Employment Opportunities at West Circle Books

Field Sales Representatives

At present we need sales representatives in several states to call on school and public libraries. Three territories now open are Virginia, Ohio and Wisconsin. And if you would like to express your interest in a state other than these, please do so … we’d be glad to hear from you.

WEST CIRCLE BOOKS is a book distributor to libraries exclusively. Our inventory is comprised of excellent non-fiction books from America’s best publishers. We do not sell textbooks or encyclopedias. We present beautifully illustrated books on fine art, biography, science, history, transportation, and all other subjects of overall interest to adults and children.

Our sales representatives are friendly, honest, well-organized, articulate, and self-motivated. And since our customers, librarians, are professional people with master’s degrees, preference for this position will be shown to college graduates.

Some overnight travel is expected since the sales territory will be at least one entire state. Some of our rep’s cover all or parts of several states. All sales territories are protected; that is, representatives of West Circle Books do not compete with other WCB rep’s.

West Circle Books is proud to offer the highest commission structure in our industry. In addition, if you are able to teach others what you have demonstrated that you have learned, this position has definite management potential.

If you believe that the above narrative describes a career that would be a good match with your personality, experience, and goals, we would very much like to hear from you!

Please send your letter of interest and resume to:

Bruce E. Burg, President
West Circle Books
P.O. Box 815
Frankfort, IL 60423
or
president@westcircle.com

ABOUT US

West Circle Books was founded by Bruce Burg, the current President of the company. Mr. Burg is a former teacher and school principal in Chicago. In 1979, he came to his senses, declined the next contract, and decided to become a yuppie middle-manager of some large, well-paying corporation; and sent out enough resumes to wallpaper his apartment.

After acquiring enough rejection letters to wallpaper his apartment, Mr. Burg decided to sell books to libraries. It proved to be a good fit. Mr. Burg is a low-key affable, but not very aggressive person, and librarians, he found, tolerated low-key, affable, but not very aggressive salespeople.

Mr. Burg had had no previous sales experience except for clerking at the Ace Hardware during college:

“Can I help you, sir?”
“Get outta my way, Kid!”
“But, may I help you find anything, sir?”
“Last week you couldn’t find a box of nails.”
“Bet I could find them now, sir.”
“Get outta my way, Kid.”
“Yes, sir.”

Though his new employer (a fine, family-owned Texas library book distributor) did not offer formal training, he persevered and used to good advantage his presence in dozens of libraries every week; he became a voracious reader and listener (not to mention outstanding library patron) of how-to-sell books and tapes.

And his customers helped him. In speaking engagements in later years to library students, Mr. Burg gives credit where it is due: “If I had sold steel or soap or anything else,” he says, “I would have failed. But librarians are kind, intuitive, and trained to help anyone who walks into the library. I realize that when I walked in, librarians realized that I needed help and they kindly came to my rescue and made me a successful bookseller!”

Over the next fourteen years Mr. Burg represented four excellent companies to libraries in the four states surrounding Lake Michigan. Early in 1994, armed with a decent tax refund, a promise of cooperation (read: credit) from book suppliers, and a firm belief that he was capable of making his own mistakes, Bruce Burg started his library book business in the capacious 9 x 11 back bedroom of his home. He further demonstrated his business acumen and creative genius by naming his new company after the street he lived on, W. Circle Drive.

The rest, as they say, is history. The company has moved four times to successively larger quarters, and as this website is launched, management is looking to quadruple its warehouse and office space. While Mr. Burg and his associates remain just folks (“Hey, if we work real hard for a few more years, we’ll be so successful that the big guys will have to consider us small potatoes!”), they remain serious and true to their charge: Buy and sell the best books available, trust our customers, and do whatever it takes to make them happy. We love and respect librarians.

West Circle Books