3 answers
James
Student
Edmond, Oklahoma
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What are positive things about the service industry?
What are positive things about the service industry?
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3 answers
John Morris
Instructional Designer / Musician / eLearning Creator
38
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John’s Answer
I spent many years in the service industry, both on the front line and in management. I worked in retail, hotels, and airlines.
Here is my take on what I liked about it:
It was very people centered. I spent all day working with people and helping them. I met all kinds, nice people, not-so-nice people, famous people, people with little kids , people from countries far away, happy people, and unhappy people. Some are easier than others but there is a challenge to every interaction that is very satisfying. Especially if there is a problem and you solve it.
It was unpredictable. I never knew what was coming next, how I spent my time was dictated entirely by the customers I was going to be interacting with. I never got bored.
I liked my colleagues. Workers who excel in customer service and helping others are fun to be around. They are outgoing and interesting and enjoy being together even outside work. I had fantastic relationships with colleagues 30 years ago and those people are still my friends.
It is transferable. Good solid customer service skills are valuable in many different settings. I started in hotels and retail because I really wanted to work for an airline. I think it may have been that experience that helped me eventually work for an airline where I spent 16 years.
Here is my take on what I liked about it:
It was very people centered. I spent all day working with people and helping them. I met all kinds, nice people, not-so-nice people, famous people, people with little kids , people from countries far away, happy people, and unhappy people. Some are easier than others but there is a challenge to every interaction that is very satisfying. Especially if there is a problem and you solve it.
It was unpredictable. I never knew what was coming next, how I spent my time was dictated entirely by the customers I was going to be interacting with. I never got bored.
I liked my colleagues. Workers who excel in customer service and helping others are fun to be around. They are outgoing and interesting and enjoy being together even outside work. I had fantastic relationships with colleagues 30 years ago and those people are still my friends.
It is transferable. Good solid customer service skills are valuable in many different settings. I started in hotels and retail because I really wanted to work for an airline. I think it may have been that experience that helped me eventually work for an airline where I spent 16 years.
Robert Rossi
Many things! But mostly chemistry and chemical engineering
86
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Albuquerque, New Mexico
Updated
Robert’s Answer
The service industry is very, very wide-ranging, and any generalizations made about it probably don't apply to all corners of it. It includes many highly technical fields like healthcare, financial services, and technology services. I work in the last of these, repairing and setting up scientific instruments. Compared with most other science jobs, the work does require talking to people a bit more, but almost always one-on-one...no meetings, scientific presentations, or conferences. It requires different aptitudes than does research chemistry, but having done both I would not say it is easier or harder, just different. (In research, you don't know if it will work...with repair, you know it *should* work. That's a huge difference; the uncertainty of research kills me.) As others have mentioned, the work can be highly varied (though I do end up doing a lot of a handful of common repairs) and is generally very portable. (I never had the "golden handcuffs" of a research position or a professorship.) If you work for someone else you can't control the pace of your work, but if you work for yourself (as I do), you can. In any job, you will have to deal with some unpleasant people. I find I run into less of them doing this than doing other types of chemistry work, but I generally have to be nicer to them than I would in other jobs (and than they usually deserve, but the "customer is always right."). I'm not a people person and still spend the vast majority of my time working alone, head in an instrument, but I do talk with people a good deal, about a topic I enjoy (why stuff works, or doesn't). I actually do a lot of informal teaching, which I enjoy and is one of the high points of my work. If I were willing to work for a big company and go where they told me, usually a different city every day, I could make serious bank...but at the cost of a lot of my freedom. You can usually have either big bucks or freedon in the service sector, but not both. (Sometimes you get neither: avoid those jobs if you can! The key to that is education.)
Yarek Rivers
Science Teacher/BioPharma Professional
19
Answers
Seattle, Washington
Updated
Yarek’s Answer
Service jobs are often entry-level and frequently some of the first job experience people get. Although people mostly think of white collar "professional" jobs as being higher paying and having a better career path, service jobs do have some advantages:
- Often they have a measure of flexibility. Rather than a 9-5, they tend to focus on the availability of their clients. For example, restaurants may have shift work starting by 6am (for breakfast) through dinner (9pm or later), and bars until the wee hours of the morning.
- They can be portable. Just as service jobs are often a first job, they can be easy/first jobs to get if relocating to another town, state, or even country.
- If you are a "people person" or just enjoy interaction, it can be very satisfying to work directly with customers. For all of the nightmare customer service stories, there is also a lot of opportunity to help and provide service(!) to people.
- You will be busy! Some people can't tolerate the slow, or self-directed pace of other kinds of work. Service jobs often keep you hopping! This leaves little room for boredom or uncertainty - you are busy working!
These are just a few of the positives I enjoyed in service sector jobs, but of course, YMMV!
- Often they have a measure of flexibility. Rather than a 9-5, they tend to focus on the availability of their clients. For example, restaurants may have shift work starting by 6am (for breakfast) through dinner (9pm or later), and bars until the wee hours of the morning.
- They can be portable. Just as service jobs are often a first job, they can be easy/first jobs to get if relocating to another town, state, or even country.
- If you are a "people person" or just enjoy interaction, it can be very satisfying to work directly with customers. For all of the nightmare customer service stories, there is also a lot of opportunity to help and provide service(!) to people.
- You will be busy! Some people can't tolerate the slow, or self-directed pace of other kinds of work. Service jobs often keep you hopping! This leaves little room for boredom or uncertainty - you are busy working!
These are just a few of the positives I enjoyed in service sector jobs, but of course, YMMV!