OfficeMax Hiring 200 For Norman Sales Center

By Randall Turk

Article Date: October 02, 2005

The OfficeMax sales center is looking for about 200 new employees to occupy a 10,000-square-foot addition recently completed at its facility in Norman Business Park.

“We need outside sales reps for business-to-business sales jobs,” said Samantha Moore, vice president and general manager of commercial sales. “We’re hiring sales reps at salaries of $24,000 to $28,000 a year, plus commissions. Our average rep earns $38,000 to $40,000 a year.”

OfficeMax has scheduled a Tuesday (October 04, 2005) job fair for sales center applicants at Moore Norman Technology Center.

“Right now, we’re training classes of 15 to 20 people,” Mohr said. “We’re hiring one class a month for 2½ weeks of classroom instruction and 2½ weeks of on-the-job training.”

The job fair (October 04, 2005) from 4 to 8 p.m. will screen candidates for subsequent interviews. Applicants should bring resumes and be prepared to discuss their work experience. Information is available at 217-6006.

OfficeMax opened its only nationwide business-to-business telephone sales center here in February 2002. Previously known as Boise Cascade, the company bought out OfficeMax and took on the better known OfficeMax name. About 340 employees currently employed at the call center work with “middle mark” companies of 20 to 100 employees. They sell office supplies and paper, technology products, printing and copying services and office furniture.

Mohr said OfficeMax employees work 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 8 to 5 on weekdays. There is no holiday or weekend work. The jobs pay salary and commission, but no overtime.

“Our employees must attain 80 percent of their quota to keep the job,” Mohr said. “Bonuses start when that 80 percent level is reached.” Turnover at OfficeMax is only 30 percent a year, compared to 75 or 100 percent at most call centers, she said.

Most of the 50,000-square-foot OfficeMax sales center is occupied by sales reps in cubicles, each equipped with telephone and computer.

The company seeks employees with two years of customer service experience with the same company or a year of sales experience, Mohr said. An associate degree is preferred. “Anyone with a four year degree and no experience will be considered,” she said.

Among other qualifications: strong verbal and written communication skills, computer literacy, a tolerance for stress, and good time management, planning and organizing skills.

“We’re looking for adaptability,” Mohr said. “Each rep handles from 400 to 2,000 customers.”

Mohr said OfficeMax for the most part promotes from within. Originally from San Antonio, she said she has been in call center work for 12½ years. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA. “I started as a rep and began operating call centers in 1999,” she said. She is married and the mother of two.

Mohr said once hired, OfficeMax employees have several months to get “ramped up” in their jobs. “We try to make people successful. The company offers a lot of mobility and opportunity. We give them all the tools they need.

”She says the company’s low profile in Norman is its biggest challenge. “People don’t know us,” she said. “They don’t know we’re here.”

Randall Turk at 366-3547 or turk@normantranscript.com