker Coe, Maureen McHugh and Victor Serge are familiar to you, you'll probably get along just fine with us.

• Previous cash handling experience and basic familiarity with a variety of record-keeping systems and databases (Book Manager; Word; Excel; Filemaker)

• Patience in the face of endless requests for books you've never heard of (every day, guaranteed!).  And bibliographic research skills, that will help you educate yourself, your co-workers, and customers about the same.

• The ability to work a variety of rotating shifts, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

• The willingness to accept responsibility, and the ability to work unsupervised for long periods of time.

• A positive, upbeat, non-Type A personality.

• No serious physical ailments.  All of our positions involve standing on your feet for long periods of time, plus frequently lifting 30-40 pound boxes of books.

• A minimum time commitment of one year.

We offer:

• Competitive compensation.  None of our positions are minimum wage.

• Fully paid extended medical benefits, including dental, for full-time staff.

• An unparalleled opportunity to work in a creative, entrepreneurial, non-corporate environment.

• The opportunity to take on increasing responsibilities, and to be compensated accordingly.

If interested in either full- or part-time work, please send a detailed resume, including the names and contact details of at least three current references, to pulpbook@gmail.com.  Please, NO phone calls or walk-in requests for work.  Please also note that our part-time positions are a MINIMUM of 20 hours a week, and probably not suitable for those enrolled full time in school.

We thank all applicants in advance for their interest, but regret that we will be only able to contact selected applicants for interviews.

Work Available @ PFB

We might be hiring a part-time position(s) in the next month or two, and, to that end, are now doing the looking-at-resumes thing.

The successful applicant(s) will:

• Be able to work 14-24 hours a week at Main Street and Kitsilano, including weekends and evenings

• Read widely and eclectically, be able to think critically, and be able to confidently conduct basic Internet and paper-based research

• Be comfortable in a busy and occasionally confrontational work environment (eg., be able to confidently decline trashed "trades" and visibly stolen books)

• Have previous new and/or used bookstore experience

• Be able to work well independently, without direct supervision

Benefits include working with a great group of people, competitive compensation, and a hefty discount on used/new books.

Please feel free to drop off your resume at either store, or email it to pulpbook@gmail.com. Please, no phone calls or walk-in requests for work -- "You guys doin' any hiring?" -- sans resume.