How does one get a Double Agent job with Geeksquad? Can anyone help me?

Im about to finish a 2 year program which will yield my Electronic Servicing Degree with A+ cert and Computer Repair as my focus. I was thinking about just becoming an in store tech at one of my local Bestbuys, but recently I've become interested in going for Double Agent position. Does anyone here currently work for Geeksquad, or know what a Double Agent must have and if my degree is what they are looking for. I looked up a few things but Im not really sure if what i think double agent position is, is what it actually is. Can someone help me out? Thanks.

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ptilsen

Set your sites higher. Geek Squad is lower than the lowest rung of the ladder. With a two-year degree and an A+, you should be looking for a helpdesk or desktop support position, not a consumer PC technician position. Geek squad will hire high school students/grads/drop-outs with basic PC skills, no certs, no degree.

I would say the main traits they look for are incompetence and an utter lack of necessary knowledge.

Lamplight

ptilsen wrote: »

Set your sites higher. Geek Squad is lower than the lowest rung of the ladder. With a two-year degree and an A+, you should be looking for a helpdesk or desktop support position, not a consumer PC technician position. Geek squad will hire high school students/grads/drop-outs with basic PC skills, no certs, no degree.

I would say the main traits they look for are incompetence and an utter lack of necessary knowledge.

Agreed! Get the basic CompTia certs, and look for helpdesk jobs, maybe an ISP.

networker050184

I agree with ptilsen. If you are looking to make a serious career in IT Geeksquad should be the last resort.

nosoup4u

I was in high school when I got my first help desk gig and didn't get a cert till 6 years into my career. See what's out there!

methodmayne

Thanks guys, I will definitely look further into what company I will be happy with.

netsysllc

I interviewed a guy who worked at geek squad and had just gotten an IT degree at ITT. He got 9 out of 10 technical questions wrong had no server experience and proceeded to say he wanted $50k a year. Unfortunately the degree mills like ITT tell these people that is what they should make after they are done with school. Experience is king, school and certs show me you want to expand your knowledge which is a bonus provided the proper experience is there for the job.

lantech

I agree with staying away from Bestbuy. That was my first job long before they ever thought up the term geek squad. I was not an instore tech. I worked in a regional repair center and it didn't do me any good. In fact it made it more difficult to break into the IT world. Stay as far away from any retail computer jobs as you can.

Like others have said, with a 2 year degree and a couple of certs you should be able to do a lot better that geek squad.

someasiandude

I think it wouldnt be so bad if they didnt have those cheesy titles... wtf is a double agent? u gonna be working with james bond?lol

kanecain

Speaking as a former Geek Squad Double Agent (for 5 years), stay the hell away from Best Buy. The company is on the brink of destruction, the creator of the GS even left the company. And GS is a shadow of it's former self.

cyberguypr

There you go, directly from the horse's mouth.

kanecain

ptilsen wrote: »

Set your sites higher. Geek Squad is lower than the lowest rung of the ladder. With a two-year degree and an A+, you should be looking for a helpdesk or desktop support position, not a consumer PC technician position. Geek squad will hire high school students/grads/drop-outs with basic PC skills, no certs, no degree.

I would say the main traits they look for are incompetence and an utter lack of necessary knowledge.

This statement isn't necessarily true for all Geek Squad locations. I supervised a "Precinct", and I expected nothing but perfection from my people. I also hired guys (and gals) who had prior experience, or was working toward something IT related. I was a rare breed in the Geek Squad, and we had one of the highest customer satisfaction indexes in the country. As your post has noted, you will not get a lot of business customers while working in a store. You will see your fair share as a Special Agent and Double Agent. Back before Geek Squad had a negative image, a "Special Agent" (above a Double Agent) position required a minimal 3 years experience, and a MCSE and CCNA. For some reason (money!) they have cut this position, and it was notoriously hard to get. All said and done, today, I wouldn't recommend GS to anyone. The parent company is crumbling, and the Geek Squad brand has been forced to all aspects of the Best Buy business (TVs, Appliances, Car Audio). And when the founder of GS resigned, it all went down south.

Mike-Mike

I almost got a job at Geek Squad, but I'm glad I didn't. I would just feel stupid using those dumb terms and wearing that goofy outfit. But the facility looked cool.

Roguetadhg

I don't see the problem of a paycheck, while you look for another job.

tpatt100

I got turned down by Best Buy and Gateway Country back in 99'

CodeBlox

someasiandude wrote: »

I think it wouldnt be so bad if they didnt have those cheesy titles... wtf is a double agent? u gonna be working with james bond?lol

hahahahahaha!!! Bond... James Bond!

Does anyone have any geek squad horror stories?

networkjutsu

kanecain wrote: »

This statement isn't necessarily true for all Geek Squad locations.

Ditto. Not all "precincts" were the same. I was a GS "Agent" and at the time they were requiring people with A+ or with experience dealing with PCs/laptops and there were technical interviews that you had to go through. In the precinct where I used to work, all have A+ cert except for a part time employee who kind of helped out fixing computers but more on doing the sales & returns stuff.

I did the GS thing for a year and it was my first IT gig. With 6 months GS experience under my belt, I landed another IT gig. I had to drop the GS part time gig since it was hard to be part of a rotating on-call schedule and going to school part time. Will I be where I am now if I hadn't been part of GeekSquad? Most likely not. The GS did help to land the right IT gig that lead to more opportunities down the road.

Roguetadhg

I was under the impression that you had to have your A+ for GeekSquad

jibbajabba

The only thing I know about Geek Squad is what I heard in the news - wasn't it them who was sued for license issues with some Winternal programs and stealing documents / software of customer's PCs / Laptops ?

cyberguypr

And dont forget about Agent Peeper: Best Buy, `Geek Squad' sued over videotaping - Los Angeles Times

Roguetadhg

Countless 'adult' picture finding. I think one person tried to use the pictures he found to try to personally troubleshoot with a customer.

WafflesAndRootbeer

I was a Special Agent for around two years and all the horror stories are true and accurate for the most part. It's a job if you want to eat and get your foot in the door somewhere but it is not a long-term career by any means. They do not pay IT wages nor do they want to but it is what it is.

networkjutsu

Roguetadhg wrote: »

I was under the impression that you had to have your A+ for GeekSquad

Not all "precincts" require A+. After I left, they started hiring people who didn't really have computer training and/or certifications. I also know someone who became "Double Agent" without any certifications and/or formal education on computers. He did know a little bit about computers though.

jibbajabba wrote: »

The only thing I know about Geek Squad is what I heard in the news - wasn't it them who was sued for license issues with some Winternal programs and stealing documents / software of customer's PCs / Laptops ?

ERD Commander was the one I know they got sued. Our "precinct" used it pretty much everyday and not knowing that they weren't licensed or their licenses had expired but still continued to use it.

WafflesAndRootbeer wrote: »

I was a Special Agent for around two years and all the horror stories are true and accurate for the most part. It's a job if you want to eat and get your foot in the door somewhere but it is not a long-term career by any means. They do not pay IT wages nor do they want to but it is what it is.

It is definitely not a long term career. Get out as fast as you can if this is the only job that you can get as your first IT gig. I was really picky when I started looking for my first IT job when I got my AAS degree. I was adamant about not applying to any helpdesk positions (don't take it the wrong way guys. I just preferred to work hands on) when I first started and so my choices were limited. I also wasn't interested in commuting more than 20 miles when I was looking at the time so it even further limited my chances of landing my first IT job. I definitely learned my lesson from that.

Syntax

I worked for Geek Squad for almost 4 years. It was a great job for me while I was in college, because I was able to land a coveted full-time spot which allotted me to use their tuition reimbursement benefit (which was pretty good). That said, when I was first hired they were definitely looking for people with technical aptitude. Then management changed, and the focus was taken from providing quality technical support, to merely selling services to customers any way possible. Everyone had sales goals and most of the staff were part-time flunkies pulled off the sales floor because of their ability to sell, not technical ability.

Resume-wise, I don't really embelish on my time there all too much, although I still have it on there. I've found that it has given me a good boost reputation-wise with most employers, believe it or not. Mainly due to the fact that, being in a service/retail position like that, I can demonstrate the ability to work with people (of the technically-inept kind) and deal with difficult and frustrating situations on a regular basis. It won't start really working for you until you get some actual IT experience to go along with it, however.

abdullearns

I worked at Geek Squad as an Advanced Repair Agent as an AS Computer Science graduate with 4 years of desktop support experience. During this time, we got training to do a whole lot more than the average desktop support tech would - which included level 2 hard drive recovery (it's level 1 now in-store, while other levels are done at the headquarters); Windows architecture (registry, subsystem DLLS, threads, etc.); OS X maintenance - dealing with Keychain, malware (yes, viruses, worms,... on macs) which mostly also involved working in the terminal; and using a whole lot more tools most end-user techs will never have to use. However, have I encountered an incompetent person in Geek Squad? Yes, but so have I at my subsequent roles in other private and a few federal institutions. I have trained quite a few people who had Bachelor's from state colleges using my Geek Squad experience. My colleagues that I worked with in Geek Squad have gone ahead to take vital roles in system administration, cyber security and systems engineering at Google, GDIT, SAIC, Navy Federal Credit Union, among others. Given how much prejudice I have seen in this thread I will understand if I am beating a dead horse here.

It is not fair to brand all Geek Squad agents as incompetents and I would take the negative feedback from a former Geek Squad tech with a grain of salt because who knows what his or her experience was with the company. It's not like we have your full employment history in front of us to know what a great tech you were.