30 Workers Spill Their Industry Secrets
We believe that knowledge is power, and that these insider secrets can help you be a more informed consumer.
1.
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 [Tooth paste brand] lady came by and said that everything that says [Toothpaste brand] 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. The exception is sensitivity toothpaste typically does have an extra active ingredient. KNO3, which helps with sensitivity. Don’t ever feel obligated to buy the expensive toothpaste because you think it will be better for your teeth, just buy whatever you like best.
2.
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.
3.
A lot of librarians will waive your fines if you have an excuse and you don’t ask too frequently, even large fines. Also, librarians DON’T CARE about your fines and aren’t judging you. Please come back. We personally have more fines than you. Librarians are ALWAYS overdue with their books.
4.
Knowing how to research the answer to a question is at least as or even more useful than knowing the answer to begin with. I made a living in IT for a decade with that mindset.
6.
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.
7.
As a beginner counselor I worked with a lot of children and adolescents. Consistently the discussion with my colleagues was how it was the parents who were the biggest problem and the kids were just adapting to a crazy environment.
8.
Former industry: commercial radio It's never caller 5. It's the caller who sounds best on air
9.
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 wd40 sometimes
10.
I’m a fossil replicator and apparently the industry secret is the fact that we exist. So many people are blown away to learn that most fossils they see in museums are replicas.
11.
Auto insurance agent. Please, for the love of god, don’t tell auto insurance agents more than you have to. They ask you a question, just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and answer the question as straight as you can. If you go on and on about your life story, you will probably end up saying something you don’t have to and making your rate higher, or getting yourself declined. We WANT to get you that policy as cheap as possible, only tell us what we need to know and don’t say anything else.
12.
Human Resources: we exist to protect the agency from the employees, not the other way around
13.
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.
15.
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.
17.
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. Source: 5 years as a chef in Italian cuisine head chef, 8 years in an Italian kitchen
19.
As a former TSA worker airport security is alot of theater. 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 Micky Mouse on it and he let the person through because he wasn't paying attention.
20.
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.
21.
At Goodwill, we don't clean anything that we sell, and we get some really gross stuff that touches everything else so next time you buy something from Goodwill, wash it well
22.
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
23.
Teacher: The parents are more of a hassle than the students. I doubt that is a secret, but there it is...
24.
The ice cream machine isn’t broken, the f'*ckers were just too lazy to clean it, or more likely, none of the people working that day know how. It’s a b*tch and takes like 4 hours. It shuts off and makes you clean it, so rest assured it’s gonna be clean. Just not when you need it.
25.
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. American Airlines will destroy your luggage. They get overloaded on carts, fall off on the way to the plane, and are left there to get run over by tankers and yes, fuelers, and rained on, then dragged to the edge of the ramp to sit all night while you arrive at your destination and wonder where the hell your bags are. If your departure is delayed, 90% of the time it's us (the fueler). Look out the window to the right side if it's a small plane, left side if it's a really big plane. If there's a truck sitting under the wing, we're the reason you're late. Sorry.
27.
Almost every hairstylist gets the heebie jeebies when we shampoo your hair and you just stare up at us. CLOSE. YOUR. DAMN. EYES at the shampoo bowl!
28.
A huge portion of online reviews, ratings, social media presence, etc that you see for any given company are fake, paid for, or done by multiple accounts controlled by us. This includes a company’s Glassdoor page (fake reviews about how great it is to work there so that the million negative reviews don’t crush their page). I’m not saying it’s every company out there, but it’s been a lot of the ones I’ve worked for. Source: am copywriter. What are ethics? I surely don’t know anymore.
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