The Lavin Agency is a speakers bureau that represents authors, scientists, and public intellectuals for keynotes and lectures. Our exclusive speakers include journalists (Chuck Klosterman), social entrepreneurs (Jessica Jackley of KIVA), novelists (Salman Rushdie) and other remarkable individuals who are “making the world a smarter place.”

We have grown every year since our inception, 25 years ago, and are now hiring sales agents for our college speaking market. We're looking for someone to fit into our fast-paced midtown Manhattan office—someone with a strong understanding of the university environment, and a keen interest in what’s hot, what’s happening, and what’s relevant to college audiences, both students and administrators. The ideal candidates are voracious readers and pop culture fanatics. But, also—and we can’t stress this enough—they are people with amazing sales skills. Candidates must be familiar with, and excel at, the sales process. You must be able to understand and sell intangibles, and be tenacious, persistent, and persuasive, on the phone and by email. You must be able to get attention, and to hold it, in a helpful and authentic manner.

The job is hard, but it's also fun and meaningful work. You need to be able to prospect, to maintain and grow a client base, to guide a sale from beginning to end, to manage expectations, to meet quotas, to engage fully with buyers, and to speak—with clarity, purpose, and verve—about our roster of world-changing speakers.

If this sounds like a great career opportunity to you, please take a few moments to check out our website. Then, send us a boring resume as well as an original and fascinating cover letter that highlights your fiercely competitive streak, your many successes, and your quick wit and imagination—a letter, written just for us, which states why you think you’d make the perfect fit at Lavin, and vice versa. Please also tell us about one cultural figure who you think is underrated, the last book you read, and a situation from your past that demonstrates your sales ability.

PS – We also shot this short video, explaining the job a little further: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMxmtxTuHA0

Best of luck, and thank you for taking the time to read this!

Compensation: $70-90k + benefits

Send letters and resumes to careers@thelavinagency.com. Title your emails: "Sales Agent, New York City".
No calls or visits please; only emails will be accepted.