Best Buy (Employment)

[callmemike20]

Over a 3 year period, I've worked at 2 stores. One was really chill and the other was full of crap. The chill store was actually one of the top stores in the area and the crap store was at the bottom. With the holidays coming up, be prepared to work 3am-5pm on Black Friday (try to get this shift because its better than the closing shift). As for sales, be prepared to be pushed. I sold computers just as you are. That department has the most attachment requirements out of the store. You have to sell and let everyone know about the geek squad services, sell warranties that cost the price of the computer, along with a million accessories. Even though it's a non-commission position, you will have to track all of your sales and managers will yell at you for not attaching accessories and services. However, if you can push these things out, you will be fine. Also, your co-workers will ultimately make the experience for you. Sometimes you get a really corrupt store, and sometimes you get a very laid back store. I've had both. I would try it out.

 

[Terminal.app]

Figured I'd give this thread a little bump with updates.

I've now been there a little over a month, and I have to say it's (so far) better than I expected. The customers are cool, coworkers are cool, and almost everyone including the general manager are more than willing to help me with anything whenever I ask. Can't really say it was the same at any of my other jobs. The discount kicked in too which is nice, although not being able to get anything off computers (especially Macs) because of the low margin sucks. Oh well

I have also quickly come to discover that I know far, far more about computers (and maybe technology in general) than my immediate supervisor. I find myself having to correct misinformation she gives customers, such as a few days ago when a customer wanted to know why 4 cores showed up in the Activity Monitor of a Core i3 laptop, and he was confused because he thought the i3 is a dual-core processor. She told him it was a quad core, while I was silently shaking my head. When she stepped away to check stock on something, I informed the guy that yes, he was correct, the i3 is a dual-core CPU, but it shows up as 4 cores in Activity Monitor due to Hyperthreading. On the i3, there's 2 physical cores, and 4 threads.

Fun, in a strange sort of way

 

[Rooskibar03]

I have also quickly come to discover that I know far, far more about computers (and maybe technology in general) than my immediate supervisor. I find myself having to correct misinformation she gives customers,

My 2 cents.

Correcting your boss in front of or to a customer is a good way to A) make an enemy you don't want, or B) Get your arse fired.

Trust me. As a bit of a "know it all" in my respective field I struggle every day to keep my mouth shut when I hear others make incorrect statements. It makes you look a know it all, kills your coworkers credibility and possibly a sale.

 

[Terminal.app]

My 2 cents.

Correcting your boss in front of or to a customer is a good way to A) make an enemy you don't want, or B) Get your arse fired.

Trust me. As a bit of a "know it all" in my respective field I struggle every day to keep my mouth shut when I hear others make incorrect statements. It makes you look a know it all, kills your coworkers credibility and possibly a sale.

Never when she's around, obviously, I'm not stupid. In any case, all the customers involved were very appreciative that I "butted in", as I'm sure they were confused enough already.

It's not a matter of being a "know-it-all", but it just makes everyone's lives easier when they've got the facts. I've heard the old "but but but I was in here last week and someone told me that _____" or "but I just asked that other guy and he said _____ " runaround enough to know that I'm tired of it, and it's best to nip it while I still can.

 

[callmemike20]

Make sure you sell that geek squad stuff and black tie protection. If you can sell in-home services regularly, you will move up (or get more hours) quickly. And don't forget the 50 million acronyms that best buy has. Managers and regional staff will randomly test your knowledge of it.

Oh! And good luck on Black Friday. You will sell three weeks worth of product by yourself within the first hour (if you have the morning shift). I always worked the 3am-4pm shift. I preferred it because you didn't have to clean up at night and time went by much faster. However, since you are selling computers, you wont be as busy as some other departments. 99.9% of the questions will be asking about the $299 laptop in the ad in which you will reply, "Do you have a ticket?" They will say no and get pissed. Because laptops are usually centralized in a specific area (as ticket items), try to get a busy spot in the department or try to work the tables and sell the laptops. Just make sure you attached as much as possible. Managers will be watching.

 

[wvuwhat]

My 2 cents.

Correcting your boss in front of or to a customer is a good way to A) make an enemy you don't want, or B) Get your arse fired.

Trust me. As a bit of a "know it all" in my respective field I struggle every day to keep my mouth shut when I hear others make incorrect statements. It makes you look a know it all, kills your coworkers credibility and possibly a sale.

If you do it tactfully, it works. Welcome to never being promoted...