Staples Certified Technician? Pay? and info?

SlayerX

I am thinking about applying to Staples for a "Certified Technician" position. I recently got out of a call center job that I absolutely hated. Is anyone familiar with this job? I am going to apply to it but I wasn't sure what the pay range for this is $10-$15? Also has anyone ever been in this position before?

Requirements are
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]1-2 years technical experience [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Good multi-tasking skills; ability to juggle multiple priorities effectively [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Previous experience working in customers’ homes/on-site businesses [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]A+ Certification preferred [/FONT][/FONT]

I wonder if this is like an easy tech or something? You will go to peoples houses and businesses and work on pc's at the shop. What are the Pros and cons of working for staples? I need some feedback. All is welcome

techwizard

I had an interview for this position about a month ago. The pay is $9.30 something an hour, after you do a 14 day training at $8.60 something an hour, and all they could offer was part time, around 20 something hours. You are expected to be a retail seller as well. There isn't a lot of actual "tech" work involved in this job, at least that is what I got out of the interview. This might be good for someone who is fresh out of school and needs some experience to put down on a resume, but I would not recommend it to anyone. The call center job is probably better. The person that interviewed me is the assistant manager of the store, he knew what an A+ cert is, but had no idea what a Network+ or Security+ cert is, he is clueless, and I am pretty sure that was not a trick to see if I knew what the certs are.

jahaziel

I actually laughed at them. I went for a interview during my college years. Had a good interview and everything. He offered to pay me 7.25 min wage in new york. I honestly said "are you kidding me"? At the time, I was working at a factory as a mechanic for $9/H.

kohr-ah

Depends the area but I would say figure you will average $11 an hour.

The downside is when there are no PCs to fix you are expected to just be a Staples associate and help customers and sell goods.

I would say if you are hard up for cash it isn't a bad gig but if you are looking for IT experience try to get a helpdesk role.

srabiee

I hate to say it, but this sounds like a glorified sales associate role. I worked at Office Depot many years ago, and they once asked me to make a lateral movement to a position where I would be performing minor repairs and upgrades to PC's, and virus removal. They also required that I make house calls using my own vehicle, and also continue to perform sales associate duties on a regular basis. $8.75 is what they offered.

glenn_33

I agree with Srabiee. But hey, you gotta start somewhere. I started out doing technical support for computer games @ $11/hour.

Gorby

I did a similar role at circuit city years ago, I spent a good amount of time doing sales and the other half doing minor PC upgrades and virus removal and the pay was just above minimum wage. I'd probably try to get a job at real help desk, you'd learn more there.

Bryan0530

I worked for staples out of high school long time ago.. your not going to do anything with computers truthfully. I would recommend geek squad over staples knowing that you'll gain more "hands on" experience there. I would look for a help desk job that will give you more of an edge IMO.

I would rather have someone that has 3 months volunteer help desk experience over someone that has been a staples tech for over a year. keep looking you'll find something

tushster

I am currently a Certified Tech at Staples, and to be honest with you, that's just a title. It just means you've taken Staples Easy Tech training and are certified to work on computers. However, there's no guarantee you will actually get to do any repair. In my case, I am repairing systems only if there's no other tech available. I'm not sure how other stores and management are, but my current location fails to utilize my skills (I have obtained an A+, Network+ and Security+), and management still somehow feel that the other techs, who don't have any certifications, are more qualified than me. My typical day on the job is approaching customers if they need help buying a particular printer or something, and putting items on shelves after we get stock delivery.

In terms of going to people's houses and businesses, there's additional Easy Tech training you have to do, and that's also something you will do only if they let you work on computers.

About the job:
Pros:
-You get to meet new people (many of whom you will form a good business relationship with)
-You will get good experience (if you work on computers)

Cons:
-It hurts you big time if your store doesn't put up good sales numbers/Extended Service Plans and tech dollars (there's a weekly quota every Tech associate must meet)
-As mentioned earlier, your job title doesn't mean much at a place like this

I agree with what others are saying: this job won't give you the experience I believe you're hoping for. If you do want a true helpdesk position, don't go into the retail field, because they're mostly after numbers and don't really care about helping you in career progression.

Orcrist

I'm also currently working as a Certified Tech. Tushster already said all of the important stuff so I won't repeat that. I get paid $8.70/hr here in Ohio so you would probably be better off getting a helpdesk job as far as pay is concerned.

jvrlopez

I'll never trust an Office Depot/Staples computer tech.

I was in line at their help desk/printing area waiting to send an international fax. There was a 16 year old or so girl and her mother ahead of us talking to their computer tech about their laptop that wasn't functioning correctly.

Basically he coerced them into paying for a virus scan, malware removal, and defrag, He mentioned that this would cost around $70 and would take about 3 business days. When the mother mentioned that the laptop was dirty and dusty, he recommend a "cleaning" which would greatly improve performance and cost an additional $15, all the which the mother eagerly agreed to. He was referencing using compressed air. He also recommend a "data backup" to preserve their files "just in case" for an additional $30. This would take another business day as well. Finally, he suckered them into paying $50 for a "service plan" to cover any future errors. So all this basic troubleshooting and repair ended up costing them over $150.

I wanted to butt in and tell the mother that I could take care of it all for $10, have it done within an hour, and show them how to prevent it from reoccurring, but some people are beyond saving and need to learn the hard way.

EDIT:

Went back and read the following:

Cons:
-It hurts you big time if your store doesn't put up good sales numbers/Extended Service Plans and tech dollars (there's a weekly quota every Tech associate must meet)

Seems like my suspicions were on point.