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Geek Squad

D

DarkenReaper57

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 2, 2003
Messages
2,173
I don't know if this is the correct section for this but...

I have been interested in getting into the PC Technician work force for some time now. I believe that I am well educated and qualified, and enjoy the work.

I have tried (not too hard, though) to do this on my own, at a rate of $20/hr, but I only had a few jobs...

I am currently a freshman attending the University of Central Florida, pursuing a Computer/Electrical Engineering Degree. I stopped by the nearest geek squad section in the local Best Buy, and asked about employment. They simply referred me to www.bestbuy.com, or to fill out an application in a kiosk.

Anyway, does anyone know how difficult it is to get a job working for the Geek Squad? I am currently 19 years old, if that hinders me at all (apparently you need to be 21 to do in-home repairs, due to driving). Also, does anyone know what the wages generally are when working for them?

Thank you.
 
Uncle Toxie said:
Baby Jesus cries anytime someone goes to Best Buy for tech support.
Click to expand...
yes he does

u_DR_K13
 
Could try looking at mom-and-pop stores around the area... While their demand for employees will obviously be far smaller in general it might be a better fit (or more rewarding) than the Best Buy job. As for getting more service/repair jobs on your own... create some business cards and maybe even a website, then hand them out to anyone you've worked for before, friends, acquaintances, whatever. Sometimes (particulary in smaller towns) that will just work out nicely and get you a few clients.
 
Impulse said:
Could try looking at mom-and-pop stores around the area... While their demand for employees will obviously be far smaller in general it might be a better fit (or more rewarding) than the Best Buy job. As for getting more service/repair jobs on your own... create some business cards and maybe even a website, then hand them out to anyone you've worked for before, friends, acquaintances, whatever. Sometimes (particulary in smaller towns) that will just work out nicely and get you a few clients.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is actually what I initially was thinking of doing. I do not currently have my A+, although I own two books, and read through one, and 3/4 of another. I did it during the summer, but I kinda put that aside when college began this fall. I already knew 90% of the information, but hey, they are a nice refresher, especially for older technology.

Maybe I'll put up some flyers...the university PC repair center charges $45/hr, and $115/hr for servers. I dont mind working for $20/hr, or even $15/hr...and I am confident that I can handle most situations.

I just don't want to run into problems with taxes, etc. Is there anything that I need to follow, like not creating a business name, but just putting my contact information down?

Thanks.
 
Impulse said:
Could try looking at mom-and-pop stores around the area... While their demand for employees will obviously be far smaller in general it might be a better fit (or more rewarding) than the Best Buy job. As for getting more service/repair jobs on your own... create some business cards and maybe even a website, then hand them out to anyone you've worked for before, friends, acquaintances, whatever. Sometimes (particulary in smaller towns) that will just work out nicely and get you a few clients.
Click to expand...

Yes. I started doing repairs n shit for my homies at the fire brigade, and two months later the whole town know to call me when they fucked up once more...
 
I work at the Daytoan Beach Best Buy doing "Geek Squad" (God, I fucking hate that name...not the geek part, just the how they are using it). But it's not too hard to get a job there and you don't need your A+, rumour is that BB will pay you to take the A+ test soon. The experience really varies from store to store. My store has a pretty good mix of techs that actually know what we are doing. We had training with some people from other stores and soem knew what they were doing while others were complete n00bs. They were just there to sell stuff.

Your main responsiblities is to fix computers, check computers that are being returned to make sure they are broken and all the parts are there, ship and receive things sent out to 3rd party repair, deal with pissed off customers becuase the service center fucked up their computer (I had one 40GB harddrive come back formated all to hell with a bunch of fat16 partitions) and sell stuff. The starting pay at our store is around $9/hr but this is alos the lowest paying county in florida.

The thing that makes the tech bench good or not is the management, my store use to have good mangement but that went to hell a few months ago. Now the only help we get from mangement is to "work faster".
 
Uncle Toxie said:
Baby Jesus cries anytime someone goes to Best Buy for tech support.
Click to expand...
Haha. That's lol.

I cant remember who has it but somebody here has a quote in there sig.
Something like, "Geek Squad is like IT support like masturbating is to sex." (Not exact)

HAHAHAHAH!!!!!
 
Scheizekopf said:
Haha. That's lol.

I cant remember who has it but somebody here has a quote in there sig.
Something like, "Geek Squad is like IT support like masturbating is to sex." (Not exact)

HAHAHAHAH!!!!!
Click to expand...


I remember it...

"Calling the Geek Squad 'tech support' is like calling masterbation sexual intercourse."

Pretty damn funny... :D
 
Ug GS in my area is BS. My laptop inverted busted, and they told me to pay $1600 to replace the screen. I said no thanks and had it done by an Authorized Repair center for my laptop. Costed $156. Hehe.
 
I work as an IT person on a college campus along with my friend Mike, we were sitting around playing xbox with a few of my other friends when one of them says they got a job as geek squad. All our jaws hit the floor. I was the first one to speak up and ask why anyone would want to work there, then my other 2 friends said they both wanted to get GS jobs. Me and mike were dumbfounded, We didnet think our friends were that stupid! :)
 
bluey424 said:
Most Best Buy bench-job's require A+.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but A+ doesnt mean much, people have come in to my shop with A+ certification, he couldn't trouble shoot replace or even build a computer..

Best buy has by far the worst computer technitions.. Atleast in my experince, sorry if you work there but if you are good with computers then your not the standard best buy tech
 
bobsaget said:
I remember it...

"Calling the Geek Squad 'tech support' is like calling masterbation sexual intercourse."

Pretty damn funny... :D
Click to expand...
Yea. That's it. Thanks.
 
Well, having an A+ cert may or may not mean anything on a case-by-case basis, but in general, if you picked 1000 people who didn't have A+ but said they are good with hardware and picked 1000 other people who said they were good with hardware and have A+ certification, then gave them both a hardware/software test (not written, but actually doing the work) then it is more likely that the A+ certified persons will have done a better job and, on average, completed the job quicker.

Anyways, besides learning stuff you may or may not know, studying for and receiving an A+ certification helps you play the odds up in your favor when trying to get a job. And for all those who scoff at A+ certification, remember, hiring managers are looking for buzzwords, and having an A+ when other candidates don't will most likely get you an interview at the least.

And as for the Best Buy Geek Squad jobs, you may also scoff at them, but sometimes when you're just starting out, any job is a good job. Especially since it's hard to get into IT at an established company unless you have at least one or two tech-related jobs under your belt, even if it's Geek Squad. At least you worked for a nationally known employer with high visibility.
 
Buckus said:
Well, having an A+ cert may or may not mean anything on a case-by-case basis, but in general, if you picked 1000 people who didn't have A+ but said they are good with hardware and picked 1000 other people who said they were good with hardware and have A+ certification, then gave them both a hardware/software test (not written, but actually doing the work) then it is more likely that the A+ certified persons will have done a better job and, on average, completed the job quicker.

Anyways, besides learning stuff you may or may not know, studying for and receiving an A+ certification helps you play the odds up in your favor when trying to get a job. And for all those who scoff at A+ certification, remember, hiring managers are looking for buzzwords, and having an A+ when other candidates don't will most likely get you an interview at the least.

And as for the Best Buy Geek Squad jobs, you may also scoff at them, but sometimes when you're just starting out, any job is a good job. Especially since it's hard to get into IT at an established company unless you have at least one or two tech-related jobs under your belt, even if it's Geek Squad. At least you worked for a nationally known employer with high visibility.
Click to expand...

Yeah, basically that is what I am thinking. It is a job. I worked at the local Albertsons grocery store for 2 years as a bagger, cashier, then liquor clerk, and I hated it (well, not the latter as much). Now I attend a university, and need a better paying job, but I want to do something that could potentially be useful on my resume and is more fun/interesting than working at a grocery store.

As for A+, I am very confident that I am a good technician as it is, but getting the certification is a nice icing on the cake. Fortunately, my parents vouched to pay the cost for me, but I don't want to waste their money if it really doesn't matter. Does it?

Thanks.
 
DarkenReaper57 said:
but I don't want to waste their money if it really doesn't matter. Does it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

To tell you the truth most of the people that I have met who were A+ Certified are total freakin morons, but......

IMHO any piece of paper that you can get to add to your resume is allways a good thing. Having it does not make you a real tech, I see it more as a tool to get you to a position to prove that you are a real tech. I say go for it. Good luck!
 
The Geek Squad gets paid pretty good and the work load there is cheese. All you will be doing if you are part of the internal team, not the ones that drives around to diff. houses and etc, will be software troubleshooting and a few hardware install like Hard Drives, Opticals, and etc.

An ex co-worker of mine went from the CUSA Tech Shop to the Geek Squad. He likes it better there because it was easier and gets paid way more.

All you gotta do if you want the job is to start chopping it up with the Tech Manager.
 
Trust me, working for Best Buy is BAAAAD. Stay the Hell away from them if you know what's good for you. I used to be a Black Shirt at one. Look up Greed in the dictionary and you'll find a Best Buy logo along with a picture of their CEO Brad Anderson next to it. That company is sooo obsessed with making money it made me sick, and I'm a pretty stingy motherfucker myself. However, if you enjoy being dishonest and ripping people off or you lack a fucking soul be my guest. Some nights I'd come home from Best Buy and feel like I needed to go to Confession...AND I'M NOT EVEN CATHOLIC!
 
Mr_Evil said:
Trust me, working for Best Buy is BAAAAD. Stay the Hell away from them if you know what's good for you. I used to be a Black Shirt at one. Look up Greed in the dictionary and you'll find a Best Buy logo along with a picture of their CEO Brad Anderson next to it. That company is sooo obsessed with making money it made me sick, and I'm a pretty stingy motherfucker myself. However, if you enjoy being dishonest and ripping people off or you lack a fucking soul be my guest. Some nights I'd come home from Best Buy and feel like I needed to go to Confession...AND I'M NOT EVEN CATHOLIC!
Click to expand...

They are really that bad? Hmm...the Tech Shop at the CUSA that I work for is actually pretty cool when it comes down to customer service now. Got a new manager that is prolly why. I mean, we bend the rules for the customers like crazy. When their TAP is not approved and etc. we go the extra milage to fight it out for them. It is pretty cool actually.

I have heard horror stories about Fry's Tech department tho. Those guys RUNS on comission, so they are out to get you for sure. It is 7.75 flat rate so these guys are hunting for suckers. "No maam it is not just the PSU. You will need to replace your Video Card alongside your sticks of Ram that went bad when we tested it earlier today."
 
I worked at bestbuy for like a month and quit. Stupid PSP's and PRP's. I hated the environment, they're stupid cheers and what not, it made me sick. I'd suggest getting a tech job somewhere other than large scale retail....
 
heh, I do IT work for a local college, pay's decent and the benefits are great. Been working for em since I was 18.

One of the nice things about working at a college is that I support a very large staff who have problems at home. I work on a "pay whatever you want to pay me" basis, since I fix their computers while I'm on the clock anyways lol. My boss doesn't care either. Usually end up making an extra $20-50 an hour from one person that way.

I was talking with one of the ladies who asked me to fix her computer. It was running really slow after a while. She told me that a GS guy had been at her house over a month ago, the problem wasn't bad until recently when she had her heat on in the house. Anyways, she said she didn't like the fact that the GS guy asked her for tools to use on her computer.

Turns out the fan on the heatsink was just about dead, you could count the RPM without an advance timing light (whatever those stroboscope things are called. We use the aat in our office since my boss is a big car guy). with her computer next to the vent, it used to take in the cold AC. But with winter, it'd suck in heat, and the P4 would throttle itself down.

She got a fan from Fry's, I installed it, and when she asked what I wanted in return, I told her: An italian beef sandwich and a chocolate malt.

:D

I have been tempted to take my old overclocked 1.4 t-bird in to best buy... underclock my video card horribly and tell em that it runs games really slow. Cept OSXL is set to boot Lindows, Redhat, XP, 2k, 98. Would be interesting to see what they say and do...

Although, I don't wanna pay em in the end just for a few minutes of comedy.
 
Ashtaka said:
heh, I do IT work for a local college, pay's decent and the benefits are great. Been working for em since I was 18.

One of the nice things about working at a college is that I support a very large staff who have problems at home. I work on a "pay whatever you want to pay me" basis, since I fix their computers while I'm on the clock anyways lol. My boss doesn't care either. Usually end up making an extra $20-50 an hour from one person that way.

I was talking with one of the ladies who asked me to fix her computer. It was running really slow after a while. She told me that a GS guy had been at her house over a month ago, the problem wasn't bad until recently when she had her heat on in the house. Anyways, she said she didn't like the fact that the GS guy asked her for tools to use on her computer.

Turns out the fan on the heatsink was just about dead, you could count the RPM without an advance timing light (whatever those stroboscope things are called. We use the aat in our office since my boss is a big car guy). with her computer next to the vent, it used to take in the cold AC. But with winter, it'd suck in heat, and the P4 would throttle itself down.

She got a fan from Fry's, I installed it, and when she asked what I wanted in return, I told her: An italian beef sandwich and a chocolate malt.

:D

I have been tempted to take my old overclocked 1.4 t-bird in to best buy... underclock my video card horribly and tell em that it runs games really slow. Cept OSXL is set to boot Lindows, Redhat, XP, 2k, 98. Would be interesting to see what they say and do...

Although, I don't wanna pay em in the end just for a few minutes of comedy.
Click to expand...

That's not the half of it. The supposed "Manager" they hired to take over the tech bench at the store I worked at just about swore to me up and down that nVidia made intel Chipsets. Suffice it to say he didn't like me very well after I went out of my way to prove how much of a fucktard he was. Working for large corporations is alot like being in the military...except you can leave whenever you want. They reward ignorance and stupidity while they punish intelligence and creativity. All the while they treat you as you are ultimately expendable. Couple that with the inefficiencies of their supposed "Efficient Enterprise."
 
But nVidia does make Intel chipsets! As off a couple days ago anyway... ;) Intel wanted cheap SLI and they only support it for the Xeon internally atm ('least that's the theory).
 
I currently work for Nextel and used to work for AT&T. Before that I was in the USAF for 4 years handling high speed communications. I can attest to the fact that having an A+ shows two things to an employer. This guy is certified in a technical field, and 2 this person showed the initiative to go out and study and take the test to get certified as opposed to someone who comes in with no certifications.

Experience is also a big thing on a resume. Always put your experience first on your resume.

I redid my resume after working for AT&T and got a job workin for Nextel in a cpl weeks. Went from making $13 an hour for AT&T to making $30 an hour. My resume looked like shit before because I had it arranged wrong. Looks so much better now.

So if you want a job construct an excellent resume.
 
DarkenReaper57 said:
I don't know if this is the correct section for this but...

I have been interested in getting into the PC Technician work force for some time now. I believe that I am well educated and qualified, and enjoy the work.

I have tried (not too hard, though) to do this on my own, at a rate of $20/hr, but I only had a few jobs...

I am currently a freshman attending the University of Central Florida, pursuing a Computer/Electrical Engineering Degree. I stopped by the nearest geek squad section in the local Best Buy, and asked about employment. They simply referred me to www.bestbuy.com, or to fill out an application in a kiosk.

Anyway, does anyone know how difficult it is to get a job working for the Geek Squad? I am currently 19 years old, if that hinders me at all (apparently you need to be 21 to do in-home repairs, due to driving). Also, does anyone know what the wages generally are when working for them?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Wow you go to UCF? i just got accepted into there yesterday, i'll be attending summer term 2005 (im a senior ATM). How is the comp/elec engineering program there? any suggestions about it?
 
Ashtaka said:
I have been tempted to take my old overclocked 1.4 t-bird in to best buy... underclock my video card horribly and tell em that it runs games really slow. Cept OSXL is set to boot Lindows, Redhat, XP, 2k, 98. Would be interesting to see what they say and do...

Although, I don't wanna pay em in the end just for a few minutes of comedy.
Click to expand...

you would just be asking for trouble..
the quality of the work done by the GS, varies based on the tech doing the work..

you would definitley want to READ the paper you sign when the system gets checked in.. it essenitally says that they can format the HD if they wanted, and you couldn't do anything about it.. also, you'd be charged $60 for the diagnostic, and then probably called back, and told you need to pay another $60 for a system restore ;)

so unless you've got $60 to burn, and don't mind lossing all the data on your HD, I wouldn't bother trying to make a point.
 
Dillusion said:
Wow you go to UCF? i just got accepted into there yesterday, i'll be attending summer term 2005 (im a senior ATM). How is the comp/elec engineering program there? any suggestions about it?
Click to expand...

Well, I am currently a freshmen there, so I haven't had the opportunity to delve into the hardcore EE/CPe classes. Their program there, however, is phenomenal. It is one of the best colleges for engineers in the nation, especially for the electrical and computer portion. The internship programs are great, from what I hear.

I hope you love math and physics, though, because that is a major focus with electrical/computer engineering majors. If you haven't taken any advanced courses such as AP Calculus in HS, or trig, you may have a bit of trouble. I was fortunate enough to take AP Calc AB as a junior and score a 4 on the exam, mostly because my teacher was awesome, and I didn't mind putting forth the effort. I had the same deal with AP physics B during my sr. year, and did just as well on the exam.

Just be sure to study hard, especially in the courses that matter. I cannot stress this enough. Also, talk to an advisor to make sure you get on the right track. If you want to talk to me more you can msg me at Darkenreaper57 or darkenlaptop, try both since I am often off elsewhere with my lappy.

Best of luck to ya, and hopefully I'll cya there :)
 
Uncle Toxie said:
To tell you the truth most of the people that I have met who were A+ Certified are total freakin morons, but......

IMHO any piece of paper that you can get to add to your resume is allways a good thing. Having it does not make you a real tech, I see it more as a tool to get you to a position to prove that you are a real tech. I say go for it. Good luck!
Click to expand...

When I hire people I make 2 piles
A+ and non
the A+ all get a simple friendly call back to ask if they have it because a former work required it or if they got it in a class

I used to just toss all the A+ in the trash but I figured I should find out why they have it before passing judgement
 
tiebird321 said:
When I hire people I make 2 piles
A+ and non
the A+ all get a simple friendly call back to ask if they have it because a former work required it or if they got it in a class

I used to just toss all the A+ in the trash but I figured I should find out why they have it before passing judgement
Click to expand...
So the question has to be asked: in which case do you trash it now?? Getting it for a job or getting it in a class?

Makes me wonder how many good potential employees you lost by trashing anyone with the A+.
 
It is a well known fact on this board (we have discussed this in depth in the GenMay section). that MOST (not all) Geek Squad members are worthless hacks that are simply promoted from computer salesman to Geek Squad by managers that know even less about computers than the Geek Squad.

In fact we had a few Geek Squad members post about their experiences and the results were shocking.

One was asked to wear glasses to portray a more "geekish" image, most are trained to fix problems with something the call an "MRI disk" (the MRI part has nothing to do with Magnetic Resonance Imaging...it is simply a techie sounding acronym).

1. run Adaware
2. run some type of antivirus
3. if those do not fix the problem, make random guesses as what needs to be replaced...usually the motherboard and hard drive will be named, so the customer may be bamboozled into buying a new computer from a Best Buy salesperson that is conveniently only a few feet away.

I've had to clean up a few messes the Geek Squad left behind in my small college town.

Thus far both computers I have repaired were diagnosed by the Geek Squad as needing a new motherboard and hdd. When in actuality one computer needed a new videocard and the other needed a new keyboard (that’s right, just a keyboard).

In the GenMay discussion we had about the Geek Squad we have basically attributed their success to this old adage:

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

Meaning, in a society where most people know jack about computer repair, those who have a vague idea or can exude an image of having a vague idea can flourish and feed upon the ignorance of the masses. And they (the masses) will most likely believe us whole-heartedly and blindly pay out the A$$.

We also concluded that the extremely pricey nature of the Geek Squad may lead more people into learning how to diagnose and repair computers on their own (at least enough to NOT call the Geek Squad). This is the conclusion we hope will come to pass.

On a lighter note, I will be making some anti-Geek Squad shirts. I wonder how they'll go over when I stroll through Best Buy.
 
Rombus said:
So the question has to be asked: in which case do you trash it now?? Getting it for a job or getting it in a class?

Makes me wonder how many good potential employees you lost by trashing anyone with the A+.
Click to expand...

getting it from a class not required or paid for by your job

for any given posistion i usualy get about 500-800 apps
I'm sorry but I have to have Some method of getting rid of half the stack
I know i have lost some because I do know several friends who hire based on having the A+.
and I always send a letter to any failed applicant refereing them to apply with one of my friends and if they turn out ok
over 3 years of doing this and filling ~100 posistions i have gone back and hired 1 from my friends that I had initialy not considered.
 
tiebird321 said:
getting it from a class not required or paid for by your job

for any given posistion i usualy get about 500-800 apps
I'm sorry but I have to have Some method of getting rid of half the stack
I know i have lost some because I do know several friends who hire based on having the A+.
and I always send a letter to any failed applicant refereing them to apply with one of my friends and if they turn out ok
over 3 years of doing this and filling ~100 posistions i have gone back and hired 1 from my friends that I had initialy not considered.
Click to expand...
LOL, i guess you wont be hiring me then, Technically i got it from my highschool course, it was a requirement to pass with an A. I didnet pay for it, i just wanted the A.

Personally, i dont see many college students applying to work at my department with A+ certs, so anyone that DOES have one gets a second look.
 
you are an evil evil person to even think about joining those fucks. :rolleyes: (J/K, about the evil part)
hey, it sounds like a fun job, but I couldn't sleep at night knowing that I stole people's money.
 
Rombus said:
LOL, i guess you wont be hiring me then, Technically i got it from my highschool course, it was a requirement to pass with an A. I didnet pay for it, i just wanted the A.

Personally, i dont see many college students applying to work at my department with A+ certs, so anyone that DOES have one gets a second look.
Click to expand...

By class i mean one of the punch out drones computer schools
i have had people show up with A+ that gave me dumb looks when i asked them how often someone should defragment their HD.
 
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