If I’m hired I’ll be full-time sales in the Microsoft section of their hardware space.
What makes this a big deal is I haven’t worked since 2016. Suffering from mental illness (anxiety and panic disorder) and taking care of an elderly family member, I’ve been out of the workforce for 8 years.
I’m extremely nervous. I turned 41 last year, and I don’t want to be a NEET anymore. I’ve had nightmares about working again with all the stress and anxiety that comes with it, and now I’m thrusting myself head first into that reality.
I feel like being employed again will give me a huge boost in self confidence, but I’ve also never been this scared in my entire life.
Oh something I can help you with! I put in 5 years at geek squad so I know bby fairly well.
So, first off go in confidently. Not arrogant, but confident. This position is going to be at its heart, a sales position.
They see sweaty nerds a dozen times over who are just arrogant and want to talk about how this processor is only more expensive because it’s an Intel when they don’t even have super hyper threads or something. They want you to know the tech, but more importantly they’re going to be asking soft questions on if you can SELL the tech.
Your customers aren’t going to be people who want to know the processing speed of this processor, or even how much ram it has. They’re going to ask if they can run word, or if their niece can do the tiktoks with it. Your job will be to sell surfaces and Microsoft products, and to grit your teeth and say yes, it’s the perfect machine to do the tiktoks with.
Just truly be yourself, they’re looking for people who are relatable. I was so nervous when I started that I was afraid to go talk to people, but it ended up being great for me. I was able to learn how to strike up a conversation with randos and talk about tech in a simplified way. On top of that I was really good at it it turns out, because I didn’t bullshit my customers. Oh you want to just email your grandson? Take this 300 dollar computer. Maybe get the tech support so if you get a virus you don’t panic. Oh you’re a gamer? Well here’s an 800 bad boi that can play most games, maybe not top notch but it’s in your budget. Don’t need accidental coverage? Don’t worry about it then, enjoy!
I went from not being able to even say hello to a stranger to the best part time sales person they had, simply because I liked feeling out with people a bit. So that’s the job. They’re not going to ask you what certs you have, but they are going to see if your likable, if your someone people would want to talk to.
Go online (or hell even chatGpt honestly) and ask it to do a mock interview based around retail sales focusing on soft skills. It’s going to prep you pretty well. “Tell me about a time you disagreed with a coworker”, “tell me about when you had a boss who was mad at you”, that sort of thing.
Okay I know that’s a lot, but I hope you feel a bit better. Just be you, don’t try to be who you think they want. That’s a trap a lot of people who get turned down at best buy fall into. They don’t want a sysadmin or anything, they want a friendly face who customers will enjoy talking to
Good luck, we’re rooting for you!