Gonna take a stab at working at Geek Squad

[PCBudgetSolutions]

Looking at selling actual PC products.  I hope I am not over qualified.  My local best buy carries higher end SSD's, graphics cards, corsair ram etc, but they seem to be 10-30 dollar premium.  I am probably over qualified by a large margin but meh, gotta apply for unemployment reasons anyway.

[BlackOutCrisis]

I've always wanted to apply there even though 90% of geek squad is abunch of tools. I've always thought they required some kind of schooling in a computer field before they would hire anyone in a geek squad position.

[PCBudgetSolutions]

I highly doubt anyone there has 1/2 the knowledge I do. I spent over 1200 hours last year in IT research of products and micro-architecture design and SSD functionality.

[James_McKeane]

I can no longer go to any electronic stores or departments; I constantly find myself ranting to myself about how I could get this or that cheaper on newegg or ebay.

$37.99 for a 12-FT USB extension cable? Really? (Even more at Staples).

[Rossyboy]

I would love that job

[ajoy39]

Do it, and spread your knowledge to the masses. most of that knowledge being "you can get this cheaper on newegg" because seriously, who the hell pays Best Buy prices on this stuff? If you need it right that minute then maybe but for the $30 premium you can get next day air shipping on most things. 

[PCBudgetSolutions]

Do it, and spread your knowledge to the masses. most of that knowledge being "you can get this cheaper on newegg" because seriously, who the hell pays Best Buy prices on this stuff? If you need it right that minute then maybe but for the $30 premium you can get next day air shipping on most things. 

Next day shipping usually costs that premium lol.

[BrapYeah]

I remember when HDMI become more mainstream for home theatre setups. Best buy 6 ft. cable was $30 on sale. A Box of 10 on eBay was $50, and for a change, the ebay cable lasted more than a month.

[ericlee30]

My bother was a manager for one of the Best Buys in Miami for 3 years. Honestly I think you will get very frustrated at all the people that work their, as from what my brother has told me, the Geek squad is a piss poor excuse as a tech team and really they don't know how to do anything but read the guide book that is given to them in thier department. They are literally the worst place that you can take your PC to or get any strait advice without being told, "you need a new computer" when the problem is very easy to fix.They are more into raping you out of money then they care about you as a customer. My brother hates how the geek squad works and yes he said many of the geek squad workers are very low educated about PC's.

[PCBudgetSolutions]

The job I was applying for was the sales end for hardware.

[Salmiakbal]

Pro tip: When applying, hide your power level

They don't like people that know their stuff

[JohnnyGrey]

Hopefully the job isn't Commission based!! When I worked at the electronic section of a 24-hour Walmart, I loved spreading my knowledge, and I got praises from many customers. I also told a few that they could get the stuff cheaper online :P

[PCBudgetSolutions]

Meh, I can sell stuff.  I can push products correctly, but my advantage is, they actually carry good items.  Why bother telling someone to buy it online?  Will they save money?  Yes, but then they can always come back to me if they need anything.  It's worth an extra 30 bucks for that for people who are not as advanced as us.

[fishymamba]

From what I haveheard the pay for Geek Squad employees is a bit higher than normal.

[PCBudgetSolutions]

Ya it's 12-14/hour.  That will be a bit more than 183/week from unemployment.

[fishymamba]

Let me know how it goes! I am also thinking of applying there.

[ericlee30]

From what I haveheard the pay for Geek Squad employees is a bit higher than normal.

Nope, that is not correct. at the Miami store in Florida they get paid $10.25 an hour geek squad and $8.00 for being a sales rep. If you were employed by a real tech team or actual PC place, starting pay is $15-$20 depending on your degrees and experiences . I live in one of the highest income states in America, trust me it is not cheap to live here and they still pay the same as they would if I still lived in the Midwest.

 

Edit: From what by brother has told me, the only good thing about working there, was the fact that the employees got really good deals on Best Buys in house products such as RocketFish and Dynex. Up untell a year ago the employees got an 80% discount on all in house products, now they have changed that and it is only 25%, also you barely get a good discount on anything that is not in house products.

 

Some people might have a different experience working for them, but my brother was a manager and still hated it.

[mgsstar]

You can also sometimes get discounts from here if you work at Best Buy :) https://retailedge.intel.com

Example: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/intel-retail-edge-2013-summer-deal-i7-3770k-i7-3930k-1335323/

[Seqenretao]

ericlee30, on 22 Jun 2013 - 12:30 PM, said:

Nope, that is not correct. at the Miami store in Florida they get paid $10.25 an hour geek squad and $8.00 for being a sales rep. If you were employed by a real tech team or actual PC place, starting pay is $15-$20 depending on your degrees and experiences . I live in one of the highest income states in America, trust me it is not cheap to live here and they still pay the same as they would if I still lived in the Midwest.

Edit: From what by brother has told me, the only good thing about working there, was the fact that the employees got really good deals on Best Buys in house products such as RocketFish and Dynex. Up untell a year ago the employees got an 80% discount on all in house products, know they have changed that and it is only 25%, also you barely get a good discount on anything that is not in house products.

Some people might have a different experience working for them, but my brother was a manager and still hated it.

actually you brother is wrong I have been working for Best Buy now for about 3 years and yes they have in the last year changed the discount but it used to capped at no greater then 50% off so...... example on the in house stuff you would get 50% off now it is back to being 5% above cost however most times you still find things cheaper online so really I don't beleave them. Best Buy should have better buying power then that the employee discount is public knowlage however so if you want to know Ill put a link at the end. Now pc sales vs geek squad yes geek squad gets paid more normaly starting around 13-14 an hour in my state, sales they have been starting around 9-10 based on retail experiance. I wouldn't say its a bad job its just like almost any other retail place that sells their own services so you get yelled at a lot if your not selling the geek squad stuff....Now what mgsstar said yes there are great vendor accomidations they you can get as well by being an employee there....as much as Best Buy likes to say they do not keep the latest greatest tech in store your area might be different I don't know but in mine we have only 2 ssd's on shelf and nothing better gpu wise then a 660ti are website isn't always better keep in mind market place items aren't best buy items if we don't have it NCIX.com and Newegg.com probably get a bit of business sent over by me.....

sorry if this is all over the place didn't sleep much and kid is all over the place but hope it helps some.....

I started working for them because I too was on unemployment but its a job and you will find that a lot of people doing it both on the sale and geek squad are very dumb try not to let it bother you and just enjoy being able to teach people about tech and help them find the solutions that work best for them.....

Oh after you put in an app you gotta bug them because a lot of them don't look very often at the app.s even if there're open positions

http://www.mybbybest.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101&Itemid=93 oops forgot the link

[Bleedman0xx]

I can no longer go to any electronic stores or departments; I constantly find myself ranting to myself about how I could get this or that cheaper on newegg or ebay.

$37.99 for a 12-FT USB extension cable? Really? (Even more at Staples).

Wow, I paid about $12 for a 50 ft USB cable from eBay a few weeks ago.

[Seqenretao]

cables and tv mounts I mean look at monoprice then look at a box retail store.....lol

[ericlee30]

actually you brother is wrong I have been working for Best Buy now for about 3 years and yes they have in the last year changed the discount but it used to capped at no greater then 50% off so...... example on the in house stuff you would get 50% off now it is back to being 5% above cost however most times you still find things cheaper online so really I don't beleave them. Best Buy should have better buying power then that the employee discount is public knowlage however so if you want to know Ill put a link at the end. Now pc sales vs geek squad yes geek squad gets paid more normaly starting around 13-14 an hour in my state, sales they have been starting around 9-10 based on retail experiance. I wouldn't say its a bad job its just like almost any other retail place that sells their own services so you get yelled at a lot if your not selling the geek squad stuff....Now what mgsstar said yes there are great vendor accomidations they you can get as well by being an employee there....as much as Best Buy likes to say they do not keep the latest greatest tech in store your area might be different I don't know but in mine we have only 2 ssd's on shelf and nothing better gpu wise then a 660ti are website isn't always better keep in mind market place items aren't best buy items if we don't have it NCIX.com and Newegg.com probably get a bit of business sent over by me.....

sorry if this is all over the place didn't sleep much and kid is all over the place but hope it helps some.....

I started working for them because I too was on unemployment but its a job and you will find that a lot of people doing it both on the sale and geek squad are very dumb try not to let it bother you and just enjoy being able to teach people about tech and help them find the solutions that work best for them.....

Oh after you put in an app you gotta bug them because a lot of them don't look very often at the app.s even if there're open positions

http://www.mybbybest.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101&Itemid=93 oops forgot the link

I like how you put that :) the only thing I disagree with is the 50% before they changed it. Now I can not 100% guarantee i'm right on this because I was not with my brother when he bought both items, but he bought a Dynex 42inch LCD when he first started working there, it was a $595 tv. With his discount he paid $165 which is more then 50% off. He also bought me a HDMI to DVI cable that also was made by Dynex, retail value at the time was $54.99, he bought the cable for $8 which i paid him back for and is way more then 50% off as well.

 

He worked there from 2008 to 2011, he has alot of friends that still work at the store he used to work at and that is how he knows that the changed the discount since he left.

[Seqenretao]

hmm the 50% cap might have only been on services because I know those used to only give 50% off those but well anyways thats the past discount that holds nothing now I guess haha

[ericlee30]

hmm the 50% cap might have only been on services because I know those used to only give 50% off those but well anyways thats the past discount that holds nothing now I guess haha

LOL yep :) the past is the past. Know i feel like they really cheat you out of the discount theses days :(

[Rhotis]

Nope, that is not correct. at the Miami store in Florida they get paid $10.25 an hour geek squad and $8.00 for being a sales rep. If you were employed by a real tech team or actual PC place, starting pay is $15-$20 depending on your degrees and experiences . I live in one of the highest income states in America, trust me it is not cheap to live here and they still pay the same as they would if I still lived in the Midwest.

 

Edit: From what by brother has told me, the only good thing about working there, was the fact that the employees got really good deals on Best Buys in house products such as RocketFish and Dynex. Up untell a year ago the employees got an 80% discount on all in house products, now they have changed that and it is only 25%, also you barely get a good discount on anything that is not in house products.

 

Some people might have a different experience working for them, but my brother was a manager and still hated it.

 

Not sure where you get Florida is one of the highest income states in the country because its really not.  Medium household income wise you are in the bottom 3rd.