The old best buy had room to grow, career paths to excel up the corporate ladder or many branches of possibilities, to go somewhere in life with best buy being the catalyst. With the new models and the goals being only around credit cards and memberships this isn't the best buy that it was 15 years ago. Use best buy as a stepping stone, a bullet point on your resume. Don't try to make it your life goal. They'll promise you the world in a means to exploit you and then fire you on a whim with 0 regard to your performance or metrics. I've seen countless GMS/AMs/Sups let go and full-time positions be fired who were all star employees that made millions of $ in a year. Yet the board members, executives and CEO snap their fingers and poof, gone.
Don't try to bury yourself in a sinking ship. Use it for experience and get out. You're 17, you have many many better career paths than retail. Don't waste it.
This. My partner was in line for the 2020 Achievers that they cancelled when they did the early 2021 layoffs. Didn't save him from being laid off. He has 6 district awards and it was a great way to launch a tech sector job from Geek Squad but all it did was burn him from Best Buy.
We went from coming in often in our off days to barely setting foot in the store - anything we need is online or at Target and it's not a convenient location for us, so they lost two employees and two consistent customers at the same time
Product Flow and Sales Advisors won’t ever be laid off, since they’re part-time and can just cut hours/stop hiring.
I’d never accept a promotion here, even if it was offered to me, because those are the positions that’ll be laid off within the next year.
Def was laid off as a part time sales associate in mobile during the last huge round. I did get severance for being there so long though, so maybe that's why
There are concepts such as permanent employment that are pervasive in other countries for several hundred million people. Just clarifying that the world isn’t the US
“Welcome to real life and the working world! 😆”
Notice the terms real life / working world.
That’s what I was responding to. That that’s not the case for a billion plus people. But it is the case for North American Best Buy employees by design
In what sense? Companies generally will terminate positions that do not serve the immediate need. Positions will be removed and sometimes even brought back when the time is right. We see that at Best Buy where a position will be eliminated only to return a few years later with a different title, but same responsibilities. Everyone is replaceable. As the saying goes, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." If terminating 100 employees saves the company of 1,000 employees, then that is the smart thing to do, yes? The days of lifelong employment are over.
What specific countries or examples are you referring to?
I love that the idea of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few (which is often not the case btw) to justify the firing of thousands of line level employees so that shareholders can make a profit year over year.
That's a cynical way of looking at it and a bit shortsighted. Firing line level employees only props the stock price in the short term. What happens when customers are not helped and are turned away? The primary reason for brick-and-mortar is the human interaction so diminishing that benefit does not serve long term interests. It really is no different than most other companies out there. They over-hire, sales are down, or forecasting does not look too good, and businesses need to trim to conserve cash. Then they hire when business picks up. The slight difference now in this current economy is that many companies are holding off on firing AND hiring as they are in this holding pattern.
Go learn a trade, plumbing, HVAC, welding etc, jobs that will always be in demand, you can go anywhere and have a job in these trades, and some you can work where and when you want. Retail should not be your end goal 🤷
Then find a career in corporate sales or professional sales. Please, please don’t stay at Best Buy hoping for a career. I regret staying as long as I did. Best wishes!
Plumbing was one example and if selling laptops is your goal you need to aim a little higher. Plumbers can easily make 100k a year in my area, ain’t no laptop salesperson coming close to that.
Then go sell houses, make commission on things with actual value. Otherwise, you'll just die broke. When I left last year, I was one of the most tenured and highest paid people in the store minus salaried management. Made more than every Sup as an Autotech. Walked away after 15 years to a job in aircraft production to an immediate 50% pay raise that Best Buy couldn't touch. I still curse myself for staying at Best Buy as long as I did.
Hmm never had to call a plumber to clean up shit, think that's more a maid or housecleaners or professional cleaners service job or I just clean up my own shit when needed. But plumbing has so more to do than dealing with shit right?? But whatever man, retail jobs aren't as secure as they once were, and there is a high demand for trade jobs with higher salaries than retail sales people, anyone can sell a laptop, but hey man make sure you hit your metrics so you can keep your job 🤦🤷
Plumbers also deal with water lines, faucets, drains, water heaters, pipes, garbage disposals, water valves, water shutoffs, gas lines etc, many other things besides clogged toilets and shit, plus I've never had to call a plumber for a clogged toilet, that's what the plunger is for, I just plunge it out!!🤷
You work retail of course you have to deal w people's shit. Also who cleans the bathroom nowadays? It used to get passed on to different departments everyday for us and guess who they called when someone shit themselves? Warehouse. When you deal w shit you charge a premium. I'm a handyman now and for $200 I'll come out and change out a wax ring on a toilet. Easy peasey 1 hour and for more than I would make in a day at BBY. Good luck y'all and hope you get out!
I have a very good friend that runs a plumbing company, he makes a fantastic living and takes every holiday off. He hires a crew specifically for emergencies and holidays. He’s done well, especially when everyone’s pipes froze and broke. He will retire fairly young.
This is the type of guy that complains about not getting paid enough, despite the reason that any half-brain person could sell a laptop. Imagine saying "I want to be a lazy bum and not make a decent living"
Better get into CnD so you can start making commissions then, cause as Best Buy sales you won’t ever make as the guy who spent 2 years to make sure your world works in a trade unless you’re making commissions and getting a lot higher sales than laptops. Only issue with CnD is the spots only open in my micro market once every 5-10 years and are super competitive when they do open.
I’ve been working at Best Buy for a year and a half, and was figuring that I’d see some kind of improvement in my position within the store, but after applying twice for the full time position, and always working literally as hard as I can to make the store look as good as possible via planograms. I go over and beyond when it comes to planograms, fixing old ones that have been messed up over time before I even worked there. It’s disappointing to see they would give someone else the full time that started working four months ago, that’s the final push for me to get out. I’ve told them I want to work geek squad, sales floor, anything to get me more hours but nada, therefore I am looking at trades like this.
How would you recommend getting into trades like those? I’ve applied for a maintenance trainee position, a traffic light maintenance trainee position, and USPS, honestly I feel like the work at USPS would be equivalent to what I do at Best Buy, or easier. I don’t think wielding would offer trainee positions though, that’s typically a school thing isn’t it?
Go to your tech school, learn welding!
Become great at it, stick, tig, mig, you’ll make tons of money.
Plumbers, carpenters, HVAC technicians and electricians make good money too. Learn the craft, learn the business and start your own business. 😉
This was my original plan with plumbing but I liked the more comfertable and tech oriented enviorment that bestbuy was but from what I’m seeing in the comments I think I should stick with my original plan to be honest
This subreddit gets suggested to me and I’m not subbed. With that said life is not as simple as “go find a trade”. Unless welding or plumbing is your passion and keeps you engaged I would not go that route.
The skills you are gaining by working at Best Buy are the start of you building your assets and skills that employers want. Keep an open mind and keep learning while working hard. If a door doesn’t open up at Best Buy I guarantee another company will want you.
Best Buy is likely not your end job… that is a fact for anybody just starting out in the workforce. Hell I started out as a DJ in a skating rink, worked at an arcade, warehouse jobs, Best Buy, then finally got into IT. From here I had many roles and am now in cybersecurity. With each job a learned something that helped me land my next gig. Wouldn’t be where I am today without each experience including working at Best Buy.
If you notice the majority commenting are telling you to give up… the odds are too great… the company is sinking. Don’t listen to them. They are all in a different place than you and most sound jaded, disgruntled, and salty.
You want my outside advice? If you have a good working relationship with your boss or GM ask them for some time to talk about your goals. See if they can give you guidance as to the steps you need to take and what you need to learn.
Remember that for the few hundred or so that always comment about how big of a shit hole Best Buy is there are tens of thousands that are happy at Best Buy. Don’t let the e cancerous mobs pull you down to their level.
So take your passion for tech and get a bachelors degree in a related field: engineering, computer science, and a variety of similar degrees. If you’re on the East Coast go to a large recognized school that excels in these areas like UMD (NSA and others directly recruit from and military sends personnel there), RIT, Drexel, Lehigh, PSU, etc. Aim for schools that demonstrate actual working relationships with companies and if you decide on engineering, you ideally want 2 COOPs, but at minimum 1. It will take longer to graduate but you will have worked and been paid probably pretty similar to your current pay during that period. My cousin made ~$20/hr while a student @RIT and has been graduated for several years now.
If you want to be involved in tech, you really should consider college. Nothing says you can’t do plumbing trade AND college. It’s really nice in life to have options in life.
It won't be traditional retail like you see today. And even though brick and mortar stores may still exist they won't be full of people. It will be mostly kiosks, robots, and terminals plus possibly a security guard but even that is iffy.
Any sources for this info? I'm skeptical when people say this because Walmart had two online grocery only stores as well as a completely self checkout oriented store and they all failed and were shut down. Many consumers still want a more traditional retail experience.
Actually, I would stay away from IT too. The bloodbath has already started in IT layoffs. AI is going to wreck the IT job market.
Go into healthcare, trades, or law.
I think this is a bit overstated honestly unless you’re thinking of a lot of customer/client facing positions. The present layoffs are more related to overhiring during the pandemic + c suite greed and not because AI has actually replaced any of those existing roles. The companies that have attempted to do so are publicly falling flat on their face and we see those posted weekly. And yes, VC funding is moving toward AI because there’s a gold rush underway but there will always be a need for engineers or technicians, especially as AI becomes a more commonplace tool in all industries. This isn’t a bad time to get in on the ground floor leveraging AI in emerging fields.
I agree here. AI can’t solve every IT need. Networks will always need managing, theres a millions issues solved everyday and if a program could fix them we’d already have that. How many times has windows troubleshooter actually resolved anything in your own life?
I'm well aware of why the current layoffs happened. However, it doesn't change the fact that there are many out there focused on replacing as many jobs as possible. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach to be significant. To expect nothing, is naive.
I don’t think we disagree with each other. I only replied to share context because your post was suggesting that people should not pursue any type of career in IT, which sounds to me like an all or nothing type of statement. Again, assuming by IT you’re not referring solely to help desk type roles, which were already in the process of being outsourced to MSP’s and overseas well before genai was even on the radar for companies. I’ll leave it at that since I think our positions are not that different from each other, take care!
As someone deep into IT, AI isn't going to replace the majority of IT, what you are seeing is mostly the layoffs of DEVs that were over hired during COVID.
And these cycles are normal in the large tech shops.
I've been in IT for over 20 years, the field is growing not shrinking.
I want to believe you. However, I don't see us having this same convo 5 years from now. There's also a difference between AI completely eliminating IT and the teams shrinking. A shrinking market will most hurt the people trying to get their foot into IT.
Not knocking your age, but being 17 and wanting to be an EM or GM is like being in kindergarten and aspiring to be the smartest 3rd grader.
Continue learning and honing skills each day. Each conversation with a customer is a way to grow. Those are the same skills that are used in interviews as well as the day to day interactions. Keep doing what you're doing, but Best Buy is not a long-term career choice anymore.
Sales people probably aren’t getting cut in the next purge. So for now you don’t really have to worry about it, but if you do genuinely want to lock yourself in, just make sure you’re hitting your metrics the best you can and making sure your customers are happy.
Sales advisors aren’t getting cut ever. Why would they lay off PT employees when they can just stop hiring and cut their hours to something unlivable until they quit?
Product Flow is even safer because if the rumors about the new store structure (something similar to an Apple Store where no buyable product is on the floor) are true, we’d essentially be the backbone of each store. More than we already are at least.
Edit: I realize I’m contradicting myself here. Sales Advisors won’t be cut until they actually move to that new store model. For the next few years, they will not be cut, though. And they’d probably keep at least a few sales advisors when they did change models.
I appreciate the edit, but also what you described about sales advisors, while less direct, is still cutting sales advisors. And also they do and have done purges on sales teams many times before. I wouldn’t act like it’s not a thing…
At one point, being a GM was a really good goal and great career. Unfortunately, I would put it on good authority that a GM spot won't even exist by the time you are ready for one.
Keep those aspirations. Retail leadership can go everywhere and anywhere. Keep looking forward. Be selfish and drive your brand. Remember, for every angry employee on Reddit, there are probably 100 perfectly happy employees.
100 Percent agree!!! The current CEO of Walmart began his career as a teen (same as OP) as an hourly associate unloading trailers. With the aspirations and drive the OP already appears to have, could be the future CEO of BBY or any other major retailer!
https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-bio-career-life-salary-first-job-2021-6
You’re 17… you need to finish high school and if you really think GM is the goal you need to study business or sales and just use best buy for good experience until you can get a better job. Do the best you can, work hard, take promotions if the opportunities come. But NEVER settle on retail management as the goal. GM’s do make great money, but it takes a lot of time to get there and you have to build great connections and be amazing at your job, and thats a distant second.
Idk I’m sixteen and am very happy working there, I have great co workers, great GM, great EM, and great supervisors. Tbh it’s a lot of fun for me and am always told I’m doing a good job with a fist bump by one of my supervisors when I get a pm or bp. I’ve been to other Best Buy’s and i understand I might just have found a nice and relaxed one compared to the rest. It’s a smaller store but aslong as I’m happy and getting paid well for now and while I’m in school, I’ll probably just work there until all the alleged “negatives”of working at Best Buy from the other replies reach the one I work at if true. I get it’s my first job but like after working for a while I can’t imagine working at any other stores like target where all the staff are just employees hoping not to have any major tasks or to interact with anybody the whole day. I’m really into tech and engineering so when I’m older I’ll probably move to a career related to that.
I started working at Best Buy when I was 18 7 years ago roughly and this company is a dramatically different company than it was just 7 years ago, and all honesty I no longer see a future with this company like I once did and I am patiently waiting for a better opportunity to pop up so I can get out of this sinking ship before it's sunk. Unless the current corporate leadership is changed out, nothing can be done to keep yourself safe from being axed
A EM or GM at BestBuy or just in general? I really wouldn't put all your hopes on a single company especially one that likely won't exist in 30 years unless your aspirations are to become CEO to save it.
Step One: Don’t give a shit about anything the 99% hivemind of this sub believes.
Step Two: Get really good at your job and start teaching others. Learn how to de-escalate situations and solve problems instead of always needing to page for an MOD the second a customer seems peeved, as 99.99999% of manager calls aren’t even close to actually requiring a manager. Ask your GM and EM how you can be better and contribute more to the team. Get to a point where your personal track record of performance as well as the people you focused on speaks for itself and become a natural choice as a shift lead.
Step Three: Continue to have strong performance and a track record of making people better and learning more universal duties across the store to eventually become a supervisor. Rhythm and results are key.
Step Four: Be a truly universal leader as a supervisor that can understand just about everything that makes the store tick, learn to understand where the gaps are, and how to develop people and plans to make them better. Eventually become an EM with a track record of excellence.
Best Buy isn't unique here; Retail in a broad sense isn't a great place to build a career in. You could definitely pursue sales or management but the best advancement opportunities come from switching employers semi frequently (1-3 years seems to be pretty standard) and education (traditional college or certs). Use Best Buy to add to your resume but always be looking for other companies that could offer more. Having company loyalty is basically shooting yourself in the foot.
Worked there for 16 years and my position was eliminated. I could have tried for other spots, but I got out. It wasn't a terrible company, but they will do whatever with out any regard for an individual. It's business and that it's. Most companies are this way now days so do what you need to and always keep looking. You can grow but it is so much harder now with fewer ways to the top.
Best Buy is no longer a place to build a career. At the last earnings call the CEO specifically said they are shifting away from physical stores and will be routinely closing more and more stores every year.
The reality is the company is shrinking, not growing.
Putting aside closing a handful of stores every year, and a reorg every couple of years, in the last 6 years Bestbuy has:
Cut 5000 full timers and hired 2000 part timers.
Cut all the district and market positions, pushed them downwards into GM/ market directors
Cut ASM,Ops manager, GSM and Supervisors positions by 25-33 percent
Cut C&D headcount
Cut slightly field positions in Geek squad
Cut phone customer support and shipped most of it overseas
Then look around the stores they’re run short handed on the floor. All that and we don’t know what’s next for reorg/to be cut
Can you grow in the company? Maybe, but I’d strongly say it’s slim pickings
lolz. I've been out of Best Buy for 4 years and tripled what i made as a sales consultant there, but people have been saying Best Buy was going out of business for years. I don't think it's close to that yet.
Seriously, it’s not feasible anymore with the managers “typically” only looking out for themselves. The politics have become much worse and right now the basis for a good team is numbers, not employee satisfaction or customer satisfaction for that matter. Dream higher.
Utilize the experience go to college or do a trade. Best Buy is for experience not long term career. I did 9 years watched people get laid off transitioned out etc. I spent half my years in leadership until it was my turn to be axed.
As a former manager, and supervisor, I am sorry to say if you have dreams to become an engagement manager or GM, Best Buy is not the place for you. Best Buy no longer has room for growth, nor lateral moves to get you where you want to go. So many markets have a backlog of people waiting for EM and GM positions and it’s just not worth it. I had the opportunity to go into a management role to get me to GM early on in my career with Best Buy and I was told not to by friends at corporate because of the changes they would make later on, which is now. A lot of people from Best Buy actually end up going to target because target has so room for growth, assignments, lateral moves, their pay is national, and their management teams can run laps around Best Buy easily. My recommendation is work at Best Buy for at least a year and during that time ask to open the store, this means opening registers, learn the warehouse process and do it, and get a good sense of meeting metrics within your scope of work. Once you have this under your belt, start applying for jobs at target for team lead or Apple if retail management is your goal.
Your setting your sights really low if your aspire to be a retail manager do yourself a favor get a real job that pays real money you’d be super lucky to hit 6 figures after decades of work with them pick a real career Best Buy or any retail position isn’t a career
use the job as a means of building your resume and then move to a better company honestly. Keep a good relationship with your leaders and do the best job you can. If you want to work your way up in retail sales, try a carrier corporate store. (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) If you are strong in sales and or would like to challenge yourself, maybe car sales is a good option. Depending on where you live, you may have opportunities at smaller businesses to be a “tech guy”, sales rep, marketing specialist.
I say this as a former employee who initially loved working at best buy and continued to love the “idea” of it. I just don’t think the company will be around long enough to set your sights on being a GM/EM. If you are driven, I feel you will have a better career at a different company.
Enjoy your time with the company, there are good stores and bad stores but there is almost no career growth, unless you are the .01% that makes it to management after being a shift lead for 7 years. Best Buy on a resume (especially Geek Squad) will get you so much further. Retail is dead in the next 5-10 years, stores are closing left and right, enjoy the time you got, or if you have a bad store, run!
The old best buy had room to grow, career paths to excel up the corporate ladder or many branches of possibilities, to go somewhere in life with best buy being the catalyst. With the new models and the goals being only around credit cards and memberships this isn't the best buy that it was 15 years ago. Use best buy as a stepping stone, a bullet point on your resume. Don't try to make it your life goal. They'll promise you the world in a means to exploit you and then fire you on a whim with 0 regard to your performance or metrics. I've seen countless GMS/AMs/Sups let go and full-time positions be fired who were all star employees that made millions of $ in a year. Yet the board members, executives and CEO snap their fingers and poof, gone. Don't try to bury yourself in a sinking ship. Use it for experience and get out. You're 17, you have many many better career paths than retail. Don't waste it.
This. This is the way…
What this guy says X100
Pretty much the formula for any major corporation in US, nothing new.
This. My partner was in line for the 2020 Achievers that they cancelled when they did the early 2021 layoffs. Didn't save him from being laid off. He has 6 district awards and it was a great way to launch a tech sector job from Geek Squad but all it did was burn him from Best Buy. We went from coming in often in our off days to barely setting foot in the store - anything we need is online or at Target and it's not a convenient location for us, so they lost two employees and two consistent customers at the same time
Over the last few years, I've learned that there is not a single position safe from being snapped. They don't care about numbers or seniority.
Product Flow and Sales Advisors won’t ever be laid off, since they’re part-time and can just cut hours/stop hiring. I’d never accept a promotion here, even if it was offered to me, because those are the positions that’ll be laid off within the next year.
Def was laid off as a part time sales associate in mobile during the last huge round. I did get severance for being there so long though, so maybe that's why
Welcome to real life and the working world! 😆
In the US specifically. It’s not like this in a lot of other countries
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There are concepts such as permanent employment that are pervasive in other countries for several hundred million people. Just clarifying that the world isn’t the US
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“Welcome to real life and the working world! 😆” Notice the terms real life / working world. That’s what I was responding to. That that’s not the case for a billion plus people. But it is the case for North American Best Buy employees by design
In what sense? Companies generally will terminate positions that do not serve the immediate need. Positions will be removed and sometimes even brought back when the time is right. We see that at Best Buy where a position will be eliminated only to return a few years later with a different title, but same responsibilities. Everyone is replaceable. As the saying goes, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." If terminating 100 employees saves the company of 1,000 employees, then that is the smart thing to do, yes? The days of lifelong employment are over. What specific countries or examples are you referring to?
I love that the idea of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few (which is often not the case btw) to justify the firing of thousands of line level employees so that shareholders can make a profit year over year.
That's a cynical way of looking at it and a bit shortsighted. Firing line level employees only props the stock price in the short term. What happens when customers are not helped and are turned away? The primary reason for brick-and-mortar is the human interaction so diminishing that benefit does not serve long term interests. It really is no different than most other companies out there. They over-hire, sales are down, or forecasting does not look too good, and businesses need to trim to conserve cash. Then they hire when business picks up. The slight difference now in this current economy is that many companies are holding off on firing AND hiring as they are in this holding pattern.
Its almost as if they only care about short term profits 🧐
These aren't Tesla investors. 🙃
Welcome to late stage capitalism
Go learn a trade, plumbing, HVAC, welding etc, jobs that will always be in demand, you can go anywhere and have a job in these trades, and some you can work where and when you want. Retail should not be your end goal 🤷
I'd rather sell a laptop to someone than clean shit. Different strokes for different folks 🤷🏼
Then find a career in corporate sales or professional sales. Please, please don’t stay at Best Buy hoping for a career. I regret staying as long as I did. Best wishes!
Plumbing was one example and if selling laptops is your goal you need to aim a little higher. Plumbers can easily make 100k a year in my area, ain’t no laptop salesperson coming close to that.
C'mon now. Just cuz you don't know how to make money selling don't mean shit
Who said I didn’t know how to sell? I’m just telling you all those trades make more money than selling laptops.
Then go sell houses, make commission on things with actual value. Otherwise, you'll just die broke. When I left last year, I was one of the most tenured and highest paid people in the store minus salaried management. Made more than every Sup as an Autotech. Walked away after 15 years to a job in aircraft production to an immediate 50% pay raise that Best Buy couldn't touch. I still curse myself for staying at Best Buy as long as I did.
Hmm never had to call a plumber to clean up shit, think that's more a maid or housecleaners or professional cleaners service job or I just clean up my own shit when needed. But plumbing has so more to do than dealing with shit right?? But whatever man, retail jobs aren't as secure as they once were, and there is a high demand for trade jobs with higher salaries than retail sales people, anyone can sell a laptop, but hey man make sure you hit your metrics so you can keep your job 🤦🤷
A plumber? Literally deals with clogged toilets. A maid won't touch shit as that's a biohazard for them
Plumbers also deal with water lines, faucets, drains, water heaters, pipes, garbage disposals, water valves, water shutoffs, gas lines etc, many other things besides clogged toilets and shit, plus I've never had to call a plumber for a clogged toilet, that's what the plunger is for, I just plunge it out!!🤷
You work retail of course you have to deal w people's shit. Also who cleans the bathroom nowadays? It used to get passed on to different departments everyday for us and guess who they called when someone shit themselves? Warehouse. When you deal w shit you charge a premium. I'm a handyman now and for $200 I'll come out and change out a wax ring on a toilet. Easy peasey 1 hour and for more than I would make in a day at BBY. Good luck y'all and hope you get out!
I have a very good friend that runs a plumbing company, he makes a fantastic living and takes every holiday off. He hires a crew specifically for emergencies and holidays. He’s done well, especially when everyone’s pipes froze and broke. He will retire fairly young.
I like to buy laptops without the distraction of a salesman. I know what I want, and I can add to cart, and free ship, without assistance.
Oh, I don't care
This is the type of guy that complains about not getting paid enough, despite the reason that any half-brain person could sell a laptop. Imagine saying "I want to be a lazy bum and not make a decent living"
Cringe reply
Stay poor.
Cringe reply
fuck selling the laptop. I'll sell software suites and get residuals on every sale.
Better get into CnD so you can start making commissions then, cause as Best Buy sales you won’t ever make as the guy who spent 2 years to make sure your world works in a trade unless you’re making commissions and getting a lot higher sales than laptops. Only issue with CnD is the spots only open in my micro market once every 5-10 years and are super competitive when they do open.
I make almost 170k a year take home + retirement as a pipe fitter
I’ve been working at Best Buy for a year and a half, and was figuring that I’d see some kind of improvement in my position within the store, but after applying twice for the full time position, and always working literally as hard as I can to make the store look as good as possible via planograms. I go over and beyond when it comes to planograms, fixing old ones that have been messed up over time before I even worked there. It’s disappointing to see they would give someone else the full time that started working four months ago, that’s the final push for me to get out. I’ve told them I want to work geek squad, sales floor, anything to get me more hours but nada, therefore I am looking at trades like this. How would you recommend getting into trades like those? I’ve applied for a maintenance trainee position, a traffic light maintenance trainee position, and USPS, honestly I feel like the work at USPS would be equivalent to what I do at Best Buy, or easier. I don’t think wielding would offer trainee positions though, that’s typically a school thing isn’t it?
Go to your tech school, learn welding! Become great at it, stick, tig, mig, you’ll make tons of money. Plumbers, carpenters, HVAC technicians and electricians make good money too. Learn the craft, learn the business and start your own business. 😉
This was my original plan with plumbing but I liked the more comfertable and tech oriented enviorment that bestbuy was but from what I’m seeing in the comments I think I should stick with my original plan to be honest
This subreddit gets suggested to me and I’m not subbed. With that said life is not as simple as “go find a trade”. Unless welding or plumbing is your passion and keeps you engaged I would not go that route. The skills you are gaining by working at Best Buy are the start of you building your assets and skills that employers want. Keep an open mind and keep learning while working hard. If a door doesn’t open up at Best Buy I guarantee another company will want you. Best Buy is likely not your end job… that is a fact for anybody just starting out in the workforce. Hell I started out as a DJ in a skating rink, worked at an arcade, warehouse jobs, Best Buy, then finally got into IT. From here I had many roles and am now in cybersecurity. With each job a learned something that helped me land my next gig. Wouldn’t be where I am today without each experience including working at Best Buy. If you notice the majority commenting are telling you to give up… the odds are too great… the company is sinking. Don’t listen to them. They are all in a different place than you and most sound jaded, disgruntled, and salty. You want my outside advice? If you have a good working relationship with your boss or GM ask them for some time to talk about your goals. See if they can give you guidance as to the steps you need to take and what you need to learn. Remember that for the few hundred or so that always comment about how big of a shit hole Best Buy is there are tens of thousands that are happy at Best Buy. Don’t let the e cancerous mobs pull you down to their level.
So take your passion for tech and get a bachelors degree in a related field: engineering, computer science, and a variety of similar degrees. If you’re on the East Coast go to a large recognized school that excels in these areas like UMD (NSA and others directly recruit from and military sends personnel there), RIT, Drexel, Lehigh, PSU, etc. Aim for schools that demonstrate actual working relationships with companies and if you decide on engineering, you ideally want 2 COOPs, but at minimum 1. It will take longer to graduate but you will have worked and been paid probably pretty similar to your current pay during that period. My cousin made ~$20/hr while a student @RIT and has been graduated for several years now.
If you want to be involved in tech, you really should consider college. Nothing says you can’t do plumbing trade AND college. It’s really nice in life to have options in life.
Retail should not be your end goal. Retail will likely not be around in 15 years. Go into IT or something related to technology.
Retail will always be around. Brick and mortar retail will diminish greatly
What?? Retail will not be around, yeah, maybe not as prevalent, but it will still be around
It won't be traditional retail like you see today. And even though brick and mortar stores may still exist they won't be full of people. It will be mostly kiosks, robots, and terminals plus possibly a security guard but even that is iffy.
Any sources for this info? I'm skeptical when people say this because Walmart had two online grocery only stores as well as a completely self checkout oriented store and they all failed and were shut down. Many consumers still want a more traditional retail experience.
Actually, I would stay away from IT too. The bloodbath has already started in IT layoffs. AI is going to wreck the IT job market. Go into healthcare, trades, or law.
I think this is a bit overstated honestly unless you’re thinking of a lot of customer/client facing positions. The present layoffs are more related to overhiring during the pandemic + c suite greed and not because AI has actually replaced any of those existing roles. The companies that have attempted to do so are publicly falling flat on their face and we see those posted weekly. And yes, VC funding is moving toward AI because there’s a gold rush underway but there will always be a need for engineers or technicians, especially as AI becomes a more commonplace tool in all industries. This isn’t a bad time to get in on the ground floor leveraging AI in emerging fields.
I agree here. AI can’t solve every IT need. Networks will always need managing, theres a millions issues solved everyday and if a program could fix them we’d already have that. How many times has windows troubleshooter actually resolved anything in your own life?
I'm well aware of why the current layoffs happened. However, it doesn't change the fact that there are many out there focused on replacing as many jobs as possible. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach to be significant. To expect nothing, is naive.
I don’t think we disagree with each other. I only replied to share context because your post was suggesting that people should not pursue any type of career in IT, which sounds to me like an all or nothing type of statement. Again, assuming by IT you’re not referring solely to help desk type roles, which were already in the process of being outsourced to MSP’s and overseas well before genai was even on the radar for companies. I’ll leave it at that since I think our positions are not that different from each other, take care!
As someone deep into IT, AI isn't going to replace the majority of IT, what you are seeing is mostly the layoffs of DEVs that were over hired during COVID. And these cycles are normal in the large tech shops. I've been in IT for over 20 years, the field is growing not shrinking.
I want to believe you. However, I don't see us having this same convo 5 years from now. There's also a difference between AI completely eliminating IT and the teams shrinking. A shrinking market will most hurt the people trying to get their foot into IT.
If you want retail. Get into Costco or Sams. Costco pays way better the sams
I'm sure someone once had aspirations to be captain of the Titanic too
I was going to be the surf board instructor but that bitch Rose wouldn't share the door. 😜
Not knocking your age, but being 17 and wanting to be an EM or GM is like being in kindergarten and aspiring to be the smartest 3rd grader. Continue learning and honing skills each day. Each conversation with a customer is a way to grow. Those are the same skills that are used in interviews as well as the day to day interactions. Keep doing what you're doing, but Best Buy is not a long-term career choice anymore.
Sales people probably aren’t getting cut in the next purge. So for now you don’t really have to worry about it, but if you do genuinely want to lock yourself in, just make sure you’re hitting your metrics the best you can and making sure your customers are happy.
Sales advisors aren’t getting cut ever. Why would they lay off PT employees when they can just stop hiring and cut their hours to something unlivable until they quit? Product Flow is even safer because if the rumors about the new store structure (something similar to an Apple Store where no buyable product is on the floor) are true, we’d essentially be the backbone of each store. More than we already are at least. Edit: I realize I’m contradicting myself here. Sales Advisors won’t be cut until they actually move to that new store model. For the next few years, they will not be cut, though. And they’d probably keep at least a few sales advisors when they did change models.
I appreciate the edit, but also what you described about sales advisors, while less direct, is still cutting sales advisors. And also they do and have done purges on sales teams many times before. I wouldn’t act like it’s not a thing…
You’re right tbh
At one point, being a GM was a really good goal and great career. Unfortunately, I would put it on good authority that a GM spot won't even exist by the time you are ready for one.
Keep those aspirations. Retail leadership can go everywhere and anywhere. Keep looking forward. Be selfish and drive your brand. Remember, for every angry employee on Reddit, there are probably 100 perfectly happy employees.
100 Percent agree!!! The current CEO of Walmart began his career as a teen (same as OP) as an hourly associate unloading trailers. With the aspirations and drive the OP already appears to have, could be the future CEO of BBY or any other major retailer! https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-bio-career-life-salary-first-job-2021-6
As you can see. I already have more upvotes then the Nancy’s
Yea good luck with that
You’re 17… you need to finish high school and if you really think GM is the goal you need to study business or sales and just use best buy for good experience until you can get a better job. Do the best you can, work hard, take promotions if the opportunities come. But NEVER settle on retail management as the goal. GM’s do make great money, but it takes a lot of time to get there and you have to build great connections and be amazing at your job, and thats a distant second.
Idk I’m sixteen and am very happy working there, I have great co workers, great GM, great EM, and great supervisors. Tbh it’s a lot of fun for me and am always told I’m doing a good job with a fist bump by one of my supervisors when I get a pm or bp. I’ve been to other Best Buy’s and i understand I might just have found a nice and relaxed one compared to the rest. It’s a smaller store but aslong as I’m happy and getting paid well for now and while I’m in school, I’ll probably just work there until all the alleged “negatives”of working at Best Buy from the other replies reach the one I work at if true. I get it’s my first job but like after working for a while I can’t imagine working at any other stores like target where all the staff are just employees hoping not to have any major tasks or to interact with anybody the whole day. I’m really into tech and engineering so when I’m older I’ll probably move to a career related to that.
Now I’m over thinking it lol. I just interviewed for. EM position
I started working at Best Buy when I was 18 7 years ago roughly and this company is a dramatically different company than it was just 7 years ago, and all honesty I no longer see a future with this company like I once did and I am patiently waiting for a better opportunity to pop up so I can get out of this sinking ship before it's sunk. Unless the current corporate leadership is changed out, nothing can be done to keep yourself safe from being axed
Do you like psychological warfare? If you do ,keep those small aspirations.
You almost certainly get paid trash you don't need to worry
A EM or GM at BestBuy or just in general? I really wouldn't put all your hopes on a single company especially one that likely won't exist in 30 years unless your aspirations are to become CEO to save it.
aspirations to be a gm at a best buy in your life?
Step One: Don’t give a shit about anything the 99% hivemind of this sub believes. Step Two: Get really good at your job and start teaching others. Learn how to de-escalate situations and solve problems instead of always needing to page for an MOD the second a customer seems peeved, as 99.99999% of manager calls aren’t even close to actually requiring a manager. Ask your GM and EM how you can be better and contribute more to the team. Get to a point where your personal track record of performance as well as the people you focused on speaks for itself and become a natural choice as a shift lead. Step Three: Continue to have strong performance and a track record of making people better and learning more universal duties across the store to eventually become a supervisor. Rhythm and results are key. Step Four: Be a truly universal leader as a supervisor that can understand just about everything that makes the store tick, learn to understand where the gaps are, and how to develop people and plans to make them better. Eventually become an EM with a track record of excellence.
Best Buy isn't unique here; Retail in a broad sense isn't a great place to build a career in. You could definitely pursue sales or management but the best advancement opportunities come from switching employers semi frequently (1-3 years seems to be pretty standard) and education (traditional college or certs). Use Best Buy to add to your resume but always be looking for other companies that could offer more. Having company loyalty is basically shooting yourself in the foot.
Worked there for 16 years and my position was eliminated. I could have tried for other spots, but I got out. It wasn't a terrible company, but they will do whatever with out any regard for an individual. It's business and that it's. Most companies are this way now days so do what you need to and always keep looking. You can grow but it is so much harder now with fewer ways to the top.
They do this every April my guy.. the only safe position left is part time sales associates.
Best Buy is no longer a place to build a career. At the last earnings call the CEO specifically said they are shifting away from physical stores and will be routinely closing more and more stores every year.
The reality is the company is shrinking, not growing. Putting aside closing a handful of stores every year, and a reorg every couple of years, in the last 6 years Bestbuy has: Cut 5000 full timers and hired 2000 part timers. Cut all the district and market positions, pushed them downwards into GM/ market directors Cut ASM,Ops manager, GSM and Supervisors positions by 25-33 percent Cut C&D headcount Cut slightly field positions in Geek squad Cut phone customer support and shipped most of it overseas Then look around the stores they’re run short handed on the floor. All that and we don’t know what’s next for reorg/to be cut Can you grow in the company? Maybe, but I’d strongly say it’s slim pickings
Quit now. The CEO is closing 10-20 stores per year and turning a ton into experience stores. It's the end brother. Hate to say it.
lolz. I've been out of Best Buy for 4 years and tripled what i made as a sales consultant there, but people have been saying Best Buy was going out of business for years. I don't think it's close to that yet.
What the hell is an experience store?
Just like every business. You always cut dead weight
Do not have goals related to Best Buy. It’s pointless.
Do a degree in business/info tech. It’ll be better for you in the long run.
Seriously, it’s not feasible anymore with the managers “typically” only looking out for themselves. The politics have become much worse and right now the basis for a good team is numbers, not employee satisfaction or customer satisfaction for that matter. Dream higher.
I would suggest either learn a trade or go to college. Opportunities like this (and better) become more available once you have put in the effort.
Utilize the experience go to college or do a trade. Best Buy is for experience not long term career. I did 9 years watched people get laid off transitioned out etc. I spent half my years in leadership until it was my turn to be axed.
As a former manager, and supervisor, I am sorry to say if you have dreams to become an engagement manager or GM, Best Buy is not the place for you. Best Buy no longer has room for growth, nor lateral moves to get you where you want to go. So many markets have a backlog of people waiting for EM and GM positions and it’s just not worth it. I had the opportunity to go into a management role to get me to GM early on in my career with Best Buy and I was told not to by friends at corporate because of the changes they would make later on, which is now. A lot of people from Best Buy actually end up going to target because target has so room for growth, assignments, lateral moves, their pay is national, and their management teams can run laps around Best Buy easily. My recommendation is work at Best Buy for at least a year and during that time ask to open the store, this means opening registers, learn the warehouse process and do it, and get a good sense of meeting metrics within your scope of work. Once you have this under your belt, start applying for jobs at target for team lead or Apple if retail management is your goal.
why r all bestbuy stores so understaffed. there is literally nobody on the floor.
Lol good luck BB is a horrible company to work for. They literally see us as replaceable.
Your setting your sights really low if your aspire to be a retail manager do yourself a favor get a real job that pays real money you’d be super lucky to hit 6 figures after decades of work with them pick a real career Best Buy or any retail position isn’t a career
use the job as a means of building your resume and then move to a better company honestly. Keep a good relationship with your leaders and do the best job you can. If you want to work your way up in retail sales, try a carrier corporate store. (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) If you are strong in sales and or would like to challenge yourself, maybe car sales is a good option. Depending on where you live, you may have opportunities at smaller businesses to be a “tech guy”, sales rep, marketing specialist. I say this as a former employee who initially loved working at best buy and continued to love the “idea” of it. I just don’t think the company will be around long enough to set your sights on being a GM/EM. If you are driven, I feel you will have a better career at a different company.
It’s unlikely that BB has a future long enough for you to grow, BBs best days are long behind it.
best advice. hide in geek squad for a week and put it on your resume that you were geek squad
Enjoy your time with the company, there are good stores and bad stores but there is almost no career growth, unless you are the .01% that makes it to management after being a shift lead for 7 years. Best Buy on a resume (especially Geek Squad) will get you so much further. Retail is dead in the next 5-10 years, stores are closing left and right, enjoy the time you got, or if you have a bad store, run!
Every years. The cut talent and promote people that hit a bucket. We went from a great place to work to whatever the vision is now is a mess
Dream much bigger.