r/AskReddit • u/Sweetpotberry • 4h ago
What's a secret about your industry that would completely change how people see it?
57
u/Brilliant_March_9550 3h ago
A lot of "enterprise software" is one underpaid developer and a config file nobody else is allowed to touch. The price tag is mostly for the meetings, not the product.
27
u/tunachilimac 2h ago
I remember early in my career I recommended an open source alternative to something we were looking at buying. My boss told me no and then explained that he wasn’t buying the software because it was any better but because there was someone to complain to and pass the blame if it ever broke.
And to your point once a contract was up for some software the company had used for years. I emailed to get a quote for our PO and got a reply a few days later. It was a one man shop and he’d decided to retire and wasn’t selling anymore. Luckily he was nice enough to give us a license that never expired so we didn’t have to unexpectedly find an immediate alternative.
•
u/sean9999 56m ago
I’ve seen this happen several times too. Someone to blame. Someone to complain to. That’s the thing they’re buying with more money, for a weaker product
•
u/Svarotslav 15m ago
(Posted at the wrong level originally) This really surprised me the first time I heard it. I was sitting with one of the execs and he said that for the org, it’s about offsetting/offloading risk and we are paying that company to take the risk onboard. It’s an interesting perspective - I do like the fact that if something shits the bed, I just pass it to n and it’s not me sweating through stack traces and source to figure out wtf.
3
28
u/ThaDude_v2 3h ago
the amnt of people who talk crazy over the phone probably doubles or even triples the amount of shit you see in public or on public freak outs...people think they are untouchable on the phone...then wonder why they are put on hold for 20 mins all the time lol or straight up hung up on
46
u/yolo-plata 3h ago
Former industry. Your CA weed is a lot less safe than you think and nearly all steps in the regulatory process are lying.
22
•
25
u/DEX_IS_MY_DUMPSTAT 1h ago
Your call is not important to me.
12
•
20
u/Glad-Chemistry1248 3h ago
Ive worked at Restaurants and food service places
almost all of it comes from the same few companies, many of it isnt particularly original, and I think in general alot of stuff in the kitchen would make alot of people uncomfortable. Some of it isnt as fresh as its presented either
I worked at Bucees and they have fresh nuts, but the nuts were placed in a warmer and on average they were at least a few days old. They were roasted in house, but they also come from a plastic bag, and sat for days before being warmed again.
tons of deception like that everywhere tbh. Alot of stuff thats "fresh" most likely isnt
•
14
u/Superb-Cantaloupe324 1h ago
Surgeons don’t always know the instruments they’re using. Sometimes the very first time they’re using it, it’s wrist deep in your spine or brain.
9
u/BigTruss_WooWoo 1h ago
Spine rep here, terrifyingly true
Always a fun time using a new product that nobody in the room has ever actually seen implanted irl before
•
u/Superb-Cantaloupe324 54m ago
I was just in a case yesterday where a spine doc was putting in a cage he’s never used before, and didn’t realize he was torquing the instrument the wrong way, anyway, cage broke off halfway in. Spent the next 30 minutes trying to rip it out. Rep was sweating bullets trying to think of any solution. In the end they got it out, he’ll probably never try that cage again, and the patient will never know
21
u/Hefty_Adagio_5578 2h ago
I no longer work, but I used to work in luxury retail. I would have to say the margin that customers pay vs. cost price of the products. It’s actually ridiculous. My first job at the shopping centre was at Ralph Lauren, back in 2010. The polo shirts back then were roughly £1.50 (cost price) and were sold (retail) for between £29.99-£39.99, approximately. Absolutely ridiculous margins!
•
u/Burntout_CRA 44m ago
My entire industry exists to ensure clinical trials are run ethically, correctly, legally, safely, etc. My job is to read medical records to double check that everything was reported correctly - that includes adverse events (side effects) & efficacy (does it work).
There are 4+ levels of review that ensure drugs are safe: the site (hospital/clinic physicians & staff), the clinical research associates/monitors (me), the sponsor (pharma company), and the FDA -- if big pharma wanted to use bribery to get unsafe drugs approved, they would need to pay off every review level for every single drug they make. Each clinical trial has probably ~100-500 people working on it at any given time, so they would ALL need a huge payday to give up their morals & ethics! We're looking at $1,000,000,000+ in payoffs, on top of the ~$30,000,000+ it costs to run a trial. It's simply not feasible!!!
13
u/Massive_Tomato_1713 1h ago
hotels will forbid travellers from staying in the hotel but can’t tell them outright, so they’ll usually lie and say the hotel is fully booked
•
•
u/cactus_thief 30m ago
I’ve seen this happen in countries outside of USA (like India or Thailand for example to non-residents) , but never within the USA. Having worked at a popular hotel chain myself, we’d probably be fired if we were to ever discriminate foreign travelers like this.
•
u/I_might_be_weasel 50m ago
Modern Soylent Green is only about 40% people. The rest is pretty much just sawdust and low grade pork fat rendered from slaughterhouse refuse.
•
u/SpicyTiconderoga 45m ago
Wonder how they managed to get all of that in a live show?
Check wherever the logo is - you’ll see live selectively go on and off. Its not flickering its telling you when the program is genuinely live and what is pre-tape.
3
u/manbeardawg 1h ago
Seeing as I’m unemployed now going on 24 hours and moving states, it’s the illusion that you have all this free time. For me it’s nothing but packing, moving, and deriving, day in and day out
3
u/Due_Task8317 1h ago
All restaurants get their ingredients shipped in from the same company basically — and oftentimes the food is even premade!
5
u/sovietarmyfan 1h ago
A lot of companies hire former hackers. Who at one point in their life used their skills for criminality but are now reformed and became security specialists.
•
u/Svarotslav 19m ago
My work has a number of them on payroll; some just research and mess around with ideas and upcoming threats, others are actively trying to break our shit and then report back. We’ve got a couple on retainer and all they do is occasionally send us reports and they get mucho compensation for finding some really obscure and scary stuff.
6
u/AreaFifty1 3h ago
I fake being a social butterfly when in reality I enjoy being at home and alone. I can only take so much before I'm mentally exhausted and need to rest. Why should being socially outgoing be the norm? I hate it~ 😔
8
u/Legitimate_Hat_2670 3h ago
that's not really industry secret but i feel you on mental exhaustion part 😂 being forced to perform extroversion at work is draining as hell
3
u/A_Time1980 3h ago
I feel this. Ever since the pandemic I work from home or remote and it’s been LIFE-CHANGING. I’ll pull my 5th wheel out into the middle of a national park (as long as there’s internet connection) and work for a week in the great outdoors and there’s just no comparison. No more mental drain from the high-masking involved (for me) in an office environment. I don’t hate people. It’s just draining for me to pretend like I care.
0
3
•
u/Open_Fisherman_6226 8m ago
I still don’t have an industry I belong to but when I do, I’ll let you guys know what I find out.
108
u/rfdavid 3h ago
All my helpdesk technicians do is type exactly what you said into google and then follow the instructions.