First IT jobs: What COO Natalia Crosdale learned from the Geek Squad

Before Natalia Crosdale became an IT program manager at the US State Department, or the founder of her exec-level advisory Crosdale Consulting, or a production support specialist at CNN, she was a Geek.

Crosdale’s IT journey began in 2009 on Best Buy’s Geek Squad, which sends out teams of technicians to set up and repair the computers, tablets, and other devices sold in the megastore.

Her stint at the Geek Squad led Crosdale to change her major (which was HR management at the time), attain tech certifications, and ultimately see and follow a career path into IT.

“In my mind at that point, either you were a licensed engineer or not. I didn’t realize [until then], ‘Oh, there’’s a space for the people who help the people, who are using the products and services that the licensed engineer might have built,’” Crosdale said.

Then in theaters. Tech support operations like Geek Squad and help desks are considered a valuable career launching pad for IT professionals early in their careers. IT certification provider CompTIA recently named IT support and the help desk as one of the best jobs for IT career changers, with opportunities to pivot toward project management, cloud engineering, and security architecture.

Before Crosdale could advance up the ranks of the IT world, however, she first needed to move across the department store.

Crosdale started in Best Buy’s home-theater section, which meant often sending faulty audio-video equipment over to the Geek Squad side of the building for testing. On busy days, the Squad might call on the intercom for extra help to deal with long customer lines—a call Crosdale was happy to answer.

Within about nine months, Crosdale became an official Geek Squad team member—first entering data from appointments and then officially going behind the curtain (literally) to remediate computer viruses, swap hard drives, add memory, and update optical drives.

Crosdale already felt comfortable around electronics. Growing up in Ssouth Florida, she had access to a computer lab as early as kindergarten, she said, and followed pre-engineering tracks in middle school and high school.

And she found a lot of satisfaction in the Geek Squad repair process: “These are the things that I can do to fix it. Voila, it’’s working again.”

Learning on the job. Crosdale’s Geek Squad experience led her to the help desk at tech services provider TEKsystems, where she eventually onboarded and instructed the company’s new help-desk employees—a familiar experience after she’d spent a portion of her Geek Squad time teaching classes on topics like operating iPads.

Geek Squad also sharpened another important IT skill: emotional intelligence, teaching her how to communicate with different audiences, be patient with people, and “separate, ‘Okay, someone is venting, do not take this personal,’ versus an actual direct attack.”

That empathy comes in handy as she relays engineering concerns (perhaps softening the messaging where necessary) as current COO at decision intelligence platform Salynt, or when she’s consulting with clients and teaching companies how to safely integrate AI.

Crosdale sees managed service providers (MSPs) as providing a valuable first stop for those interested in IT careers.

“Working for a managed service provider to me is the equivalent of an apprenticeship for someone who’s trying to get into this field, because typically they’re partnered with a more senior person to learn the ropes, learn the processes, and learn the language,” Crosdale said.

Crosdale also recommended a much more accessible option for those curious about entering the field: YouTube, where professionals share their real-world IT experiences.

The fix is in. The Geek Squad has gotten smaller after Best Buy’s recent layoffs. A smaller Squad, according to Crosdale, reflects how vendors and manufacturers have locked down the ability to fix devices. But new legislation like tThe Fair Repair Act, introduced in the US house in February 2026, offers some hope for those who want the “voila” satisfaction of repairing hardware.

“I think we’re shifting back to people wanting to fix their devices,” Crosdale said.

And that might require more people to see what’s going on behind the curtain.