15+ Women Reveal the Deepest Secrets of Their Jobs

Most people seek a college degree to pursue the job they long for. However, one of the most valuable points for recruiters is the practice we have gained in the work field. What we learn in the “school of life” is not found in classrooms or books. That is why, when a professional advises or recommends something to you, they speak with the voice of experience.

Bright Side has compiled tips and experiences shared by women who seek to alert others not to make certain mistakes that they see repeated among their clients in different professional fields.

• I’ve worked in several restaurants. I could tell you a LOT of things. Here’s a few. Fruits are touched by gloveless hands that previously carried dirty dishes to the dish pit before making your drink. Servers don’t wash their hands. Ever, it seems. When the kitchen starts to pre-close, they put all the food on bus carts and everything sits out at room temperature for at least an hour. This is not safe as bacteria doubles every 20 minutes at room temperature. One thing I will say though is that open kitchens are the best place to eat at. You can see everything and don’t have to worry about cooks not wearing gloves and whatnot. © kimbalayy / Reddit
• I work for a medical insurance company. We get complaints that the hold time is too long. The problem is that everyone calls in the morning. The dept I’m in has 40 reps that have 600 calls coming in the first 4 hours. Then the rest of the day we are sitting around waiting for a few calls. The reps get off work each hour, and the last hour has only 10 reps. But we just sit there and talk to each other. © luckeegurrrl5683 / Reddit
• As a server, I have a lot of things I could share. We are absolutely reading into the vibes at your table. We can usually tell if it’s a new date, relationship, marriage, etc. personally, I’ve picked up on problematic couples many a time. Girlies, if you’re ever feeling unsafe or need a way out, find a female restaurant employee. We will do everything we can to help you. © hjs949 / Reddit
• Most cosmetics that don’t contain active ingredients really don’t do the things they claim. Most of the ingredients you perceive as helping your hair or skin are just there for marketing to attract you. © InstructionBasic3756 / Reddit
• Teacher here: Your child tells us about everything that happens at home. EVERYTHING. Every — little — detail. © WifeMom88 / Reddit

• When you go out to eat, so many people have touched that lemon that you wanted in your water. And terrible things grow in ice machines and soda guns. Lots of places don’t clean them often enough. © emmy1426 / Reddit
• Pools aren’t drained if a kid gets sick in them. Draining pools takes hours or days and is bad for the structure. But I promise you, we CLEAN. We strain out what we can. We scrub the deck in the surrounding area and anything that was in the water. We clean out the skimmers (the little filters behind the flaps). We put a ton of chlorine in, and we put in the pool vacuum. The next day (our pool foulings usually occur in the evenings when we have a lot of kids) we backwash — essentially run the whole system backwards to rinse all the crud out of our filters. By the time you’re allowed back in, the pool is probably the cleanest it’s ever been for you. © siel04 / Reddit
• I’m an esthetician. I do a lot of waxing to remove unwanted hair. We are told to tell you that you have to keep coming back every 3-4 weeks to eventually keep the hair from coming back. Unless you destroy the hair follicle itself (by electrolysis) the hair will ALWAYS grow back. © 3Xtri**ie / Reddit
• Worked in grocery store. Anything we had in the front would be in the back, and if anything was not in the front meant that we were empty in the back. So every time the usual grumpy person would insist in having me go check round the back, I would go, talk to a colleague or use my phone for 2 to 5 minutes (depending on the item I was supposedly looking for) then come back to the person saying “Oh, sorry, we are actually out of this at the moment.” © xladyvontr***x / Reddit

• Cashier here. If you come buy something very cheap with a huge bill, and complain about the change you want, I’ll give you the ugliest looking money: slightly torn, dirty bills, etc. Or sometimes give you on purpose too much change. I think money is money, and you have the right to buy something worth $0.10 with a $100 bill if you want to. But don’t be rude about it and make that face when I tell you I don’t have change. Most likely someone else came before you, someone else will come before you, and I had to give them change too, so I ran out. © waterywatershere / Reddit
• I work at a store that sells glasses, and it’s exactly the same. When customers object about the prices, they will say something like ’I could get the same thing for less’ and I literally tell them to go there. © im-biggerontheinside / Reddit
• Worked in a grocery store bakery. If you ask if the cakes are made fresh, especially in the case, we usually just say yes. Truth is, the cakes come frozen, premade. The buttercream comes premixed, we just whip it. They can be in the case for up to three days before we have to get rid of them, in the freezer for much longer. Don’t go to a chain grocery store if you want a fresh cake. © xactamundo / Reddit
• At a fast food chain I work for, we fry our French fries in beef fat, so if vegetarians eat our fries to find an alternative for meat, I’ve got some news for you. © _maniireddit / Reddit
• As a receptionist, I’d say you’d get a much nicer room if you seem like a nice person. You can absolutely ask for a room that is away from elevator, has the view you want or is in a high floor, even if that doesn’t seem like an option when you book the room. If there are available, we’ll give you one. If you check in around the evening, and you have booked a standard room, there might be a chance we have given it away, so we’ll have to give you a free upgrade. © w***h_hekate92 / Reddit

• Hairstylist here. We are highly educated in ways of destroying or transforming your hair. I work from home, charge way less than salons. The fee is high and it’s generic price. Even a bad hairstylist can still charge you $200 and basically use you as practice without informing you that they are BRAND new to the industry. © MelloM***10 / Reddit
• As someone who’s had several house cleaning jobs, it’s standard not to change out the big comforter on top. If the comforter is visibly dirty or smelly it gets changed, otherwise just the inner sheets. As for why: changing the cover takes a lot longer (we have to work ludicrously fast!), they’re bulky to wash and a pain to iron, and they don’t really touch your skin when you’re in bed — that’s what a top sheet’s for. © ihbos / Reddit
• Music industry record label — there’s a 50/50 chance that your signed vinyl/CD was forged by a random intern. If the artist did sign it, it’s likely a tired cramped-hand squiggle because they’ve signed thousands already that day. Artists hate signing! I’m talking about the pre-signed stuff you buy from their store, not in person signings. © audioboxer01 / Reddit
• Barista at a small café here. Big chains have ruined the definition of many espresso drinks. When made traditionally, there are a set number of espresso shots for each type of drink (two for lattes, for example) and if you get a “large” latte you’re just getting extra steamed milk. There is actually a difference between lattes and cappuccinos in the way the milk is heated (the ratios of steamed to foamed milk are different when you pour). © hopelesslyhoagie / Reddit

What lessons did your first job teach you? What advice would you give to those interested in pursuing your chosen profession?