CoStar Group Reviews

I have been working at CoStar Group

Pros – Good industry with good people

Cons – To much micro managing and interference

I worked at CoStar Group full-time for less than a year

Pros – You'll meet some really amazing people at Costar!

Cons – I couldn't take it a year for the following reasons:

-WAYYYY Too much micromanaging (constant checking up on, clocking in and out, etc)
-Unattainable metrics/goals; tracking call length is dependent on your work performance
-Pay is very low in comparison to the amount of stress and workload
-Side projects come - literally - out of nowhere! Your day/week/month is extremely unpredictable
-Turnover rate is insane. Not many people have been with the company for 3+ years
-Virtually impossible to get a bonus

Advice to Senior Management – -Make your employees feel needed and valuable.
-Communicate better; hear your employees out when they have concerns

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at CoStar Group full-time

Pros – Great co-workers, good pay, nice office, and good benefits.

Cons – Constant pressure to fulfill tasks that are irrelevant, stressful environment for such an easy job, micro managing at times, and upper management seem to have to clue what it's like in our shoes! Trust me, after a few months you'll be over it!!!

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of the phone call and dials requirement (saying its not required but then still pestering people about is frankly quite annoying) and emails about dials and phone calls. News flash, brokers are busy people and they don't have time to answer the same questions over and over again every other week.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at CoStar Group full-time

Pros – Learn about CRE industry.
Work with talented people.
Nice building/work environment.

Cons – A harsh management that is unusually callous given the work expectations.

Advice to Senior Management – The company's on a roll but there's a lot of fixing to do. Stop the smugness and have regard for all your employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at CoStar Group full-time for more than a year

Pros – Decent amount of opportunities for those that are willing to relocate and commit 100% to the company. There is a variety of job offerings and career location options from Washington, DC to San Francisco, CA. Deep pocketed company that will provide equipment and travel expenses and company credit card. There is structure and stability.

Cons – Not much of a Silicon Valley company. Values are the polar opposites, blue chip vs. start-up. The culture is motivated by fear and hope. Management is slow to react unless its from Andy Florence (CEO). 100 sided interest are at stake when new projects are underway, from mid-level mgmt, upper mgmt, lower level sales people to sr. level sales...too many heads are butting and everyone thinks they're right. Not much synergy within the organization. Too much politics and ass kissing.

Advice to Senior Management – Employees will not stick with a company if the grass is greener on the other side. Increase transparency and compensate based on the work.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at CoStar Group full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Costar is nice place to work if you can stay out of the politics and can keep your head down and work. Do your job and go home. There are some great people there. Career progression is not clear. Much depends on your ability to BS with leadership.

Cons – Decision making is often based on the CEO's whim. There's always a fire to put out and a sense of urgency so nobody can ever really plan and focus on the long term. Employees are treated as commodities. Some managers spy on their employees. Calls are recorded. Access to and from the office is monitored.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat people with respect. Reward hard work. Don't treat employees like they are criminals who need to be monitored.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at CoStar Group full-time

Pros – Good starting point in CRE

Cons – Everything else was terrbile. Only sign on if you're desperate.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at CoStar Group full-time for more than a year

Pros – Location, office design, free snacks..

Cons – Micromanagement, impossible metrics, unrealistic goals changing ever 5 minutes, shady practices, backstabbing inexperienced managers (most not all).. being great at your job is not enough for these people you've gotta be willing to kiss a lot of **** to succeed..

Advice to Senior Management – Stop promoting inexperienced children to managerial position--if you must, at least put standardized practices in place to hedge against their stupidity. Make training more rigorous by requiring researchers to read a book or two on CRE and test them on the info.. that will significantly improve the quality of your data..

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at CoStar Group

Pros – You get the Costar brand name
You get to see the different roles in Real Estate, meaning, you interact with property managers, brokers, appraisers, and have the opportunity to attend meetings to see Investors talk about the current market
Insurance is amazing-talk about dental, vision, health---you get a nice allowance or low copay
You get to meet many recent graduates
You get free snacks, fruits, oatmeal, and juice/milk
Tickets to Verizon events at their corporate box and a nice metro subsidy every month
It's a nice paycheck to keep you working and occupied out of college, but that's it

Cons – Management is young and has no idea of what's going on
There is such a large gap between upper management and the working body, therefore, you'll almost never get promoted past Manager.
They just recently promoted some Managers to Director after working there for maybe, I don't know, 7-10 years.
High turnover rate
YOU do the SAME thing after a while-researching deeds, calling same contacts, updating portfolio
Not really a business job-it's more cold-calling and convincing people to give you information over the phone
If you are looking for analytical work, if you are looking to get promoted quickly within the company, if you are looking for opportunities to advance your career, look elsewhere.
If you need an immediate job, just apply, but still, apply elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management – I don't even know where to start, because you guys don't even know how to help me

I have been working at CoStar Group full-time for less than a year

Pros – Managers are very accessible and there are many opportunities to move up. Commercial real estate has very few structured training programs and CoStar offers a month of classroom training and a structured program. Hard working people are recognized by their managers and given as much responsibility as they demonstrate they can handle. However, it is not frowned upon to work solely from 9-5 and there is the option to maintain a great work/life balance.

Cons – Historically, this firm did not recruit from top universities, as a result there are extensive metrics in place to measure productivity. Instead of having the confidence that employees will complete work to the best of their ability and on time, there is a metric for EVERYTHING. This quickly becomes tiresome. Many employees demonstrate ambition, but often this is not embraced by the company. The pay is also not on par with what is required to maintain a high standard of living in close proximity to the office.

Advice to Senior Management – When you have so many young minds, you must engage them. Solicit feedback and provide more feedback. Embrace the energy of your entry-level employees rather than viewing them as a "necessary evil" that must be monitored with metrics. Have developmental seminars so employees can capitalize on the opportunities the firm offers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend