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Glassdoor Survey Reveals One In Ten Have “Made Love” In The Office

Glassdoor Team — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:58:05 +0000

If you think the workplace is strictly about business, corporate meetings and increasing profits, think again.

This Valentine’s Day, Glassdoor, a jobs and career community, is revealing the steamy results of its latest survey shedding light into love and romance in the workplace. More than 1,000 anonymous Glassdoor users (including those who are employed or unemployed but looking) shared their secrets about love while on the job. Check out the red hot results:

Office Romances

The majority of employees and unemployed job seekers (51%) say it’s OK to be romantically involved with a co-worker.
More than one-third (37%) report they have been involved with a co-worker romantically.
One in ten (12%) admit to actually “making love” in the workplace. One in five (22%) say that while they have not made love in the workplace, they have thought about doing it; and, 41% say they believe some of their co-workers have made love in the workplace.
18% admit they are attracted to at least one of their co-workers.
The majority (54%) say that most office romances end with some or a lot of ‘awkwardness’ at work.
When it comes to breaking rules (or not) with romance at work, 41% say they’re unsure whether their employer has a policy regarding office romances; and, 28% believe their current or most recent employer does not have this kind of policy.

Valentine’s Day Workplace Celebrations

Few (8%) say they buy Valentine’s themed gifts for their co-workers, whereas 31% report that they have received a Valentine’s themed gift from a co-worker.
Flowers are still your best bet. When asked what they would most want to receive from their significant other at work on Valentine’s Day, people reported: Flowers (27%), a Valentine’s Day card (14%) and chocolates (13%). The least popular gift to receive on Valentine’s Day? A singing telegram (1%).

So what should you do if you fall in love with a co-worker? Here are some tips from Glassdoor’s career and workplace expert Rusty Rueff:

Don’t feel guilty for falling in love at work. Your employer worked hard to fill the company with people who share the same values, principles, work ethic, skills, and education. Plus, you’re together for 8 to 12 hours a day. So it’s not that surprising that romances tend to spark between employees. No matter what happens, don’t feel guilty.
Don’t go public until you’re sure the relationship will last. Since not all companies will be happy about your good news, it’s in your interest—and the interest of your partner—to be sure the relationship is real and worth investing in before having that conversation with the boss.
Stay mum while at work. You may be privy to confidential information because of your relationship, but don’t disclose it at work. Keep your relationship and work separate as much as possible.

What’s your take on love in the workplace and office romance?

Glassdoor Survey Reveals One In Ten Have “Made Love” In The Office is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Should Monday After The Super Bowl Be A National Holiday?

Glassdoor Team — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:40:46 +0000

Every year, there are a few brave souls who suggest that the Monday after the Super Bowl should become a national holiday. After the Super Bowl two years ago, Yahoo! Sports wrote, “You shouldn’t have to work today. You shouldn’t even have to get out of bed. This should be a day where you can sleep in, sleep off the effects of all the “soda” you drank yesterday.”

These may not be the most compelling reasons for an employer to condone a day off, but it is true that much of America will be tuned into the game on Sunday. Last year, a record 111 million viewers tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While it’s not likely to receive national holiday status anytime soon, we at Glassdoor were curious to see if many people are planning to take time off to recuperate from overzealous Super Bowl celebrations. We also wanted to uncover the productivity level and mood in the office for those who do punch in. Here’s what employees had to say in our Superbowl survey*:

20% of employees say that morale is typically better in the office the day after the Super Bowl
However, 22% of employees also note that it’s commonly a less productive day than usual
One in ten (8%) employees plan not to work the day after the Super Bowl
One in ten (9%) employees plan to take Monday off as a vacation
3% admit that they will take a ‘sick day’ the Monday after the Super Bowl

When we asked employees if their employers offer any sort of perks on the Monday after the Big Game, several Glassdoor users noted that they are either allowed to work from home, use as a flex day, or have their regular Monday morning meeting postponed for later in the day. Some also reported that their employers buy breakfast for employees the Monday after the game.

What’s your work experience typically been like on the Monday after the Super Bowl? Let us know below.

* Online survey was conducted between 1/28/11 and 2/3/11. Included responses from 500 Glassdoor users including those who are employed (full/part/self) or unemployed but looking.

Should Monday After The Super Bowl Be A National Holiday? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

VIDEO: How To Uncover ‘Inside Connections’ At A Company

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:55:24 +0000

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a friend on the inside at the company where your “dream job” is listed?

Check out this brief video on how to use Glassdoor’s Inside Connections,™ a new tool for job seekers that leverages your Facebook network so you can uncover which friends (and friends of friends) work or have recently worked at more than 150,000 companies all over the world.

Want to see where you have Inside Connections? Sign In To Glassdoor via Facebook

Glassdoor is the only online resource that goes beyond professional networking to help you find the jobs you’re interested in from among more than 6 million job listings on the site, and gives you access to millions of company ratings and reviews, salary reports and interview questions and reviews – all shared anonymously by current and former employees, as well as recent job candidates.

Want to learn more about Glassdoor’s Inside Connections? Read more.

VIDEO: How To Uncover ‘Inside Connections’ At A Company is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Glassdoor Adds Facebook Tool; Helps Job Seekers Find Inside Connections™ At Companies

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:54:56 +0000

Looking for a job is a long and grueling process. When you’re in job search mode, you not only want to know who is hiring, but you’re also thinking about what the commute may be like, and how much the company does to ensure a good work-life balance for its employees. And perhaps more importantly, you’re thinking about what the salary and compensation package is like for that job and how you can get your resume into the hands of the hiring manager.

Glassdoor, a jobs and career community, has just launched a new tool to help job seekers get the answers to all those questions and more. The new tool, Inside Connections™, leverages your Facebook network to help you find an ‘in’ at specific companies where you’d like to work. You may be surprised on who has that ‘in’ you’re looking for – it could be a friend you grew up with, a fraternity brother or sorority sister, a co-worker, someone from your basketball fantasy league or perhaps even your own mom.

Check out your Inside Connections: Sign In To Glassdoor via Facebook

For example, if you’re interested in marketing manager jobs in San Jose, CA, you can now discover who your inside connections on one site and in just one click. Simply enter ‘marketing manager’ and ‘San Jose, CA’ in the search bar and click on the “Connections” button that appears with the job listings on Glassdoor:

With Inside Connections, not only will you unlock where your friends work or recently worked, but when you invite your friends to sign in to Glassdoor via Facebook, you’ll also be able to see where their friends currently or recently worked as well – giving you even more inside connections than you thought you had.

Glassdoor is the only online resource that goes beyond professional networking to help you find not only the jobs you’re interested in from among more than 6 million job listings but also access to millions of company ratings and reviews, salary reports and interview questions and reviews – all shared anonymously by current and former employees, as well as recent job candidates.

Test out the new Inside Connections tool, and let us know what you think and any suggestions you have on what could make Glassdoor even better.

Want to learn more about Glassdoor’s Inside Connections? Watch our brief video.

Glassdoor Adds Facebook Tool; Helps Job Seekers Find Inside Connections™ At Companies is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Live Chat: Getting Your Resume Past The Black Hole

Glassdoor Team — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:29:18 +0000

Getting your resume in to the right hands can feel like one of the toughest steps during the job search process. Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor’s career and workplace expert and former head of human resources at Electronic Arts and PepsiCo, will take your questions about resumes, job applications, interviews and landing the job in a live chat on Tuesday, January 24 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. The chat will be moderated by Wall Street Journal careers reporter Lauren Weber.

Got Job Search Questions? Send Them In Now.

Live Chat: Getting Your Resume Past The Black Hole is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Apple Didn’t Make Fortune’s Best Companies List; 4-Time Winner Of Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:25:01 +0000

Today, Fortune released its list of the “100 Best Companies to Work for 2012,” which includes companies like Google, Boston Consulting and SAS Institute… but interestingly not Apple. We were curious to see what other companies made the Fortune list, or didn’t make it, and compare to Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work 2012.

First, it’s worth pointing out that Glassdoor’s methodology is fundamentally different than Fortune’s. While Fortune includes some employee feedback, Glassdoor’s list is based entirely on feedback from those who truly know what its like to work at a given company – the employees themselves. Glassdoor takes into account hundreds of thousands of anonymous employee reviews submitted throughout the year (instead of one short period of time), and unlike Fortune’s list, there is no company self-nomination. With Glassdoor’s list, employees nominate their company through surveys in which they rate and review their employer.

So what’s similar or different between the two lists this year? Here are some interesting comparisons:

Top 5 Differences: Only 1 company among Glassdoor’s top 5 appears on Fortune’s list – Google, which tops Fortune’s list and ranks #5 on Glassdoor’s list. Bain & Company (#1), McKinsey & Company (#2), Facebook (#3) and MITRE (#4) are all absent from Fortune’s rankings, though they top Glassdoor’s list. In addition, only Google and MITRE appeared on Fortune’s list last year, ranking #4 and #96 respectfully.
Apple Absent From Fortune’s List, But Always On Glassdoor’s List: For the first time, Apple cracked the top 10 on Glassdoor’s list, and has been a recipient of Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. However, Apple has never appeared on Fortune’s list during these four years.
Facebook Also Absent From Fortune’s List, But Highly Ranked on Glassdoor’s List: While Facebook ranks incredibly high on Glassdoor’s list, #3 in 2012 and #1 in 2011, the social networking giant doesn’t appear on Fortune’s list in either of these years. Interestingly on Glassdoor, CEO Mark Zuckerberg garners a 93% approval rating among Facebook employees.
Google Improving: Google made serious traction on both lists over the past year. On Glassdoor’s list, Google moved up from #30 in 2011 to #5 in 2012. On Fortune’s list, Google moved up from #4 in 2011 to #1 in 2012. Perhaps some of the changes happening under CEO Larry Page, who took over the top executive job from Eric Schmidt in April 2011, are having a favorable effect.
REI Tops Retailers: Looking at what’s consistent on both lists, REI ranks highest among retailers, as it holds the #8 position on both Glassdoor and Fortune’s list.
Companies In Common: In all, 10 of the Glassdoor 2012 Employees’ Choice Award Winners cracked Fortune’s top 50, while 18 companies that were honored by employees and recognized on the Glassdoor list made their “100 Best Companies to Work For 2012.”

Here’s how Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work list compares to Fortune’s list:

Has either (or both) list left off a really great place to work, or awarded a company that is only so-so? We welcome your opinion!

Want to see which of these companies are hiring, as well as what it’s like to work at a specific company, what they pay and what it’s like to interview?

Apple Didn’t Make Fortune’s Best Companies List; 4-Time Winner Of Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Students: A Job Re-Search ‘How-To’ Guide

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:03:25 +0000

You may be a few months away from putting on your cap and gown, but how prepared are you for your job search? Don’t let the time slip by before you have had a chance to really tap into all the benefits and resources available to you as a student which can help you get started on the right foot.

We understand that, regardless of the state of the economy, finding your first ‘real’ job can be an uphill battle. We wanted to ease some of the stress that comes with a job search, and give students a quick ‘how to’ guide that highlights how to get the most out of your job re-search by using Glassdoor.

Let’s start with the basics…Sign up for a Glassdoor Account

Normally at Glassdoor, we require all our users to post a review or salary of their own before getting access to the reviews or salaries of the community. However, we offer students full access to salary data as well as company and interview reviews, without having to post anything! Any student or career services professional can simply email students@glassdoor.com from their .edu address and we will set up a free student account.

Now on to the top three questions we hear from students…

How do I know what’s fair to expect or ask for in terms of salary?

Take the guesswork out of figuring out what you can or should be earning and log into Glassdoor. For example, let’s say you are interested in interviewing at Microsoft for a software development engineer position but have no idea what to ask for in terms of salary. No problem, just follow these steps:

Log into Glassdoor using your free student account
Using the search bar menu, select salaries in the first ‘drop down’ menu
Enter Microsoft where it reads ‘company name or job title’ and hit enter
You can either select the job title ‘software development engineer’ from one of the job listings that appears on your screen (or) enter ‘software development engineer’ in the search box that appears below the words ‘Microsoft salaries’
Once you have clicked on ‘software development engineer’ salaries you will see a new drop down menu appear on your screen that reads ‘Years of experience’, go ahead and select ‘

Microsoft Software Development Engineer Salary – Glassdoor Salary

What kind of questions will they ask me during my interview? What do I need to know ahead of time?

As the saying goes ‘practice, practice, practice’ but as a student you may be asking ‘practice what exactly?’ Imagine Glassdoor as your cheat sheet to the questions and answers you may get asked ahead of time. Click on the Interviews tab and narrow down your search by job title or company. You can then find a variety of questions that recent job candidates have posted for any variety of jobs within a company or for any job position within a variety of companies. In addition, you’ll see that members of the Glassdoor community have often posted suggested responses as to how the question should be answered. Remember, information is power, so take the time to read up on as much as you can before heading into any job interview. Also don’t forget to check out the list of the Most Common Interview Questions and the Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions.

How do I know if a company will be a good fit?

To get a feel for what a company is like on the inside you can read the many reviews about what people like about their jobs versus what they don’t. For example, you may be interested in working at Apple because you enjoy playing with any number of their popular products, but wonder if people really enjoy their job and working for the company. Go to the ‘Reviews’ tab, enter Apple and check out the hundreds of company reviews from employees. Also, look at how employees rate the company by grazing your mouse over the company rating score – you’ll see that there are eight different workplace factors (i.e., compensation, work/life balance) that employees rate in regards to their satisfaction with each category.

Apple Reviews – Glassdoor Review

Plus see what companies make the annual 50 Best Places to Work list – an Employees’ Choice Award.

For more tips and advice catered to students, check out these recent blogs:

Students: A Job Re-Search ‘How-To’ Guide is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Employee Confidence In Job Market & Pay Raises Increases; Unemployed Job Seekers More Optimistic

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:25:22 +0000

The New Year is off to a good start with both the employed and unemployed showing increased confidence in the job market.

In the latest Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey, employee optimism related to the job market, company outlook and pay raises increased in the fourth quarter of 2011. In addition, pessimism among the unemployed fell to a new low in the fourth quarter, with just 21 percent of unemployed job seekers reporting they think it is “unlikely” they will find a job in six months, down 11 points from the third quarter of 2011 to the lowest level since Glassdoor initiated this survey in 2008.

The quarterly survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor, reveals encouraging news when it comes to the job market. During the fourth quarter, 41 percent of employees (including self-employed) believe it is “likely” they would be able to find a job matched to their experience and compensation levels in the next six months if they lost their job, an increase of three points from the third quarter. Among unemployed job seekers, 30 percent believe they can land a job that meets their compensation and skill levels in the next six months, up three points from the third quarter.

After an increase in the second quarter of 2011, layoff concerns have remained relatively flat for the past two quarters (16 percent in quarter three and 17 percent in quarter four). In addition, concern for co-workers being laid off dropped four percentage points from the third quarter to 28 percent, the lowest level since the survey began.

As for salaries and pay raises, things seem to be slowly improving. During the fourth quarter, 38 percent of employees said they expect a pay raise in the next 12 months, up two points from the third quarter. However, more employees do not expect a pay raise in the next 12 months than those who do. 41 percent of employees report that they do not expect a pay raise in the next 12 months, down 5 points from the third quarter.

It’s also interesting to note that men (42 percent) remain more optimistic than women (33 percent) when it comes to the possibility for a pay raise in the next 12 months. In terms of company outlook in the next six months, more men indicated optimism than women (41 percent of men compared to 38 percent of women), which is consistent with previous surveys.

Are you looking for jobs? How do you feel about today’s job market? Do you feel like it’s getting better or worse?

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Interested in more insights into current employee and job seeker sentiment by age, location and gender? View the complete results for the Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey.

Employee Confidence In Job Market & Pay Raises Increases; Unemployed Job Seekers More Optimistic is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Most Common Interview Questions

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:00:44 +0000

When it comes to the interview process, research and preparation for the interview can often times determine your chances of making it to the next step. One of the best ways to get ready for a job interview is to practice your responses to any and all interview questions – even the downright weird.

To help you get started, Glassdoor sifted through tens of thousands of interview reviews to find out some of the most common interview questions candidates are getting asked in recent interviews. So, if you have a job interview lined up, practice in front of a mirror or ask a friend or family member to listen to your answers to the following questions so you’ll be ready to put your best foot forward.

Most Common Interview Questions

What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
Why are you interested in working for [insert company name here]?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
Why do you want to leave your current company?
Why was there a gap in your employment between [insert date] and [insert date]?
What can you offer us that someone else can not?
What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?
Are you willing to relocate?
Are you willing to travel?
Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
What is your dream job?
How did you hear about this position?
What would you look to accomplish in the first 30 days/60 days/90 days on the job?
Discuss your resume.
Discuss your educational background.
Describe yourself.
Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
Why should we hire you?
Why are you looking for a new job?
Would you work holidays/weekends?
How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
What are your salary requirements? (Hint: if you’re not sure what’s a fair salary range and compensation package, research the job title and/or company on Glassdoor.)
Give a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
Who are our competitors?
What was your biggest failure?
What motivates you?
What’s your availability?
Who’s your mentor?
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
How do you handle pressure?
What is the name of our CEO?
What are your career goals?
What gets you up in the morning?
What would your direct reports say about you?
What were your bosses’ strengths/weaknesses?
If I called your boss right now and asked him what is an area that you could improve on, what would he say?
Are you a leader or a follower?
What was the last book you’ve read for fun?
What are your co-worker pet peeves?
What are your hobbies?
What is your favorite website?
What makes you uncomfortable?
What are some of your leadership experiences?
How would you fire someone?
What do you like the most and least about working in this industry?
Would you work 40+ hours a week?
What questions haven’t I asked you?
What questions do you have for me?

In addition to questions commonly asked during a job interview, many unexpected and downright bizarre questions may also be asked. Check out some of the strangest ones to show up on Glassdoor:

What are other common questions you have been asked during an interview?

Interviewed lately? We hope you’ll tell us about it!

Most Common Interview Questions is a post from: Glassdoor Blog