Will a company consider GeekSquad experience

[hewitcm]

I hear from everyone that experience is the most important aspect of being able to move up in the IT world. I have been trying to get an entry level help desk job, but haven't found one locally at this point. I accepted a job with GeekSquad today. Is this experience that can get me something in the future if I decide to leave the company? I am trying to find out if companies consider this as an actual tech support job or not.

I have passed the first test for A+ about a month ago and plan to get more certifications after this one but am not completely sure which direction I want to go yet. Also, there are opportunities to move up at Geeksquad that involve having contracts with local businesses and doing IT support which require certs such as A+ and ccna.

 

[RubeSmench]

GeekSquad is a fairly good first step into the IT industry. While I can't say for sure how the HR reps you encounter later on will react, I can not imagine any reason why a company would not consider this a form of tech support experience. Assuming at least, that you are in a position to get hands on experience and not just the guy who goes on coffee/bagel runs :O In the event you do decide to leave, just make sure you do it right and get a letter of recommendation from your supervisor. Between that and a well documented resume you should be good to go.

 

[hewitcm]

Thanks. This is what I was hoping when I applied for the job. I am mainly looking for an entry-level position that can get my career started in the IT field. I have a bachelor's degree already. My goal is to eventually get some high level certs and try to move up once I get the appropriate experience. The thing about geek squad is that it's more customer service (and probably sales) oriented than technical, but I'd hope it still counts as something.

I want to add this since I'm reading people trashing geek squad on here. I don't really like best buy, but this pays better than making sandwiches. idk, maybe I'll keep looking for helpdesk jobs, too...

 

[Peter.Cort]

Personally if i were hiring people for tech support and someone had geek squad as their only IT experience I'd press their knowledge more than most other applicants. Purely for reasons you stated, it's more customer service and selling their products that generally the customer doesn't need (I worked for circuit city doing sales and helping out firedog and they pressured us to upsell every chance we got. Customer has 2gb ram, obviously it's not enough, sell them 4!!!) and if your only source of learning is geek squad, then it's really limiting your growth because it's not teaching universal practices that you can take and apply in a help-desk type position. Obviously if you know and learn things about computer from outside geek squad then you can use that to justify your work with geek squad. I think most companies would take it as experience, but would take it with a grain of salt, and if you know computers and really know your IT stuff and have certs then it really bolsters the worth of your geek squad experience.

 

[Lexluethar]

I agree with everyone above. Not all experience is the same, but some experience is better than none. Experience is king in IT, and while some people may not weigh geek squad experience as good as say a mom and pop PC shop - it's still experience.

You are doing the right thing, get your feet wet and while working at geek squad try to get some certifications so that other companies see that you know your stuff and that you just aren't a tech that sells equipment at geek squad.

Also if you do leave, leave under the right terms - never burn bridges.

 

[hewitcm]

thanks guys for the great input. I'm definitely gonna get a few CompTIA certs to help me figure out which direction I might want to go in and am gonna do my best to keep learning and studying.

The replies are reassuring that at least I'm getting somewhere.

I'll continue to look for better opportunities, but I know that the higher ranking GS guys make decent money if they have the ccna

 

[Sheepykins]

well coming from a guy who used to work for a retail outlet i shall not name, with certain bad customer service and a low entry level for "qualified" technicians, alot of companies in england would look on it, but yes definatly try to test you. with that just as your primary experience you would fall flat, if you can afford it do some cheap self study courses.

**** just COMPTIA A and N+ are looked on favourably. and a child can learn A+

 

[Peter.Cort]

a child can learn A+ but I'm sure a good percentage of geeksquad employees couldn't

 

[hewitcm]

I know I have to start from somewhere. I'm willing to try and work my way up if I have to as long as I'm getting somewhere, even if it is just a baby step.

I don't wanna be one of those guys with certs and zilch for experience.

Should have the A+ done soon. Got the Mike Myers N+ book already. I want to learn more about servers to help me decide about the direction I wanna go. Originally wanted ccna but am reconsidering it because it seems difficult to get a job with just that.

Got alot to figure out still, but the comments make me feel better. I'm excited about the possible opportunities.

 

[cpatel1987]

The IT field is a broad title. It basically depends where you apply. If your applying for a job as some sort of network administrator, then GeekSquad won't mean squat. However, if your looking to become a computer repair technician, GeekSquad will give you experience. I will say that they do hire people that don't have A+ certification. Their philosophy is everything that they do on a store level can be taught, which in many ways is true, in some ways I disagree. The extent on which you do repairs is memory, hard drives, and software related issues. Everything else like motherboard or LCD replacement gets sent to GeekSquad city, where the true assembly line style employees are, aka those trained to take apart an entire laptop without hesitation. That doesn't mean your skills don't come in handy. The more you know, the less clients you'll turn down because of your experience with dis assembly. I say that because nowadays, computer companies are putting hard drives in places that aren't easily accessible to a common person. I remember taking apart an entire laptop once including the motherboard, cpu fan, sound connectors, etc. just to get access to the memory because the laptop designers didn't put a simple door on the bottom of the laptop. Some laptops for example require taking out the keyboard and bezels before taking out the hard drives. And, of course, in a for profit company, the less people you turn down because of lack of knowledge, the better they'll see you as an employee.

People say that GeekSquad is more sales than knowledge, which I'll disagree with. Its 50 50. Which is truth in any computer repair shop, a client will more likely buy services from a technician who can discuss the benefits of the services they do vs those that don't. Clients will always be skeptical, and the goal is to gain their trust and for them to see the value in the work you will do for them. And of course to reinforce that trust by doing the services well. Sales in my eyes does have a part in the IT field, because having a sales background shows that not only can you repair computers, but you can sell your services/experience and help whoever you work for profit.