Job Title: Middle Man, sales representative/account manager
Organization: The Middle Men
Location: Charlotte, NC US
What are the Middle Men?
The Middle Men is a small organization that works on a grand scale to buy and sell used books to and from libraries and used bookstores across the southern region of the U.S. This organization allows for libraries and bookstores to purchase high quality used books at a price much lower than the market price. Books are bought from other vendors, from other organizations to individuals, and then resold to the libraries and bookstores. Damaged books are refurbished and all books are inspected to ensure like new quality of the material.
What is a Middle Man?
As a Middle Man, sales representative/account manager, you will handle the exchange between libraries and used bookstores and our organization. You will develop a relationship with your account holders that allows you to seamlessly negotiate sales and purchases between our organization and each particular vendor. Your primary purpose is to determine what book tiles your account holders want. You will take this requested titles, purchase them, used, from another venue, sign off on completed refurbishing, and sign off on shipment to your account holder.
What do you need to be a Middle Man?
A BS degree is needed, preferably in business. Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written. The ability to handle multiple accounts, a maximum of ten. The ability to search for titles and accumulate results. Willingness to travel on occasion, though most interaction with account holders will be virtual. No experience need. Excellent starting position. Accounts will be assigned to you as you prove abilities.
Salary: Negotiable base salary plus percentage of individual account revenue.
Contact The Middle Men:
Jessica Thompson, CEO
1234 Bookshop Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28262
jlthompson92386@gmail.com
704-555-1331
Friday, January 30, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Interviews
Interviewing
The interviewing process is one that is often met with anxiousness and anticipation. Preparing for an interview is like studying for a test, you can attempt to be ready for what questions you anticipate will be asked, but there is always the chance that you’ll miss something. I have been through multiple interviews, though only a few in my professional life. Being that I am still in school, my professional life coincides with scholastic learning. Before graduate school, the entirety of my job experiences were what I refer to as “summer jobs,” mindless jobs that earn me money, not a career and nothing that I feel like matters. Graduate school has opened up the doorway into the professional world, introducing assistantship positions and additional jobs that will lead into more permanent employment opportunities. There is a huge difference in interviewing for a summer job and a professional job, where specific skills are required.
For this assignment, I swapped interviews with my brother, a freshman in college. He will soon be entering the professional world, and though he knows his major, an exact professional direction has yet to be established so I figured he could use the practice. He indulged me by pretending that he wanted be a sales-rep for my organization. Being a business major, this wasn't too far of a stretch for him. These questions were ones that I have myself been asked and questions that were part of the recommended question list. I focused on experience level and his goals for the future. If he receives this job, how does he feel it will assist him in his long-term and short-term goals? I asked about his strengths and weakness. His strengths were easier for him to list, which shows confidence and allows me to anticipate what he can bring to the position, but he struggled to come up with weaknesses. Without knowledge of weakness, he is unable to know where he needs improvement, which does not let me, as the interviewer, know where he will have shortcomings until it may be too late. If hired, I would not know where to provide him extra assistance so he can learn from others. If his weaknesses are more personal, such as laziness or an inability to get along with others, it will affect his work and his colleagues. It was a different experience to be the interviewer rather than the interviewee. I rather like it better, because the pressure is alleviated from my shoulders. I did notice the importance of how questions were phrased and the importance of making him feel comfortable. From personal experience, I think that if the interviewee is comfortable, his/her personality will show through more, despite rehearsed answers, allowing the interviewer to perceive a more honest look at his/her character.
Having been on the interviewee side more than once, this part of the assignment was nothing new. Without the pressure of reality it made answering questions much easier, not only because I have given them before, but because I didn’t feel like they had to be perfect. My brother asked questions similar to the questions I asked him. The hardest one to answer, despite the practice scenario was the “long-term goal” question. I feel like if I honestly say, that I do not plan on being in this particular position forever, I will be taking something away from the offered job and detract from my appeal as a potential employee. For the jobs I have interviewed for, thus far, this has not been such a problem because it is obvious the position is only temporary and for instructional and experience purposes, but when interviewing for a real and permanent position, I am afraid of looking too flighty.
Overall, this assignment was a good one, useful for practicing my own skills and understanding the viewpoint of the interviewer. It is not their purpose to be intimidating, but to find the best fit for their offered position.
The interviewing process is one that is often met with anxiousness and anticipation. Preparing for an interview is like studying for a test, you can attempt to be ready for what questions you anticipate will be asked, but there is always the chance that you’ll miss something. I have been through multiple interviews, though only a few in my professional life. Being that I am still in school, my professional life coincides with scholastic learning. Before graduate school, the entirety of my job experiences were what I refer to as “summer jobs,” mindless jobs that earn me money, not a career and nothing that I feel like matters. Graduate school has opened up the doorway into the professional world, introducing assistantship positions and additional jobs that will lead into more permanent employment opportunities. There is a huge difference in interviewing for a summer job and a professional job, where specific skills are required.
For this assignment, I swapped interviews with my brother, a freshman in college. He will soon be entering the professional world, and though he knows his major, an exact professional direction has yet to be established so I figured he could use the practice. He indulged me by pretending that he wanted be a sales-rep for my organization. Being a business major, this wasn't too far of a stretch for him. These questions were ones that I have myself been asked and questions that were part of the recommended question list. I focused on experience level and his goals for the future. If he receives this job, how does he feel it will assist him in his long-term and short-term goals? I asked about his strengths and weakness. His strengths were easier for him to list, which shows confidence and allows me to anticipate what he can bring to the position, but he struggled to come up with weaknesses. Without knowledge of weakness, he is unable to know where he needs improvement, which does not let me, as the interviewer, know where he will have shortcomings until it may be too late. If hired, I would not know where to provide him extra assistance so he can learn from others. If his weaknesses are more personal, such as laziness or an inability to get along with others, it will affect his work and his colleagues. It was a different experience to be the interviewer rather than the interviewee. I rather like it better, because the pressure is alleviated from my shoulders. I did notice the importance of how questions were phrased and the importance of making him feel comfortable. From personal experience, I think that if the interviewee is comfortable, his/her personality will show through more, despite rehearsed answers, allowing the interviewer to perceive a more honest look at his/her character.
Having been on the interviewee side more than once, this part of the assignment was nothing new. Without the pressure of reality it made answering questions much easier, not only because I have given them before, but because I didn’t feel like they had to be perfect. My brother asked questions similar to the questions I asked him. The hardest one to answer, despite the practice scenario was the “long-term goal” question. I feel like if I honestly say, that I do not plan on being in this particular position forever, I will be taking something away from the offered job and detract from my appeal as a potential employee. For the jobs I have interviewed for, thus far, this has not been such a problem because it is obvious the position is only temporary and for instructional and experience purposes, but when interviewing for a real and permanent position, I am afraid of looking too flighty.
Overall, this assignment was a good one, useful for practicing my own skills and understanding the viewpoint of the interviewer. It is not their purpose to be intimidating, but to find the best fit for their offered position.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Organization Creation
The Middle Men
The Middle Men is a small organization that works on a grand scale to buy and sell used books to and from libraries and used bookstores across the southern region of the U.S. This organization allows for libraries and bookstores to purchase high quality used books at a price much lower than the market price. Books are bought from other vendors, from other organizations to individuals, and then resold to the libraries and bookstores. Damaged books are refurbished and all books are inspected to ensure like new quality of the material.
Libraries and bookstores are encouraged to establish accounts with The Middle Men, through individual sales representatives, to allow fluid exchange of materials. Clients are encouraged to makes sales as well as purchases. Each sale representative is in charge of multiple accounts for clients across the region, and work primarily through emails and phone calls. They are responsible for learning which books the client is in most want of, focusing on books that are more difficult to obtain from a mass producer or out of regular sales for a while, though newer titles are as equally obtainable when requested.
The Middle Men consists of the sales representatives, the number of which is determined by the flow of clientele, there are currently five with approximately ten clients each. An “Investigator” is responsible for finding new clients, searching for libraries and bookstores that desire the offered service and then assigning each new account to a sales representative. There are also five book binders who inspects the quality of the books bought and sold and fixes necessary issues. There is a “traffic director” who is in charge of shipping orders and ensuring the arrival of the materials. There is also a secretary for secretarial reasons.
Books are bought, sold and shipped on a daily basis and is hoping to expand into the rest of the country to help provide libraries and bookstores with quality books for less money.
The Middle Men is a small organization that works on a grand scale to buy and sell used books to and from libraries and used bookstores across the southern region of the U.S. This organization allows for libraries and bookstores to purchase high quality used books at a price much lower than the market price. Books are bought from other vendors, from other organizations to individuals, and then resold to the libraries and bookstores. Damaged books are refurbished and all books are inspected to ensure like new quality of the material.
Libraries and bookstores are encouraged to establish accounts with The Middle Men, through individual sales representatives, to allow fluid exchange of materials. Clients are encouraged to makes sales as well as purchases. Each sale representative is in charge of multiple accounts for clients across the region, and work primarily through emails and phone calls. They are responsible for learning which books the client is in most want of, focusing on books that are more difficult to obtain from a mass producer or out of regular sales for a while, though newer titles are as equally obtainable when requested.
The Middle Men consists of the sales representatives, the number of which is determined by the flow of clientele, there are currently five with approximately ten clients each. An “Investigator” is responsible for finding new clients, searching for libraries and bookstores that desire the offered service and then assigning each new account to a sales representative. There are also five book binders who inspects the quality of the books bought and sold and fixes necessary issues. There is a “traffic director” who is in charge of shipping orders and ensuring the arrival of the materials. There is also a secretary for secretarial reasons.
Books are bought, sold and shipped on a daily basis and is hoping to expand into the rest of the country to help provide libraries and bookstores with quality books for less money.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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