whats the current story with (again) SEARS?

[wolfstrike]

so i went to SEARS and i aced all their tests

(except for "advanced electrical" , i think i just did well on it)

they said they were going to call me and never did.

i called them again and they said "congratulations! THEY want to make you a job offer"

what the hell does that mean?

SEARS is advertising in every venue out here, they must be interviewing thousands of people.


they claim they pay 17 bucks an hour here and told me i would make more due to my "extensive experience", which scares the hell out of me because i've only been doing this for about 4 years.

they also said overtime was MANDATORY


if SEARS pays 17 plus OT, it's the best HVAC job in California unless you are a member of the Union Party.


i talked to one guy who worked there, he says he's been there for 7 years and likes it a lot, but everyone on this forum has nothing but horror stories and he wasn't in HVAC.


i try to ask SEARS questions but their answers are heavily guarded.

i'm not sure if i'm hired.
i have no idea how much i will be paid.
i feel like i will be there for 3 months and they'll drop me for not being a good enough SALESMAN.




has eveyone been recently hired by SEARS?

[marter]

knew a guy that worked with them for a few months... didn't ask why he left

[jumpit]

$17 hr is good pay in California? I have not worked for Sears for a long time, and I made 16.99 hr in the late 90's in Tennessee. I thought on the west coast wages were $32 hr and up.
Sears was ok to work for here, the routing was messed up, but other than that you could work all you could stand, and they did not mind paying lots of overtime at all. We worked out of our home and only went in to the office like once or twice a week. All your parts are mailed to your home to replenish your inventory. We had some good service managers also, so I guess that makes a big difference. That was a long time ago and I am sure things have changed alot. Good luck.

[timebuilder]

Think about this.

Sears is probably the "original" big box retailer. The simply had a different style than you see at HD or Lowe's.

The old Sears had only direct employees. They still do, to an extent. If you look closely at their advertising, you will sometimes see the words, "Sears authorized contractor."

Even though the customer typically approves the sale before you are sent out to a home, I have no doubt in my mind that there is an expectation that you will make an "upsell," perhaps replacing a thermostat or adding an electronic air cleaner, or some other bump to the bill.

$17 an hour sounds low for California. If you can't get clear answers to your questions, I'd consider that a "omen" of sorts.

[Some Dude]

I have never seen work done by sears that even come close to my caliber. The key word here is sales. Thats what they are about. If you are good you may go far, i dont know how they are to work for but ive seen their installations. Easy sales because people can put it on their sears card etc.

15 years ago they made a deal with Mc D'S to do all their hvac because they were doing Mcd's uniforms. By the time they were done with those commercial units they were destroyed. But wow can they sell.

[ryan1088]

i worked for them for 9 years before leaving over 2 years ago. i would not go back unless i absolutely had to. in the busy season i would have anywhere between 8-15 calls to run and 150-300 miles to drive. overtime is required until you finish all of your work. raises were weighted more heavily on what you sold the customer while you were at their house than it was on actually repairing things. i still stay in contact with a guy i worked with and he recently asked me if we have any spots open where i work now so take that for what it's worth. chances are probably good you will have one of those pretty painted a&e facotry service trucks too!

[wolfstrike]

oh it's easy to get HVAC jobs for 25 dollars per hour in this area, but i haven't met one person yet that has a steady job.


as far as i know SEARS contracts out all their installs

[fcs]

i try to ask SEARS questions but their answers are heavily guarded.

i'm not sure if i'm hired.
i have no idea how much i will be paid.
i feel like i will be there for 3 months and they'll drop me for not being a good enough SALESMAN.

I think you have a picture of the place already with your above statement

[temp rise]

If they offered you a job take it, sears is one of the few places that has steady hours at decent pay, i worked there years ago in mi. i did not like the split work week, other then that it was pretty good regular raises and bennies were ok learned how to repair washers & dryers which comes in real handy when my daughters call me to ask me what to do. and the guys back then were pretty cool had this really awesom guy named Hammond that i worked with very well educated.

Good luck