Every year, thousands and millions of people submit their resumes, pass (or fail) interviews, and get new jobs. Their success largely depends on how the new work team will turn out, how entitled or not the boss will be and, of course, on the level of wages. But sometimes these aren't the main success factors.
There are various professional secrets at almost every job, and knowing them in advance greatly facilitates your workflow. So we do think that this compilation of random professional behind-the-scenes secrets may very well be incredibly useful for you.
#21
Sometimes thermostats in offices are only there to make the occupants feel good. They appear to change the temperature but on the back end of the system they are locked out or limited to 1 or 2 degrees. This placebo keeps people happy because they have some control over their environment. Other times, the unit is just broken.
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109points
#22
People really DO listen to the recordings of your phone calls that “may be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes.” There’s an entire industry surrounding aggregating and analyzing the data from those calls and how they went from a compliance and QC perspective.
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106points
#23
That product you purchased a few months ago that's been on backorder that you called about the other day?
Uh...it's not still on backorder. Well, it is, but we had to reorder it because it came in the other day and no one put your name on it and it got sold. Sorry.
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103points
#25
One of my funniest secrets as a teacher is using a 'magic word' that makes all my students immediately stop making noise and pay attention to me. That word is 'cookies'! When I say it, everyone instantly freezes and looks at me expecting me to get a tasty snack out of my bag. Of course, I don't always get cookies, but it helps me keep control in class and make learning more interesting and fun.
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97points
#26
Shutting down a nuclear plant is far easier than you think (or the movies have you believe). I know of a dozen ways I can shut down our plant -- none of which require access to the control room.
My favorite one was someone closing a 3/8" valve on the roof of a building, causing a plant trip.
The hard part is keeping a plant running! Everything is so finely balanced that it takes very little to shut it down.
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97points
#27
I no longer work there, but I try to spread this info every time, because it helps the bottom-line.
AutoZone: Return-swaps (when you return an item you previously bought, for a different item) and warranty-swaps (a warranty item is damaged and swapped out for a new one) count as sales.
AutoZone's warranty policy covers ANY damage *taps a baseball bat against the counter* aside from general use wear and tear. *drops a hammer on the floor* Whoops, how clumsy of me.
All I'm saying is it would be a real shame if your used break pads got snapped in half, by accident. Something about Auto Zone break pads... They're the same as the ones in every other store, and at the dealership, but they somehow keep coming back snapped in half, just before they're worn down into the "red zone." Oh well, gotta honor the warranty.
So would you like a warranty on those break pads, sir or ma'm?
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88points
#28
When I fix your car there is no magic plunger to magically suck the dents out. I have to do lots of stuff.
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73points
#29
Your mobile telco runs a lot of telemetry on their networks and already knows about the issue you're experiencing. It'll get fixed when it's worthwhile to do so.
Running a call centre and accepting coverage or speed complaints is a PR exercise and regulatory requirement. These complaints never make their way to engineering.
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66points
#30
You would probably not eat out so much if you could see what is going on behind a wall in the kitchens of most food establishments.
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54points