Employee: Geek Squad wants good salesmen, not good techs

On the TechExam.net forum, a Geek Squad employee (reportedly) paints this not-so-rosy picture of a job with the PC installation company.

(Thanks for the heads up, RTI Installer at RemoteCentral.com)

$10-$12/hr is the max they will pay you unless you are an In-Home tech. I was also told I was overqualified in my interview but I got the job anyway. The only required cert for Geek Squad is A+; however, only the senior tech is required to have it. Where I work we have people from 18 (me) all the way up to the 30's.

If you do indeed end up working for the Geek Squad, DON'T expect it to be a purely computer related job. You are required to ring up computer sales, test all returned items (including TVs, washing machines, iPods etc.), and sell Geek Squad services. Best Buy does not care if they have good techs, they want good salesmen. Be prepared for the worst customers also. Best Buy salesmen will tell them whatever they want to hear to make a sale. Usually, the techs get an earfull when the customer finds out their iPod will not be repaired in store and will take 3-4 weeks to get it back.

Point is, the Geek Squad is a baby step towards a career. In 2 weeks I'll be starting a full-time internship with a local Cisco partner and never look back. The Geek Squad may not be the best IT job, but it provides experience to those who have none.