When I was in high school, we had a career exploration course whereupon we took a career quiz and read up on different professions. I remember being fascinated by seeing what job made what salary and all the other little tidbits of info most people don’t really know about but are… well… super important.
That’s why Glassdoor is so freaking awesome. It’s the site that’s giving you an inside look at all the jobs and companies you want to work for. Here’s how they’re doing it.
Employee Survey on Steroids
Robert Hohman and Rich Barton are the IT vets behind Glassdoor. Robert worked at Hotwire. Rich…well, he founded a little site called Expedia. You know, that site that transformed the travel industry by making info once only available to agents and insiders open to the public. The one you just booked your summer cruise on. Yeah, that one.
Anyway, the two friends decided to take that industry transparency and apply it to jobs and companies. They used the employee survey concept to create a site that had insider info from the people that know the jobs and companies the best- the employees working on the inside, interview candidates and the employers themselves. And, boom. Glassdoor was born.
What makes Glassdoor so awesome?
There are several features of the site that set them apart from any other career website I’ve ever seen, and what I find to be particularly awesome:
- Company reviews – Glassdoor posts reviews from employees that include all the pros and cons, employee satisfaction ratings that factor work/life balance, morale and compensation and benefits.
- Salaries – Check out the latest salaries and compensation info by searching specific jobs and companies.
- Interview questions and review – I love this feature. Read what interview candidates felt about the hiring process including actual interview questions.
- Office photos – Check out the company culture through uploaded photos of the office, events, workspace, etc. How awesome is that?
This is the kind of site I can be on for hours. It’s comprehensive, incredibly useful for job-seekers and employers alike, and it’s just so damn fascinating. Did you know that one of the interview questions for a “Genius” at the Apple Store was, “If you were the size of a pencil inside a blender, how would you get out?” I can’t remotely think of a logical answer to that. Apple Genius I am not.
