DaemonXI Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 I just recently turned 16, and I want to work at either the Barnes and Noble in my town or the Best Buy. I love working with computers and I love reading as well. My question is: does anybody work at one of these places currently, and how do they treat you? I'd love to work on the Geek Squad since I consider myself very tech-savvy. How is the pay, and what are the hours like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toaster37 Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 My first job was with best buy. It payed pretty well for a first job about 8 bucks an hour and they have some pretty good discounts and options if you stick around for a while. IT wasn't too hard to get a job there. Just gotta know when there hiring and not be an idiots during your interview. Most likely you will start at a check out cashier because of your age. Geek squad members usually are 18+ and have been with the company or have previously worked with computers. Toshi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AldousHxlE Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Up until a month ago, I worked in the BBY Geek Squad, so I may be able to give you a few words of advice: First off, Best Buy being a business and all, their first priority is to make revenue. Because of this, they will always prefer to hire highly skilled salesmen over anyone else. Unfortunately, this also goes for the Geek Squad. This means you'll have a precinct primarily composed of agents whose only job is to sell services, and unfortunately, will outnumber the skilled techs about 2 to 1. Out of a dept of 15 agents (not including the in-home agents), only maybe 5 of us really knew how to fix a computer. Also, the agents who got the best hours would tend to be the least knowledgeable in fixing computers, getting 30+ hours a week only because they could sell a thousand bucks a week in services. We had one tech who was easily the best in the dept and could fix any OS problems without having to simply reformat the HDD, and at one point was only working about 2 days a week, simply because he could not make his weekly quota (only because he spent his whole shift fixing PCs.) I'm not entirely sure if this goes for all Geek Squad precincts, but from I hear this is pretty common throughout the company. Either way, here's a few tips I could offer you if you really want to land a job at Best Buy: 1. Knowing someone who already works there definitely helps. This is of course common sense, as it applies to any company, but having a friend on the inside will make the difference between getting hired as a Geek Squad agent or a front lanes cashier. 2. Do you have any experience you can throw on a resume? How bout certifications? As basic as they may be, having an A+ or Network+ certification can make a huge difference. Just try and pad your resume with as much tech experience as possible. Also, having retail experience will almost guarantee you a job there. 3. When applying for the job online, try and answer the questionaire as fast as possible. Someone told me it's actually timed to see how long you have to think about answering the questions, but I'm not entirely sure thats true. Still, use common sense when answering the questions as well, like how well you work with others, etc... The average pay for a Best Buy associate in my area is about 8-9 dollars an hour, while on avg a Geek Squad agent starts anywhere between 10-12 an hour. Part time employees on average will get anywhere from 10 to 20 hours per week, but no more than 31. Full timers are usually guaranteed at least 32 hours weekly. Benefits include options to buy Best Buy stock below cost and a great employee discount (I think its whatever the company pays for the product plus 5%). All in all, its a pretty cool job to have, especially if its your first job. Definitely much better than working fast food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
----------- Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Good thing that you are tech saavy; Im sick of going to Best Buy and asking the sales people stuff and they are clueless But yeah I know nothing about employment at these places. Good luck with whatever you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conroe Mac Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I would rather work at a bookstore. I hate selling people things they don't want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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