What's something about your job the public doesn't know but might as well.
8 comments
IT consultants are grossly overpaid and it would be of far greater value to society if government had their own development firm, by a factor of 5.
All gas stations in an area usually get their gasoline from the same tank terminal (just adding some additives).
I’m a teacher at university level. In (higher) education there are basically 2 visions:
1. Constructivist vision: Learning by doing / problem-based learning. Give students a real life problem and let them solve it. They will understand that they cannot solve it without studying certain theories and developing skills, so they are intrinsically motivated to study and learn. The teacher is a coach who guides them.
2. Traditionalist vision: Teacher is an authoritative source of knowledge and an instructor. Students should reproduce knowledge. Focus on core subjects, facts and structured learning.
Both have pros and cons and every 10 years or so the dominant vision changes. There will be new educational concepts that fall under one of these 2 visions and it’s basically the same thing with a new name.
I’m an insurance broker that acts as an intermediary between our clients and insurance companies. The latter are very often happy to break reagulations as long as they think they can get away with it. Often in smaller amounts that might not land in court. Example, you are owed 20 000 € and you have proven that they do indeed owe you that exact amount. And then they will pay you out 18 800 € giving you some nonsense reason why they cut out the 1 200 €. You know it’s bullshit, they know it’s bullshit, but unless you go to court (which you would win) you will not get it. And many don’t since it’s too much of a hassle. Being happy they still got something.
Orchestra musician.
We don’t always play every note, and we sometimes fake playing, especially when we miss a cue.
Chances are high that the pieces you love to hear in a concert are the ones we hate to play the most because we play them so often.
Yes, from the outside, our working hours seem like a dream. Two or three hours of rehearsal in the morning (not every morning) and a two-hour concert in the evening. And not every evening as well. What people don’t usually know or see is that there are six to eight hours of practice every day, depending on the orchestra you play for and the repertoire.
Unlike in the U.S., my job is relatively secure, as most orchestras are government-funded.
Fashion/retail.
Note this doesn’t apply universally (specially high end luxury brands that can markup prices based on their brand/name recognition alone). Likewise it differs by the type of product.
But if you want to know the general cost of how much it cost to make a garment.
Take the MSRP and divide it by 3. That’s how much the store/retailer likely paid for the garment.
Let’s call that the Wholesale price.
Now take that number and divide that by 2.5. That’s around the cost for the production of that item.
So let’s say you see a Levi’s Denim jacket on Zalando for 150 EUR.
Zalando paid Levi’s 150/3 = 50 EUR at wholesale for it.
And Levi’s paid their factory 50/2.5 = 20 EUR to produce it.
So the margin for Levi’s to sell it to Zalando is (50-20)/50 = 60% – making 30 EUR per item.
and the margin for Zalando to sell it to the customer is (150-50)/150 = 67% – making 100 EUR per item.
At the end of the season Zalando can offer that jacket for 50% off and still make a “profit” albeit a much smaller one.
Obviously this doesn’t take into account the costs associated with transporting, storing, displaying, salaries, commercial rent, marketing, etc. Which will bring the “profit” anyone makes much much lower.
All the online platforms you use have bugs, unattended alerts and a huge amount of tech debt. We don’t know how the platform still works, either.
We just keep it running and apply bandaid after bandaid after bandaid.
In the fragrance industry; Givaudan, firmenich, IFF, and many more, while they are creating the leading fragrances for the biggest brands you know, Ariel, surf excel, Dior, Chanel perfumes, and many many other global products, when they work with regional and local brands, they’re just copying the scent of these leading brands, and marketing them as « new and innovative ».
Also the bulk of their partnerships and money comes from companies like Unilever, proctor and gamble, reckitt benckiser and more which all side with the Israel. However, many employees are of Arab and Muslim heritage and even of Palestinian nationality and they still side with Israel.
8 comments
IT consultants are grossly overpaid and it would be of far greater value to society if government had their own development firm, by a factor of 5.
All gas stations in an area usually get their gasoline from the same tank terminal (just adding some additives).
I’m a teacher at university level. In (higher) education there are basically 2 visions:
1. Constructivist vision: Learning by doing / problem-based learning. Give students a real life problem and let them solve it. They will understand that they cannot solve it without studying certain theories and developing skills, so they are intrinsically motivated to study and learn. The teacher is a coach who guides them.
2. Traditionalist vision: Teacher is an authoritative source of knowledge and an instructor. Students should reproduce knowledge. Focus on core subjects, facts and structured learning.
Both have pros and cons and every 10 years or so the dominant vision changes. There will be new educational concepts that fall under one of these 2 visions and it’s basically the same thing with a new name.
I’m an insurance broker that acts as an intermediary between our clients and insurance companies. The latter are very often happy to break reagulations as long as they think they can get away with it. Often in smaller amounts that might not land in court. Example, you are owed 20 000 € and you have proven that they do indeed owe you that exact amount. And then they will pay you out 18 800 € giving you some nonsense reason why they cut out the 1 200 €. You know it’s bullshit, they know it’s bullshit, but unless you go to court (which you would win) you will not get it. And many don’t since it’s too much of a hassle. Being happy they still got something.
Orchestra musician.
We don’t always play every note, and we sometimes fake playing, especially when we miss a cue.
Chances are high that the pieces you love to hear in a concert are the ones we hate to play the most because we play them so often.
Yes, from the outside, our working hours seem like a dream. Two or three hours of rehearsal in the morning (not every morning) and a two-hour concert in the evening. And not every evening as well. What people don’t usually know or see is that there are six to eight hours of practice every day, depending on the orchestra you play for and the repertoire.
Unlike in the U.S., my job is relatively secure, as most orchestras are government-funded.
Fashion/retail.
Note this doesn’t apply universally (specially high end luxury brands that can markup prices based on their brand/name recognition alone). Likewise it differs by the type of product.
But if you want to know the general cost of how much it cost to make a garment.
Take the MSRP and divide it by 3. That’s how much the store/retailer likely paid for the garment.
Let’s call that the Wholesale price.
Now take that number and divide that by 2.5. That’s around the cost for the production of that item.
So let’s say you see a Levi’s Denim jacket on Zalando for 150 EUR.
Zalando paid Levi’s 150/3 = 50 EUR at wholesale for it.
And Levi’s paid their factory 50/2.5 = 20 EUR to produce it.
So the margin for Levi’s to sell it to Zalando is (50-20)/50 = 60% – making 30 EUR per item.
and the margin for Zalando to sell it to the customer is (150-50)/150 = 67% – making 100 EUR per item.
At the end of the season Zalando can offer that jacket for 50% off and still make a “profit” albeit a much smaller one.
Obviously this doesn’t take into account the costs associated with transporting, storing, displaying, salaries, commercial rent, marketing, etc. Which will bring the “profit” anyone makes much much lower.
All the online platforms you use have bugs, unattended alerts and a huge amount of tech debt. We don’t know how the platform still works, either.
We just keep it running and apply bandaid after bandaid after bandaid.
In the fragrance industry; Givaudan, firmenich, IFF, and many more, while they are creating the leading fragrances for the biggest brands you know, Ariel, surf excel, Dior, Chanel perfumes, and many many other global products, when they work with regional and local brands, they’re just copying the scent of these leading brands, and marketing them as « new and innovative ».
Also the bulk of their partnerships and money comes from companies like Unilever, proctor and gamble, reckitt benckiser and more which all side with the Israel. However, many employees are of Arab and Muslim heritage and even of Palestinian nationality and they still side with Israel.