general Advice for customers your occupation has taught you

[Snow 7,146]

I have been building fences with a family friend for almost a year now, in such a time I have learned things about fences and woodwork in general that I never knew or would never have even thought about that would help me when it comes to having my own fence built later on on life, that got me thinking, and quite interested in what other useful advice you guys have gained from your jobs or other means that could help other people out when in the customer position.

In regards to fences, I advise you don't paint them, I understand the visual appeal for something like a white painted fence but unfortunately the paint traps water in and rots the wood, similar can be said for metal fencing which rusts rather quickly because of water getting inside of them, both lasting only a number of years before needing to be repaired or completely replaced, oppose to something like treated pinewood posts, the ones we use are guaranteed to last at least 40 years.

[Sir Hugsalot 9,350]

1. Never trust cheap building materials - had plenty of people who hoped to use cheap glue for tiles and in the end had to renovate everything from scratch. Same goes for for example styrofoam or... pretty much anything. When there's a specific technology adviced to use for construction work it is advised to follow it unless You know stuff good enough to be 100% sure You know what You're doing. Even the most insignificant mistake can lead to serious consequences. 

2. Before You do serious renovations make sure Your building can handle them. We had a case, where someone decided to destroy entire wall inside the building without consulting it with anyone and it resulted in entire construction being damaged. It survived, but costs were extreme. 

3. Avoid "big" building material stores - while cheaper they will just sell You *anything* You ask for even if You don't really need it. From my experience small businesses are more fair and tend to give better advices. That at least applies to my area, of course there are scammers too. But there we go to point 4

4. Always get someone, who knows stuff to do renovations etc - that way You'll be much less likely scammed and while I gave praise before - I still am aware that not everyone should be trusted. 

 

And now guitars: 

1. Before You buy a guitar with whammy bar keep in mind they are tough to be tuned. 

2. It is better to buy used guitar than brand new one in most cases as You will obtain better model for smaller price. If possible - arrange a meeting, where You can test the instrument.

3. While active pickups can sound tempting due to common opinion that they have "great heavy tone" keep in mind the tone is less dynamic and on clean channel is far from great. 

4. For recording purposes it is great to get software like guitar rig. More convinient than amp. 

5. If You're one of "djentelmans" or fan of extended range guitars who wants to buy his first one - test guitar before doing it. 7/8 string guitar is very different from 6 string variant.

6. Don't go for electric acoustic guitars, the electric tone from them is poor unless You buy a really expensive one. 

7. As Your first guitar don't buy the cheapest one. The most important thing about first instrument is You have to be able to tune it properly. It's crucial to be able to develop musical hearing. 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Well, I work at a bank, so the main thing I've told people is to actually keep track of your account. In other words; checks, debits, deposits, etc.

You'd be surprised how many people don't do that...

[TBD 17,256]

I worked at meat/deli dept. and rather " advising" since there isn't really any advises to give,  I'd give suggestion on what is the best choice of meats and sales.That was it. 

[Kaneki 1,073]

Hmm.... I work an after-hours janitorial job at an office building, so I'd have to think about that, since I'm not dealing with customers directly.

Really, what I would do is simple stuff like taking out garbage out of offices, wiping fingerprints off desks, vacuuming, mopping floors and the sort. That's all, really.

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

What I learned from my three jobs so far:

1) Vector/Cutco: Cutco products are amazing. That and not every potential customer is guaranteed to be a customer.

2) Wendy's: You see a LOT of stoned people late at night when you work the drive thru in the graveyard shift

3) WalMart: Most of your co-workers will be complete a**holes to you, but there are a few exceptions, but those exceptions typically don't work in the same department as you.

[Prospekt 11,018]

I currently don't have a job (am currently looking though) but I have fast food experience and all I can say is a simple "thank you" goes a long way in an industry that is infamous for having customers who are spoiled brats.