Here Are The Insider Secrets That Industries Don’t Want You To Know
Work in any field for long enough and you'll pick up on knowledge and details that the general public has no idea about - stuff that most businesses probably want to keep on the down-low.
Of course, thanks to the power of crowd-sourcing, nothing is really a secret anymore - and a thread on Reddit asking commenters to discuss industry secrets proved to be very revealing.
Don't Visit At Closing Time
"I'm a server. No matter how much we insist it's "okay" that you are keeping the entire restaurant open after we've closed, please know we are 100% lying."
"We will get fired if we deviate from anything other than pure delight that you are keeping us from going home. We dread it. Please don't believe us."
Kennels Aren't Evil
"Managed boarding and grooming kennels for 8 years: the secret is that the employees actually do love your pets too. Even the difficult ones, most of us realize they just miss their people."
"The number of times I've weeped when a pet died, or spent way too many hours comforting a dog with separation anxiety, or spent hours off the clock with a boarder who needed to be rushed to a vet office...wouldn’t trade it for the world."
Don't Go All-Out With Diamonds
"I used to work in jewelry. Most of the prettiest gemstones are also very affordable. Tanzanite is a beautiful purple and looks nicer than amethyst."
"Topaz comes in lots of colors, including a pretty blue color which can be as nice as aquamarine. Opals aren't as brightly rainbow hued as they look in pictures."
No One Likes Stares
"Almost every hairstylist gets the heebie jeebies when we shampoo your hair and you just stare up at us. CLOSE. YOUR. EYES at the shampoo bowl!"
"I'd imagine dentists and dental hygienists would say the same thing. I close my eyes through most of it but when I do open them periodically it’s highly awkward to see their eyes staring back into mine from a few inches away."
Requirements Aren't Always Required
"Used to screen resumes for small companies. Job 'requirements' are more of a wish-list situation."
"Never let some unchecked boxes deter you from applying - you have no idea what the applicant pool is like. The biggest boon, especially at small companies, is someone who legitimately cares."
They'll Butter You Up
"There is way more butter than you think in almost every dish you eat at fancy restaurants, and that is usually the reason you won't see the amount of calories in each dish."
"I'm a chef in a French restaurant and the only thing dairy free is one salad and the drinks."
Time Is A Flat Circle
"Former bath and body works associate here. The scents they 'discontinue' will come back with a different name and new marketing. They're just recycling the scents."
"There are sooo many fragrances that are rebranded and recolored to a different flavor. Fragrance oil is absolutely 100% the most expensive part of any shower gel or foaming soaps we made."
Some Therapists Aren't A Good Fit
"Some therapists/counselors are on the wrong side of the couch, so to speak. If you feel your mental health provider is unhinged, they may very well be."
"Drives me nuts! I love my field and my job, and I hate hearing from clients that they're scared of therapy because of bad therapists."
It Doesn't All Go To A Good Home
"At Goodwill 50% of what you donate ends up in the trash bc we don't have the space for it or we just deem it too ugly."
"Our local thrift store has a semi-trailer sized dumpster behind it. They fill it every couple of weeks because most of the crap people donate was garbage to start with they just didn't have anywhere else to dump it so they donated it."
It's Good To Slow Down
"As a Software Engineer, double your delivery date for a product in anticipation of an over eager Project Manager trying to get promoted."
"I always pad the due date then get it done ahead of the deadline. Clients love me."
Not Great For Pets
"Former aircraft fueler. Don't check your pets in kennels. Especially in summer or winter."
"They are submitted to some very harsh environments, left on belt loaders in the sweltering heat right next to a running APU that's loud enough to deafen human ears, let alone a dog's. It's terrible. I always feel so sorry for them."
Cheaper Than You Thought
"The cheapest bottle of wine in the restaurant has the biggest markup."
"And your $6 glass of sangria might actually just be boxed wine with some fruit in it."
The Golden Rule
"You'd be surprised how willingly someone will do their job and even go above and beyond if you just compliment them for their professionalism, politeness and how they are helping them."
"As a cashier, I am not even ashamed to admit that I will do more for you if you tell me I'm being helpful."
Photographers Know Their Stuff
"Worked at a department store photography studio owned by a major photography company that you can imagine probably took your school yearbook photos. The company also is partnered with a popular online photo order website."
"Notice how quickly we write down a price, strike it out, and write a new price as the deal? Yeah, that's pretty much just the price that everyone gets. We aren't doing the math that fast, we have it memorized because almost everyone that comes in has that 40% off coupon."
Smoke And Mirrors
"Not an industry I work in per se, but I used to be in a sales role. One of my customers was a milk bottling plant. I was somewhat surprised that they were putting the exact same milk in both organic and non-organic cartons."
"Turns out all of their milk is organic, but in order to not miss out on the sales of non-organic milk, they just bottle them differently and sell them at different prices."
Life Hack Unlocked
"Construction boy here. If your windows or sliding doors are tough to open and close. 9 times out of 10, we put your own dish soap on tracks and the thing works perfectly."
"It take 5 minutes and we charge 150. Dish soap people, its better than WD-40 sometimes"
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
"Amusement park ride operator here. If your kid is crying and you want us to stop the ride, even if we want to it's not gonna stop immediately. The carousel will spin a few more circles or the ship will swing a few more times before stopping."
"The only exceptions is the emergency stop which will absolutely mess up the ride for a while if we press it."
Nothing Is Real
"Nobody uses bots to inflate metrics more than the most major players in the entertainment industry. All the numbers are fake, including sales."
"It costs about $200,000 to put your own book on the top of the New York Times bestseller list. All you have to do is buy a lot of copies yourself."
Life Lessons
"I'm a teacher. If you as a parent will read with your child often and early, your child will thrive in school."
"I’m talking daily books read together from newborn to about third grade. Every single day. No teacher can replace that."
Turns Out Architects Are Talented
"Every client thinks architects are unnecessary and they can draw the plans themselves but they are just too busy."
"Little different, but I frequently get phone calls or emails from prospective clients who want their entire company rebranded for a new marketing campaign, and want it done tomorrow with a budget of $100."
Hard To Keep Off The Pounds
"Weight loss industry. This might be obvious, but most of our business comes from return clients after they've gained their weight back (and then some)."
"To be clear, the plan isn't rigged to make you gain it back, but the fact that it happens easily as a result of dieting keeps us in business."
Some Artists Are Iffy
"A lot of successful artists at a certain level of success do nothing more than create a concept and employ several assistants, who are either current or graduating art students, who actually make the art itself, its reproductions or both."
"I make about the salary of a teacher (less) creating artwork everyday for a recognized contemporary sculptor, who then picks up the work from me at the studio, and then sells what I made for hundreds of thousands."
The Drama Of Security
"As a former TSA worker airport security is a lot of theatre. TSA is constantly failing plain cloths inspections."
"I worked with a guy who got fired because someone showed him an ID with a picture of Mickey Mouse on it and he let the person through because he wasn't paying attention."
Don't Be A Hotel Karen
"But for big brand hotels, if you try to sneak above the hotel and call the corporate customer care line to demand compensation/complain. That customer care line will always call the hotel for the full story and not just blindly give compensation."
"When I used to work in a hotel, we would call the customer care line pre-emptively. If a guest was acting up and we thought they'd demand compensation for something stupid, we'd get our story on record first."
No One Wants To Consider This
"If your grandparent or parent gets in-home care, please know that your family member could live in a cockroach infested house and not have to move if they didn't want to."
"It's not up to the company to give your loved ones environmentally safe places to live, it's up to the family. They can certainly try to persuade, but they can't force."
All About The Keywords
"Federal HR here, if you put the words from the vacancy announcement about what you need to qualify in your resume you'll almost always be qualified, we search for those words instead of reading an entire resume."
"After over ten years of working for HR you learn what you're looking for and how to do it. Some are easier than others."
Hit Up The Merch Table
"I'm a musician. It’s not really a secret but 90% of of our revenue is from merch. Spotify plays, show guarantees, etc, everything is menial in comparison to shirt sales."
"In fact, a big reason bands tour as often as possible is because we can sell more shirts when we’re in front of people."
More Selective Than You Thought
"Library Worker here: the majority of donations we receive do not end up in circulation (on our shelves) no matter how much you demand we put them there once they're donated."
"The reason why this is, is because we only add items to the collection that we think will circulate (be checked out)."
When In Doubt, Don't Flush The Wipe
"Plumber here. There's no such thing as a flushable wipe. The package lies. You drains WILL clog, and fast; your landlord will charge you; it's going to suck. Throw wipes in the trash if you use them; toilets paper is the only acceptable wipe."
"DO NOT POUR YOUR GREASE DOWN THE DRAIN FROM COOKING!!!! It will 100% clog your sewer drains over time."
Fluoride's All That Matters
"I'm a dentist. Here’s the lowdown on toothpaste. As long as it has fluoride they are all basically the same."
"When I was in dental school the Colgate lady came by and said that everything that says Colgate Total on it is all exactly the same, the only difference is the packaging. So whether it says whitening, or gum protection, or whatever else it is all exactly the same."