To truly do a good job, you have to go above and beyond your job description––you figure it out along the way. That's the basis for today's burning question from Redditor stuartwolf, who asked the online community: "What's an unwritten requirement for your job that you won't see on a job description?"
"I understand you..."
Physical Security Consultant: you must be able to explain to a client why their idea is dumb without making them feel like they are dumb. This is especially difficult when they are, in fact, dumb.
"I understand you don't want that door to fail safe during a fire because it poses a security risk, but the city frowns on locking people in burning buildings."
"Must provide..."
Must provide free legal advice that you are not qualified to give and have no time to research because the general public expects you to.
"Endlessly explaining..."
UX Designer:
Endlessly explaining to the tech team that our users (illiterate farmers in the developing world) are not the same as them (mostly MIT computer science graduates).
"Microbiology..."
Microbiology lab assistant- Have to be able to deal with weird smells, and be able to handle all the ways human body fluids can look.
A lot of students we have come through often have trouble with sputum. You can't have trouble processing sputum, especially if the management decides they need to train someone new in the tuberculosis lab.
I had one student shadowing me that nearly threw up in the walk in incubator. It kind of smells like rotten pumpkin most of the time, unless something out of the ordinary is growing.
"You must fit in..."
Giphy"You must fit in with the office culture". Employment is only partially contingent on your skills and experience. The other part - which looms way larger than most people realize - is that you need to have a similar "look" as all the other staff members, and you need to have a personality that fits with all the others.
If you don't match with a prospective or current employer in the above unwritten criteria, you may still get hired but you'll be the first to get fired or laid off.
"Endlessly correcting..."
Endlessly correcting my predecessors mistakes.
I am an insight manager (survey + data) and I am forever finding spelling mistakes, wrong data and generally rookie mistakes in everything he had touched.
It does mean occasionally I get told off for sending 'wrong' data out, but usually some manager defends me - pointing out I am reissuing correct data.
Last week I found some major errors in a monthly data report where it was clear the guy had been highlighting a set of cells like simpleton (a series of rows + total value of those rows) and giving out data what was double the actual value. The head of the department had noted this before, but was unaware that the data had gone out after she told the idiot to stop doing it. She was very happy that I checked.
This happened in my last role too - but unfortunately my boss was an idiot and psychopath and there was no one around to support me and so I lost my job basically doing my job by providing accurate data releases.
I sometimes I think I am bad at my job (imposter syndrome) but then I only have to look at the kind of reckless, foolish mistakes my predecessor did and I know at least I am not that bad.
(And also, he was lazy and slow at his work - which has meant I could probably do my job in two days he took five, so that's an awful lot of staring into the mid-distance listening to podcasts.)
"Full time babysitter!"
Full time babysitter:
I'm a supervisor in the military and I'm constantly having to tell full grown adults to pay their bills, clean their rooms, call their parents and come to work on time!
"Not show emotion..."
Not show emotion when being punched, bitten, scratched ext. I work in a behavioral rehabilitation facility for kids with disabilities and if they hurt you and see that it did hurt they will forever target you in that spot. So no matter what you have to make it seem like it's not a big deal. Verbal attacks too.
"Teaching kindergarten..."
Teaching kindergarten, half the job is mothering and half the job is drill sergeant. One of the best analogies I ever heard was that to be a kindergarten teacher, you have to be a perfect blend of Mr. Rogers and Rambo, with a lot of heart and a velvet hammer. And then you have to teach them to read and write...
"Improvise and think creatively."
GiphyImprovise and think creatively. I'm a bartender. One might not think that thinking creatively is something you need to be a successful bartender since most places have a menu with pre-determined drinks but you'd be surprised. You get a lotof people asking you to "make something good" for them. You can ask what they're into but more often than not, they say they don't care and to just bring them whatever. This is mostly common in people who don't drink that much and just want something that tastes good. This is where knowledge of liquors, liqueurs and mixers comes in. Sure, you can bring them something basic like a rum and coke but you'll also score a lot of cool points and credit if you make something off the top of the head that isn't basic or well known.
Learning what mixes well with what is a, well, a learning process. Nobody is expecting you to know all that if it's your first bar gig. But if you cant think of something reasonably tasty after a year or so of bartending, you got a problem. I've cranked out tons of random drinks for people that are most likely not known recipes. I look at the bar, think "Oh, this will go well with this if I add this into it" and serve it. Some are winners and some are losers. It's all a learning process. It definitely does help though if you're able to look at your resources and be able to quickly put random parts together and make something that someone actually wants to drink.
"I'm a composer for hire..."
I'm a composer for hire but I think the biggest thing people might not understand is that although I'm writing custom pieces of music for brands or film, the reason people work with me is because I'm easy to work with. Yes, I have been doing this a long time and I'm quite good at writing in many musical styles, creating professional recordings etc. but the reason people choose to work with me is because of my willingness to make my client happy.
I never say no (unless there's no money.) All the clients ideas are good ideas even if they're not. I'll come up with better ideas and tell them they came up with them. I make them feel like they're doing a good job even if they aren't. Sure, sometimes you want to just tell people to shove it- that's normal. But this industry can pay you extremely well if you get on the shortlist for a few clients.
"Social interaction with co-workers."
Social interaction with co-workers. Not talking about interaction necessary to do the job, but the kind of interaction where you're expected to share your life and care about theirs.
This is not in the contract. It is never in the contract. It is not what you signed up to do in order to get a paycheck. But if you don't do it, regardless of how good you are at the actual job itself, suddenly everyone hates you and you have complaint after complaint about how you didn't waste half an hour every morning talking to Karen about her vacation or to Greg about his kids or Janice about her yoga and rock-climbing.
I've literally had people pissed at me because I walked in at the start of the day, still half sleep-deprived, and bumbled over to my desk without stopping to chat with someone who was five feet away and I didn't even notice standing there because of lack of sleep. I had never, in my entire time at that job, stopped to chat in the morning with anyone. Ever. But apparently today was the day they were going to get pissed about me not doing something that the script in their head said I should.
"You have to be comfortable while routinely..."
You have to be comfortable while routinely working with equipment which is both sensitive, fragile and often costing more than your house, car or both combined.
You use these ridiculously expensive pieces of fragile equipment while following various protocols involving substances which can be one (or all) of the following: explosive, toxic, carcinogenic, corrosive, oxidizing, cause of genetic defects, are lightly flammable, volatile, burn on contact with water or air, etc.
Making a mistake on a crucial moment can result in anything ranging from things as mundane as having to redo a sample preparation to stuff as depressing as ending up with years of flawed data or - in the worst case - with lots of dead people.
On a non-work-related side-note: You'll be confronted with deniers who - even though they're often intelligent people and critical thinkers - often simply aren't aware of one or more basic concept(s) and are unfortunately too stubborn to accept the information presented by professionals. Also, your family, and everyone else you know, will ask you if you can make meth.
"Depending on the region..."
Grain elevator either full time or seasonal help.
Depending on the region you in get ready for 80 hour work weeks until the time harvest ends, which for me was at least 3 months. The grain dust can be the worst part though. After you've been sweating from working in 100 degree heat the dust sticks to you and makes you itchy. There were times where I scratched the skin off my arms and chest from the amount of scratching I did. Also get ready for dumbass truck drivers thinking you owe them special treatment because they haul for a certain person.
So glad I gave up that job I swear I aged 10 years in my small amount of time working there.
"Professor..."
Professor: exist in a paradox where you are required by your department head to be in your office so as to appear to be working yet your office is the place that no one (neither colleagues nor students) let you get any work done!
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.