Bazaarvoice Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – The work atmosphere is very positive and upbeat. Also they are very flexible with schedules.

Cons – Not the most stimulating work but it's an internship and is about what I expected

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good pay, smart people, awesome culture. People with bad attitudes tend to weed themselves out; Bazaarvoice tends to hire fantastic talent with great attitudes.

Cons – The location on 360 is a bit difficult with traffic. The company is growing fast and they sometimes suffer from growing pains.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – - Speaking as a qualified BV historian, this is the most exciting time in the company's history. Look at the news! We're crushing it! There are so many awesome things going on at Bazaarvoice right now. I've personally fought hundreds of battles against PowerReviews and we just "won the war" by buying them. We're paving the way for new startups and spinoffs in Austin - many of them emulating BV's culture and passion. We're performing very well as a business. Don't take it from me - read the news! It's exciting times.
- The leaders at Bazaarvoice are amazing. You can find a mentor here - with both the skill and will to help you. I would not have the career I have, or be the husband and father that I am today without their influence.
- The company culture has withstood the test of time and growth. I see happy people and good friends walking the halls together every day. Do we still take the entire company to lunch every week and play ping pong all day? Nope. But that's not what culture is. I see happy, passionate, high-performing, generous people all over at BV. That's never changed since day 1.
- Salaries have become more competitive to market over the past 3 years. The company also has given significant stock bonuses to high performers that earned it, and quarterly stock bonuses to peer-nominated award winners over the past 7 years. Many young people (not only the true early employees) are getting a great start to their financial futures. The money making power of time will work incredibly in their favor.
- Change creates opportunity all over the place. Many of the positions I've held at BV were a direct result of change - and that's when I've learned the most. I know a large number of people who have progressed considerably in their careers at BV - thanks in large part to opportunities created by change and growth.

Cons – - Working at a high-growth company isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. You can't show up here and cruise your way to a paycheck. In my book, that's a pro - but an expectation that needs to be set. As with many things in life - you get what you give.
- Sometimes departments can temporarily forget that we're all on the same team. We're all watching out for our own resources. The business does get what it needs to be successful - obviously. Going the extra mile for the client can create conflict between departments. I've worked in them all and try to bring love and evangelize empathy. Carrying a bag is just as tough as implementing our products, as is trying to keep up with managing a rapidly changing market and many priorities in product management. Again - working at a high-growth company isn't easy!
- Organizational alignments change often. The great side of this is that it brings a TON of opportunity with it. New positions, opportunities for promotion, re-energizing lateral moves, etc. The downside is that well... it changes. Again, a pro in my book - but if you want consistent org, the exact same responsibilities, and the same manager for years, this isn't the company for you.
- Given our high rate of change, sometimes you see respected leaders, co-workers, or friends leave the company or be asked to change roles, and sometimes you don't understand why or agree with it. But it comes with the territory in a high-growth business. Not everyone is meant to understand all of the history and detail behind every decision. It takes different backgrounds to run a startup vs a $20m business vs a $50m -> $100m, etc. But along the way at each inflection point I've seen BV bring in the right folks that have kept the rocketship going upwards, fast.

Advice to Senior Management – - Sell our platform and services to Glassdoor. :) It would help them!
- Educate the company more on the tech market and where it could be going. We have many smart people that read the news, work with financial advisers, etc - but the exec and sr leadership team has significant perspective that is shared - but we could do more exec driven info sessions, town halls, etc.
- Empower middle management more to do the "small company" things we used to do, like grilling just because it was Thursday. I think many people would take the lead on this for their departments more but are unsure of operating guidelines, budgets, etc. I do it frequently but even I don't know what's allowed.
- Keep killing it. I love reading the news about BV. I love what's going on right now and feel the company is strongly positioned in the public market. Thank you for creating this wonderful business that has done so much for current and past employees, in terms of direct career/financial impact, or creating opportunities elsewhere by fueling the Austin tech startup community with spinoffs and talent. You've made thousands of people's lives better directly, and built a solution that has changed the way people buy products worldwide.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – Environment and culture are exceptional. High-energy, professional, yet laid back. Compensation is fair, and diligent, hard work is rewarded financially. Clear-spoken communication from leadership, and leadership that cares (legitimately) about success of the people. Great food and healthy options in the kitchens, with frequent lunches catered in. Unlimited vacation is always a plus. For the record, although it is high-energy, this is definitely the calmest place I've ever worked. Oddly enough, it is also the most energetic, and the most positive.

Cons – (1) Constant change with the usual spin from management that "this time things will be different." What would be refreshing is an acknowledgement that this is just how life is in a company that grows so fast...we make some mistakes, try new things, and learn as we go. This includes quarterly large-scale territory changes. (2) For Market Development, there has been a lot of repeated account shifting and timely response from leadership over comp structure changes lags. On the plus side, at least MD leadership communicates about this stuff and seems to hold the rest of the organization responsible. (3) The company is shedding a lot of experienced talent as it grows, so there could be a stronger talent retention program in place so the recruiters weren't always going berserk.

Advice to Senior Management – Authentic honesty trumps positive spin when it comes to change. We know you work hard at it, but try to implement a scalable structure that will endure for more than a quarter. Sales leadership needs to deliver on its committed timetable to MD leadership - huge disconnect here at the moment. Initiate a company-wide talent retention program.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – - Interesting challenges
- Smart Colleagues
- Fun environment
- Lots of personal growth
- Lots of room for company growth and success

Cons – - Because of the rapid growth, there's lots of change
- Lack of clear structures and processes

Advice to Senior Management – - Keep sharing lots of info about the successes and challenges facing the company - setting the context energizes everyone

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – Smart co-workers
Challenging, interesting problems to work on
Impressive clients
Relaxed environment
Past success
Bright future
Growth opportunities for the ambitious, but requires self-promotion
Some really inspiring recent executive hires...CFO and CTO stand out
Vacation policy
Management admits mistakes

Cons – Some recent exec and senior management hires are poisonous to the culture
Too much re-orging
Definition of culture, beyond the stated seven pillars, is still too organic. Would love to see some real innovation in the area of corporate culture
Biz-speak is a little too prevalent
Some culture of fear--people are afraid of losing jobs for poor performance but they are not sure what good/poor performance looks like

Advice to Senior Management – Good past emphasis on culture, but we really need some leadership to make BV a special mid-sized company to work for going forward
Hold senior execs accountable for culture and hire them carefully, there have been too many disappointments in this regard and that's a morale killer
Fail fast is good, but we also need time for change to take hold. Re-org with care
Focus on employee retention
Some culture issues aside we have a strong leadership team in place

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – The people are great, the culture is fun, I feel challenged and inspired to make great work. The leadership has a compelling vision to make this company continue to thrive.

Cons – It can change quickly which can be difficult at times. Sometimes there is not sufficient communication around big organizational changes.

Advice to Senior Management – While moving quickly is important, it is equally important to keep those impacted by change informed. As it continues to grow, this becomes even more important.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – Senior leadership is very supportive of the UX team, and at Bazaarvoice, the UX process is an integral part of product discovery and development. Sadly, this is not true at a lot of other companies where UX is underutilized or ignored.

Cons – UXDs are held to very high standards. There is no entry-level role or hand-holding. This is fantastic for the leader-types who would prefer to manage themselves, but painful for designers who are accustomed to receiving assignments.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – Extremely smart and motivated people. The Bazaarvoice mission is to bring authentic user generated content to online commerce. It's a mission that is easy to believe in and very well respected in the industry. BV is the leader in the space by a long shot.

Cons – Because BV has grown so fast, it's still trying to solidify processes which is both a good and a bad thing. However, It's great to not have too much process.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep doing an amazing job and don't let the BV culture slip away as the company grows into bigger shoes.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Bazaarvoice

Pros – everyone is willing to teach / share knowledge, open vacation policy, opportunities for growth if you take the initiative, fun company culture with lots of events, food, drinks, and laughter, coworkers feel like family and provide support through good and bad

Cons – the open company culture is constantly challenged by growth - how to balance fun, open culture with a rapidly growing professional environment that needs some rules in place since we can't trust that everyone will just do the right thing anymore (not a problem unique to BV)

Advice to Senior Management – Honest feedback no matter how hard it is to hear is always appreciated, but how it is messaged is key.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend