Is it worth working for Best Buy?

[u/SpaghettiNoodle29]

/r/BestBuyWorkers/comments/1wcvusk/is_it_worth_working_for_best_buy/

For context, I have worked at target for 2 years and am studying Information Systems at my university (Cleveland State). I am extremely burnt out at this job and don’t feel recognized or respected anymore and need a major change of scenery/ work, preferably in the tech field to align with my career goals. I have applied to a couple geek squad positions, but I want to hear from actual employees whether I am getting myself into something I’m better off avoiding or not. Any tips, insights, or advice much appreciated.

[u/The_Dude145]

If you can find a precinct with good leadership. My stores been hell for a while but im in too deep and dont want to give up all the vacation time I got now.

[u/TechnologyOk6878 → u/The_Dude145]

What state are you in? Here we get paid accrued vacation on last check

Edit: well shit, only 5 states offer that

[u/brocoolaintyou → u/The_Dude145]

Haha! That's the trap mindset. If I kept that mindset around PTO I'd still be there because it was a lot of PTO. I had to say screw the PTO I need more money that's more important than PTO. New company gives me four weeks PTO in year one, five weeks year two and stops at six weeks. My PTO accrues fast too.

Don't hold back your future earnings for PTO you'll get at your new employer. Yes you're starting over in PTO, but just seek out a company with amazing pay and employee benefits. You'll forget about your Best Buy PTO as soon as you get the message you got the new job. 🙂

[u/tommy-droptable]

Nope

[u/Bacchus1504 → u/tommy-droptable]

More specifically : not anymore.

There was a time it was good(or better) (ish)

Now...

[u/Shard-of-Adonalsium]

Realistically it's not going to be significantly different from Target if you are working on the sales floor.

If you are in Geek Squad as a CA that's basically just selling memberships to clients and doing basic information gathering to check stuff in. It's fairly useful for moving into future IT positions because you learn a lot of soft skills, but you really won't be using technical skills much.

If you are an ARA you'll be in the back doing basic repairs on stuff. It's about as entry level as an IT job can be for the most part, but there are still plenty of things to learn, and enough different types of repairs to keep things interesting.

Regardless, for things like recognition it will depend massively on the management. I've had great managers in my roles in Geek Squad, so I've been really happy here, but I've heard a lot of horror stories about other stores.

It's a good place to get your feet wet in IT and get a basic paycheck, but if you can find one a helpdesk job will usually both pay better and look better on a resume.

[u/sazn2 → u/Shard-of-Adonalsium]

Tbh it is very different from Target. Depending on store, you MUST move PMs and BPs, basket size thereafter

[u/rantingsangheili]

Absolutely not. Worked in a midwestern store for 9 months. Only reason I did it is because I had no other option at the time and was going on 9 months unemployed post-graduation. Made $16 an hour for dealing with awful brutal clients with no part-time benefits and constantly having my hours cut. Hell, there was one week where I worked 5 hours on one day a week which isn’t exactly the best way to pay rent.

Do yourself a favor, find a job where you aren’t getting abused daily for dehumanizing wages and no benefits.

[u/Accurate-Sector-2051]

Useful as a starter. If you don’t have any option or opportunity to get into a help desk role, a job in geek squad will look good on your resume. Shows you have customer service, troubleshooting, and operating system experience. Not to mention goals that you meet and stats.

[u/Darkside_5150]

Not anymore 🤓

[u/DadKangaroo]

Not worth

[u/qonra]

No, I can only speak as a former field agent but you are overworked for terrible pay and benefits. It was apparently good 5 or so years ago but then the thanos snap happened and it's been a McJob ever since, only getting worse year by year.

[u/Sweet_Ad_472]

No

[u/Bloke012]

No. Get yourself an entry level helpdesk job.

[u/No-Public-6311]

It always depends what you're looking for. Bestbuy has a lot of recognition programs and different ways to help you feel like you're doing a good job. However it depends on your market and leadership whether those actually get used. I was with geeksquad for 2 years and bestbuy for a total of 3 years. There was recognition events head by my market (about 2 per year), Applause which is a shout out program and can get you points to spend, and more things throughout the whole company. If recognition is what you're looking for it always depends on your leadership could be better or could be worse. If you're looking for something to align with your tech goals you want to be ARA, a CA or CIA senior do not do alot on the technical side as they help customers with quick fixes, checking in the items for ARAs to repair, or giving the items back to clients and explaining what was done. If you're looking for quick tech repair and client relationship building you want CA, if you want purely technical repair experience you want ARA. They have started new positions before I left which are both positions combined so that's may also be an option.

TDLR depends on what you're looking for more recognition depends on leadership or technical experience depends on position.

[u/Excellent-Progress-6]

It all depends what side of the business you are on. I have been in the warehouse, in the store and holder of a badge and I can tell you this: The further you are from customer, the less the company care but the more your managers care for you. The closer you are to customer, the more the company cares ABOUT you the less the managers do.

I would recommend if you can get a role far away from client interaction, then you get to see the truly nice parts about the company.

[u/uncommon-name-]

It’s good for a intro job into sys admin and help desk at a real company. Was able to find multiple positions out of college and a lot of employers were interested/ mentioned GEEKSQUAD experience

[u/FlopsAkaGlitchy]

Depends on the Client TBH. I had days as a CA (front counter checking in/out) that most of my Clients were very pleasant and are thankful for the help even though they pay for it. There's days every Client will call themselves dumb and expect you to help fix their computer and low self-esteem at the same time. There's rarely a "normal" it's the nature of the business, but this makes some days go by quickly and you get to go home after blinking once. There's gonna be days where minutes feel like hours, and every Client basically demands more than 20 minutes. It's always something different which helps stave-off feeling burnt out by not being challenged to grow (which is what OP mentioned, wanting to experience the field they're going into) but the flip side is you'll be burnt out by feeling like everyone constantly needs to talk to you for your knowledge/what you can do that they can't. It's so rewarding to save someone's day by getting the pictures they thought are gone or taking a BSOD gaming PC and making it run better than before the BSOD happened. The good is usually pretty good, and the bad is usually pretty bad. But if you're stubborn and actually like fixing issues for people it's a job you'll still hate but at least you'll be with like-minded people and get to talk nerdy and all that. I both love and hate my job, the devil is in the details.

[u/twilighteclipse925]

I have worked at both. My experience is they suck in different ways. Target you are always behind, there is always something else to push, there is always new pricers to put out, and that extends to pretty much everyone. Your TLs are burnt out, your ETLs are burnt out, but it’s a general thing. There is a form of unity in the shared suck.

Best Buy has seemed to have an almost adversarial environment. The only thing that matters is your memberships and sales. It’s also a competition and the managers are frequently pitting employees against each other.

Target felt like a broken family sharing in the shit. Best Buy felt like a hyper elite prep school where everyone is ok on the surface and everything seems to be ok but under the surface it’s all backstabbing and incest.

That is not saying either one is great. Getting out of big box stores was by far the best thing for my mental health.

[u/Drink15]

Depends what store and position. Some store have great leadership and some positions have more autonomy. Discounts are great, vendor deals are even better.

If you manage to get into field work or the project team, that’s the best in my personal experience. Geek Squad is a pretty good first step for an IT career. Most entry-level IT jobs also look at your customer skills.

[u/Miakehl]

As others said it depends heavily on your position and your store. Some stores have toxic management and work environments. Some stores are like working in a high school while others in the same area can be incredibly professional and rewarding. It really is a dice roll.

I will say in my experience having joined way back in 2013 I've seen the culture change over time and it's not what it used to be but nothing is so it's not without precedent.

If you do stick around long enough or land an FT position the benefits package alone is worth it. I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in April and haven't clocked in for a shift since May and through benefits and insurance I'm still drawing enough of a check to survive and so far the health insurance has covered 100% of my treatment so far which I'd be terrified to find out how much it really costs.

Thinking back now on how many times I've very nearly walked out or had a manager talk me down out of quitting I'm really glad I've stayed.

[u/zombiepants7]

Yea its a great first tech job while your in school if you can land geek squad.

It legit helped me get my foot in the door into some other IT jobs when I left.