We recently wrote a post where people revealed the shocking secrets from their jobs that more people should know. In the comments, more employees revealed “industry secrets” that the rest of the public doesn’t know, and it’s wild. Here’s what they had to say:
1.“Bank clerk here. Sometimes, when we open your account, we kinda forget to set up the billing for fees…which means there’s a chance you’ll never get charged for any of our services. Yep, totally free — for life.”
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2.“Former restaurant worker here. Don’t roll up right at closing and expect a meal. The kitchen is closed, the dining area is getting final checks, and the staff are mostly out the door. They’re tired, hungry, and ready to go home. No one cares if you are a ‘regular.’ You can Google the restaurant hours and the location of the nearest McDonald’s.”
—Anonymous, 42, Massachusetts
3.“I’m a cosmetics counter manager. This is not a glamorous life! We are expected to look a certain way and act a certain way, like putting on a nine-hour play, and people have no idea what’s going on behind the curtain! We are educated and artistic people with a plethora of knowledge about this industry, so when a person comes in after watching a TikTok or YouTube video wanting something, and we explain that you don’t need it, it’s wrong, and you need something else, please listen to us! We have your best interests! So, please don’t treat us like we are idiots. Because of social media, you are not getting what you need. Stop ordering online, and COME IN so we can genuinely help you!”
“We are treated so poorly by management and customers that we are a mess of nerves! These stores have cameras EVERYWHERE! Places you can’t see! Not only is security watching you and knows when you take something that doesn’t belong, but our management goes in there and is watching us and our performance. We don’t want to keep coming up to you asking if you need help — we know you don’t, but we’re forced to. Some management treats us like Meryl Streep from The Devil Wears Prada! Also, NO, we do not want your husbands! We have husbands and boyfriends! Most of us just want to help people and make their lives better! Please help us help you.”
—Anonymous, 45, Arizona
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4.“I’m a social worker. With my job, there are A LOT of questionably moral and ethical things going on all the time. It tests your values and beliefs every day.”
—Anonymous, 49, Idaho
5.“I work for a health insurance company doing medical appeals. Doctors are not sending the needed information to get your medication approved. If they did, you wouldn’t have a denial. We don’t just deny medication. They must state why it’s medically necessary for you to take this medication. They should list what other things you have tried: Physical therapy, prior medicine that did nothing, etc. They don’t do it. They let it deny, and if you have a good office, they will send the requested ‘information.'”
“We have one doctor who doesn’t even send in the formal paperwork, and then patients call us upset. Ask your doctor if they have an experienced team member submitting medication requests to insurance. Game changer!”
—Anonymous, 55, Nebraska
6.“Licensed mental health therapist here. Yes, we are therapists, but we are not your therapist. We are not cruel, mean, or bad therapists because we decline to hold space for our friends, families, or strangers. The people in our lives may benefit directly from our professional skills, AND we are humans who need the same level of care we provide to others. You don’t get to show up in our lives with your bad behaviors and expect us to accept or manage them because of our profession.”
“Additionally, when we don’t have space for what is going on in your life, it’s because we need time to decompress and process our own thoughts and feelings — be it about our personal lives or because what we do day-to-day is heavy. Or, we want to enjoy our kid’s basketball game, read a book, or take a nap without meeting the emotional demands of others. Give us grace and space, and don’t use us as emotional dumpsters without permission.”
—Anonymous, 41, North Carolina
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7.“Teaching special needs children is not babysitting any more than teaching neurotypical children is. Not only do we work on academics (and rewrite curriculums that are far beyond our students’ abilities because those in power don’t understand our population), we also work on life and vocational skills, all while running the risk of being hit, bitten, kicked, spit on, or assaulted in other ways.”
“It’s incredibly rewarding, and I wouldn’t want to do anything else, but it’s so frustrating when people think my job doesn’t matter.“
—Anonymous, 40, New York
8.“Being a park ranger isn’t all about interacting with furry woodland creatures. It’s about cleaning toilets, scrubbing showers after someone pooped in them (yes, it happens frequently), and trying to keep visitors safe from the environment and each other, all while displaying a friendly attitude. Parks are overcrowded, and rangers do their best, but it’s exhausting.”
“We don’t take breaks during the summer — just eat a quick lunch (I take about eight minutes) and get back to work.”
—Anonymous, 63, Oregon
9.“Pharmacist here. Don’t get me started. So many people are clueless about their meds. They want you to refill their ‘little white tablet,’ no name, no idea what it’s for, but you should know because it’s in your computer. Then, they want you to fill ‘everything that’s due’ and then return later, demanding a refund because they’re no longer on a med. And what about the ‘There’s no refill…I have to take this for the rest of my life.’ Yeah? It’s a prescription — you need to take it under the supervision of a physician; sometimes we need lab work, follow-up, etc.”
“The label clearly states zero refills. How hard is it to order two days ahead? How bout the ‘Why does it take 20 minutes? Just slap a label on it.’ Uhh, because there are 30 people ahead of you. Finally, DO NOT BRING YOUR PET into the pharmacy; people don’t choose to be asthmatics, immunocompromised, or undergoing chemo. You actively chose to have a pet and take it on errands with you; don’t tell me you can’t leave it in the car. Leave it at home. Have some compassion — understand a patient’s health is ALWAYS our first priority, ESPECIALLY in a healthcare facility.”
—Anonymous
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10.“I used to work at a spray tan place as manager — not a chain, an actual spray tan salon — and while it had its good times, the customers were usually awful, entitled people who treated us like servants. People were rude and snobby and would try to get money off their service or never tip our spray tan artists. It is the least important job in the world, but clients acted as if there weren’t tan, the world would end.”
—Anonymous, 26
11.“Worked in student financial aid for many years. The federal and state governments heavily regulate financial aid. Who enforces those regulations? The college/university. Your behavior as a student (lack of academic success, officially or unofficially dropping classes, etc.) impacts your aid. Not reading information, not responding to emails, and missing deadlines is actually a you problem. Your tuition bill is a financial contract; if you want us to help reduce it, pay attention to information sent to you.”
“Also, your high school and college have offered multiple opportunities to learn about financial aid; go to these events so you know what to expect. Finally, the likelihood that you will be independent for financial aid eligibility is slim to none. The government does that on purpose. Your parents are the problem in that case, not the government.”
—Anonymous, Washington
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12.“I work in an OBGYN office. The number of patients upset with the providers because of the recommended care is appalling. Patients spend too much time on the internet or taking the advice of their friend’s-sister’s-neighbor’s cousin rather than listening to a trained medical professional. Yes, you should not be smoking weed during your pregnancy. Yes, being overweight comes with potential complications.”
“No one is trying to body-shame you. It is their job to explain your risk factors and what complications might arise during the pregnancy. It’s just ridiculous.”
—Anonymous, 39, Washington
13.“I’m a claims adjuster for an auto insurance company. 1) It’s normal for people to be walking around at the accident scene and only realize they’re injured a day or two later. It doesn’t mean the person you hit is pulling a scam. 2) Your injury claim is probably not worth anywhere near as much as you’ve been told. Soft tissue injuries (sprains, strains, etc.) are painful and may require treatment…but it won’t make you rich. 3) I know you’re in pain, and this accident is completely uprooting your life. I’m not doubting that, and I feel compassion for you. It’s just hard to hear someone talk about how life-changing their neck strain is when you just talked to someone else who watched their loved one die in the seat next to them in their accident.”
—Anonymous, 38, Ohio
14.“Dentistry! I have to deal with people being rude, not doing their part, and thinking we are out to get them when we are really trying to prevent other major issues and diseases. People think dental insurance means they don’t have to pay for anything. We have to see patients who are late up to 15 minutes, and then want us to be done in five minutes for an hour appointment. People also think we’re trying to poison them with suggested treatment and recommendations, etc.”
—Anonymous, 52, Massachusetts
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15.“I’m a veterinarian. Unless you bring your pet in for something simple like annual vaccinations, try not to be the last appointment before lunch. It’s the only break I get in my long day, and I don’t want to be late for it.”
—Anonymous
16.“I’m a senior marketing manager specialising in brand, design, and social media growth. I’ve been working in marketing for over a decade, so have seen the whole evolution of social media being a place for awkward Instagram photos of your dinner with a bad filter to having to build from scratch and run national brand accounts with 25K–100K followers, work with major influencers, run huge events for thousands of people, and rub shoulders with the stars. Everyone thinks that marketing is a super cool and fun creative career because of this, and so many people tell me I’m lucky to do what I do, but the reality is, I hate it. I hate every second of it. It’s now such a fast-moving industry that I never have time to breathe and review work, and it’s impossible to plan ahead.”
“Everyone thinks they can do my job because they have a Facebook account. Budgets are rapidly shrinking, but targets are made ever higher, and team resources are essentially cut in half at every company, as what should be a team of five now becomes one person’s job role, with that one person expected to be an expert in everything. I hate living life trying to convince people to spend more money they don’t have on crap they don’t need, which won’t change a thing about their life. I especially hate social media, what it’s become, and how people are so addicted that they don’t know how to live in the moment. I hate it so much that I don’t have any social media apps on my personal phone at all. I desperately want to retrain into something where I never have to think about social media ever again, but I’m trapped by not being able to afford to retrain because the salaries in marketing in the UK are still so low, especially for a woman like me. Despite how glamorous the marketing world looks and sounds, I wouldn’t recommend it. I would do everything possible to persuade my kids not to work in it and instead choose a career with meaning and purpose beyond vanity metrics and popularity contests. I so deeply hate it and know many ex-colleagues who quit the industry because they are so chronically burned out by it. I’ve hit burnout and severe depression several times in recent years of my career due to the stressful nature of the marketing jobs I’ve had. It’s just not worth it — don’t ever work in marketing. Choose anything else and live with purpose beyond selling things.”
—Anonymous, 33, UK
And finally…
17.“I’m a sales associate at a major department store chain. From the outside, I’m sure retail looks like a monolithic entity: products simply appear on the shelves, racks, and showroom floors for customers to try and (hopefully) buy. Behind the scenes, however, retail is a nightmarish mess of dozens of different departments trying to coordinate with one another, usually very badly; when any one of them drops the ball, it kicks off a domino effect of delays as everyone else scrambles to resolve what they can on their end and prays that everyone else does the same. So, the next time there’s a delay in restocking something, or your order gets held up for a few weeks, please don’t take it out on the salespeople.”
“Whatever went wrong, there’s likely nothing more they can do about it, either, but they probably want it resolved just as much as you do. (Also: Bloody EVERYTHING is made in China or Hong Kong. ‘Made In America’ usually just means they shipped the pieces over and put them together Stateside, but every part is made for dirt cheap overseas. It’s just a marketing trick.)”
—Anonymous, Colorado
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Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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