Seems like it was about a year when we posted that we were looking for a new Staffer to replace one of our first managers. Perhaps it's the hint of Summer that sends our wonderful folks off to new opportunities but, whatever the reason, it's time to say “Fair Well” to our friend and Staffer, Chris Talarek. Chris will be departing in June, heading to watch attack ships on fire off the shoulders of Orion, C-Beams glittering in the dark, near Tannhäuser Gate. Okay, not really; he'll still be around, but he's stepping down from his Staffer responsibilities to pursue other passions.
If you're one of our many Chris Fans (Or Christofans, as I just decided to call them), make sure to stop by the shoppe sometime between now and June 3rd to wish him well.
While Chris will still be around through this month, we're starting to look for a person to take on his role. Maybe even two, because he was pretty awesome, and there's lots of stuff to do around here. We've updated our Staff Application, and have copies behind the counter for those that are interested.
Whenever we mention we have a job opening, we get a lot of wonderful applications, and we're extremely grateful for that. We also get a lot of questions about the process, so we thought it might be good to mention a few things about what we're thinking of when we start looking for a new Staffer. . .
- We can't possibly hire everyone who applies. When we originally hired Chris, for example, we had around two dozen applications. If you're not hired, it doesn't mean we don't love you. It doesn't mean we don't think you're worth hiring. We look for a candidate with a combination of traits that we believe will be most beneficial to our community at this time in our shoppe's life.
- Currently, we look for breadth, rather than depth, of gaming experience. Being an L2 Magic Judge, for example, is a great accomplishment, but if the candidate would be uncomfortable teaching a seven year old how to play Splendor, or a grandparent how to play ‘No Thank You, Evil!” they might not be the best fit at the moment.
- We typically avoid hiring family or close friends of existing Staffers. This is mainly a logistics issue. Family and close friends tend to need to take the same nights off, because they go to the same parties and events, or take the same vacations.
- We look for folks with flexible schedules. We try to schedule our Staffers for about 30 hours a week. That includes some afternoon shifts (starting a bit before noon), as well as weeknight and weekend hours. We often open early on Saturdays (as early as 9am) for special events. Because of that, flexibility is key. We do our best to work around school and family schedules but, with such a relatively small staff, we can't facilitate lots of last minute schedule changes.
- And, finally, there's one question that comes up most often and the answer is, yes, every question on the application actually matters.
There is, of course, a lot more to it, but those are The Most Frequent Things that come up when we start interviewing candidates. For this particular round of hiring, here's a short list of some of the game systems and skills we're specifically looking to get additional coverage on:
- Games Workshop game systems
- Fantasy Flight game systems (miniature, LCG, and board games)
- Our historical lines (Flames of War, Bolt Action, GMT and Avalon Hill boardgames)
- Role Playing Games
- Painting and modeling (including terrain assemble and upkeep)
- Outbound marketing (including social media posts, newsletter articles, community outreach)
- In-store marketing (digital signage design and management, flyers)
- Organized Play management
If you're interested in applying, swing by the shoppe and fill out an application. We'll be starting formal interviews as early as next week. The first interview is with the owners, David and Priya. After that, you may be invited back to teach one of us a game from our demo shelf and have subsequent interviews with the rest of our Staff. We hope to wrap up the process before June 3rd, but we'll take as much time as we need to make sure we identify someone who we feel can be both successful and happy working for us.
Whether you're looking for a job, or coming out to play, we hope to see you at the shoppe soon!
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