Grassroots Books sells new and used books, music, movies, and more. We significantly brought down the cost of reading in Reno, and we joke that reading is cheaper than a cheap wine habit.
Customer service:
- Help customers find books they seek and recommend books they'll love (we teach how).
- Invite customers to check out the $1 Outdoor Sale
- Work quickly through "side work," such as shelving, stickering books, and dusting. This involves alphabetizing.
- Help improve our store processes.
- If you are interested and have the aptitude, you may learn how to buy used books from customers, order new books, drive a forklift, etc.
Sort books:
- Unpack+sticker when we get 40 pallets of new books from Readerlink and other vendors
Organize $1 Outside Sale:
- Solve problems such as trip hazards, table issues
- When boxes are 10% empty, condense
- Add fresh inventory
- Cover overnight with plastic covers and uncover in the morning
We prefer to hire people who will continue with us for at least a year:
- 40+ hours a week preferred. 26 hours a week minimum for part-time.
- Same schedule week-to-week (your needed exceptions ok).
- We can hire people as a two-person team to work the same hours.
- We can often accommodate unusual shift needs, even for part-timers.
- We seek people to work one or both days of the weekend. A half shift (4 hours) is okay. If you already have bookstore experience, we might make one exception for weekends off.
- We seek to fill customer service gaps on Sundays from 9am to 4pm, Tuesdays from 5pm to 6:30pm (plus we can add some time), and Fridays from 11am to 2:30pm. Other times are available.
- We seek to fill customer service gaps most evenings until 8pm.
- We seek people to do janitorial work Friday nights, Saturday mornings, and Saturday nights.
- We seek someone to order books from publishers on Sunday nights.
- We seek someone to work in a team to do heavy lifting for about 90 minutes on Sunday nights after 6pm.
- We seek people who won't need time off between Nov 1 and Dec 23.
- We can offer overtime at your option, usually year-round.
We hope to find people who rock!
- Highly competent and ethical.
- Able to move on your feet for an entire shift.
- Able to lift 40lb repeatedly.
- Computer skills.
- Naturally sunny disposition.
- Able to do basic arithmetic, such as double-checking the computer's calculation of 20% off 17.99 or quickly guessing how much a purchase should total; able to post to Facebook with excellent spelling/grammar, including paragraph breaks. (Like most employers, we give a short quiz - ours is one page.)
- Willing to not wear headphones/earbuds when working.
About Grassroots Books:
- Fans of Toyota production methods and ideas - fix processes and don't blame people (per the book Toyota Kata by Mike Rother).
- We "manage without managers" for the most part.
- Meticulous with our word and work - can be picky.
- Leadership won't ask about your vaccination status.
- Team members' hobbies/interests include writing, board games, role-playing games, paleo, shooting, startups, and reading. We rarely drink soda or smoke cigarettes.
- We are for literacy and free speech. We carry mainstream, niche, and controversial books—all books for all readers!
- We provide decent snacks.
We can be a place where people work for many years or where they work while they launch a new career or business. Our team is 20+ people.
To apply, tell us through Craigslist:
- Why it's an excellent short- and long-term fit for you.
- Why do you think you're a good fit for us?
- Your ideal schedule, hours/days you don't prefer, and how many hours a week you desire.
- About your proven ability to move fast, such as in restaurants, cleaning, or factory work.
- Names of a few of your favorite books or movies.
- Your contact info, including email address.
Please apply through Craigslist, not at the store or by phone. We don't open email attachments.
(We will remove this posting when we're not hiring. We don't respond to every application. Typically, if we want to learn more about you, we contact you within 24 hours. If you want to verify that your application was received, email through Craigslist or hiring@[our domain name].)
FAQ:
Do you hire students?
We have found that most college students with December finals work less than their commitment, and many get sick (due to not sleeping enough). We've also seen students get worse grades.
We seek win-win, and our experience with college students in December is win-lose, lose-win, and lose-lose more than win-win.
We already have students with the December finals.
FAQ: Do you hire under 18?
Yes, we have people as young as 15.
