Today, we have more than one million members who have contributed information on 120,000 companies around the globe which now accounts for 1.7 million company reviews, interview questions, salary reports, workplace photos and CEO ratings.

Our community has grown, our business has grown and we have grown as an employer here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we only expect bigger and better things in the months and years to come.

This past year has been an exciting one in which we’ve seen our employees flourish, in both achievements and number – we now have employees across the country, from our headquarters in Sausalito, Calif. to New York City. We’ve had record traffic to our site, welcoming five million unique visitors who view more than 30 million pages per month. Recently, we were honored by the Webby Awards as one of the Top 5 employment websites. And, we’ve added a significant $12 million Series C investment to help us continue to move the needle in the employment category.

As we move forward, we remain focused on our mission to become the world’s most trusted resource for helping people make informed decisions about their work. It’s exciting to see the site flourish around a seedling of an idea: “What would happen if everyone’s salaries just rolled off on to the shared company printer and were then posted on the web?”

In the coming months, we will continue to tackle the ambiguity around the job search process, further develop an environment that allows job seekers and employers to align on cultural fit, and create more tools and resources that empower individuals to advance their careers.

I offer my deepest gratitude to each and every person who has helped make Glassdoor what it is today.

Glassdoor Marks 3 Years With 1 Million Members Strong is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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It’s been just two and a half years since we launched in June 2008 and it’s extremely gratifying to have such respected investors see the value and opportunity in our company we certainly know is there.  The greatest reward, however, is the rising number of users who get value out of the data we collect from people around the world.

When we first launched our free “give-to-get” model, there was skepticism if it could really work – would people be compelled to anonymously share such private details? In short, YES! You’ve told us you think it’s fair, and you actually want to help others learn from your own experiences while you learn from theirs.  We’ve seen an incredible amount of “pay it forward” behavior, which is exactly what we hoped. This has been great, especially in light of the economy and labor market ills over the past couple of years. After all, can you think of a better to time to have this type of per-job, per-company data available?

Since our Series B round in October 2008, the site has added on several new products including interview reviews and questions and added JobScope™ search technology that allows job seekers to quickly scan a company’s rating, read company reviews and see salary and compensation ranges directly from each job listing. In addition, we created new resources for companies through our Enhanced Employer Profiles which allow companies to tell their story to the job candidates that matter most to them.

I am especially proud of what we’ve accomplished and the team who got us here.  In 2008 when we announced our Series B we had 12 employees and have grown to 30.  We’re hiring, so let us know if you know any great engineers and pros in marketing or sales.

As we move forward, we remain focused on building a community that helps take the guesswork out of one of the most important areas of our lives – our jobs and our careers.  With this latest round, we intend to put these additional resources to work to further expand our services and feature set for employees, job seekers and employers and make Glassdoor even better. If you have suggestions on features and services you’d like to see, we’d love to hear from you.

We look forward to serving you better as we continue to grow so that as the economy warms up and the job market expands with new opportunities, we can serve as your insider’s guide to learn about what job openings are out there and what company is the best fit for you.

Glassdoor Hits An Important Milestone: Secures $12 Million In Series C Funding is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Our timing couldn’t have been better.  Over the past two years the labor market has been pummeled with the economy and people around the world need jobs and company information more than ever. We’re helping with that…with the help of our community and members around the globe.

I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed invaluable content to Glassdoor to help others learn from your experiences. Whether it’s been salary reports, company reviews, interview questions, or office photos, you’re paying it forward and helping others with their career.  Thanks to you, we now have more than one million pieces of content on our site covering more than 84,000 companies – and growing every day.  I also want to thank the hundreds of employers that have provided us with constructive feedback to make Glassdoor better for all users. And, finally I want to thank our team here along with our great group of board members and advisors. We’re not a large team, but we’ve made big strides in opening up information in an area so critical to our lives – jobs and careers.  Most importantly, you’ve helped us shine the light on the historically taboo subject of salaries in a way that’s helping people every day in today’s tough job climate.  Thank you!

Below are some highlights that recognize our progress over the past two years:

If you haven’t stepped inside Glassdoor for a while or this is your first time peeking in, I invite you to come see what’s new and  how you and your employer stack up. There is an active community of more than two million visitors coming to our site each month – come see what they see and are saying.

And to all our users, keep your feedback and questions coming. We don’t know what will happen next year with the economy, but what we do know is that we can empower ourselves in our jobs and be prepared for whatever comes  our way.

Useful Links:

• Salary Reports
• Company Reviews
• Interview Questions & Reviews
• Office Photos
• Glassdoor Blog: Get updates on relevant news items, product announcements and other juicy workplace, salary and interview insights
• Glassdoor News: Includes details about new products, sections and surveys
• Glassdoor Twitter
• Glassdoor Facebook Page

Glassdoor Turns Two! is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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As reviews flow into the Glassdoor database, we are witnessing a new paradigm that offers individuals the information they need to make more informed decisions about their careers. With the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards, we honor those employers who have faced one of the toughest years in business without losing site of their employees.  Equally important, we honor the hundreds of thousands who have participated in our surveys and contributed reviews to help others gain important insights, and the millions that have armed themselves with these insider views to advance their careers.

I offer my sincerest congratulations to the winners of this year’s awards and wish everyone happy holidays and much success in the New Year!  If you have not yet done so, please complete your own survey and company review so we can continue to share this information globally.

A Note From Glassdoor.com CEO Robert Hohman… is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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As I scan through the more than 86 reviews from army personnel on Glassdoor, the statement ‘Our Soldiers, Civilians, and Families make great sacrifices to serve our Nation and defend our freedom’  comes to life for me. The reviews range from Special Forces Seargent to Army Captain to Security Manager and everything in between. The reviews remind me that these folks have given their everything for us, putting themselves into harm’s way and suffering separation from their loved ones on 18-month rotating deployments.  One Army Officer wrote about these downsides:

‘bullets, bombs, mortars, people who want to kill you. I’ve seen the inside of helicopters, airplanes, and boats. I’ve been shot at, blown up, spit at, rocks thrown at, yelled at, flipped off, and more. One time, at band camp, a mortar round landed in a building we were having a cookout in. It was really loud. You also spend a lot of time away from family and friends. I left for Iraq when my daughter was 7 weeks old and returned when she was 18 months. Our brigade was extended past 12 months, at the very last week of our 12 month tour. Kind of sucked.’

But this same Officer rated the army 4.0 out of 5.0 – when it is all said and done, soldiers love the U.S. Army. And if you keep reading the reviews, it’s because they love this country.

I feel bad getting a thank you letter from the army. I’m the one that should be sending a thank you.  No matter what you think about the wars that our country is in right now, these men and women are something special.

Congratulations to the Soldiers, Civilians and Families making up the United States Army, Glassdoor’s #43 Best Place to Work.

Be All That You Can Be is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Congratulations to General Mills, which topped the list of companies rated by their employees with a 4.5 company rating (on a 5-point scale) while giving General Mills CEO Ken Powell a 96% approval rating. It’s not hard to see why when looking at reviews². One employee writes “I’m proud to work for GMI! They are good community partners, they genuinely care about diversity, and they are well respected as a company. They are consistently ranked among the best companies to work for and their pay/benefits are competitive. The headquarters…is rather impressive as well boasting an impressive cafeteria, health facility…You could probably live on campus if you wanted to. These amenities go a long way into making the real life more manageable so that you can focus on performing well at your job.”

Another General Mills employee adds this review:

“Pros: Incredible work life balance! I started with General Mills many years ago in a interesting and challenging part-time position. Even during my part-time years, opportunities for growth were made available. Once my kids were older I returned to a full time schedule and pursued a management track.

Cons: The upsides of working for General Mills outweigh the downsides 100-1. The only observation I have is that General Mills is sometimes too good to their employees. The process for terminating an employee is so onerous that many managers just avoid it. Poor performers can linger for months or even years before someone takes action.

Advice to Senior Management: Outstanding company to work for!”

We know there are a number of lists out there where companies must nominate themselves and then spend considerable time and money to put together extraordinary marketing packets of information in hopes of being considered – let alone make the list. We’ve designed these awards with the same spirit of transparency on which we founded Glassdoor and think an award based exclusively on Employees’ Choice is an important reflection of that openness. (Particularly given the year we’ve all had!) In this first year, we’ve focused on companies that have U.S.-based employees because that’s where we have the most content to date, but we hope to expand the awards in the future to encompass other countries and companies with smaller employee bases. So without further ado, here are the 50 Best Places to Work according to the people who know best – their employees.

To find out more about the top 50 workplaces and read employee reviews of these companies, we invite you to visit: 2009 Employees’ Choice Awards. A complete copy of the Glassdoor survey along with additional information about the Glassdoor Best Places to Work methodology may be requested via email: BestPlacestoWork@glassdoor.com.

We look forward to seeing how these companies fare throughout 2009. Sending you best wishes and greater workplace transparency in the New Year!

¹To be eligible for the inaugural Employees’ Choice Awards for the Best Places to Work companies must have received at least 25 reviews from U.S.-based employees who are currently employees or who were employed at some time during 2008, maintain an above 3.5 cumulative average overall and across eight workplace factors addressed in the company’s voluntary 20-question survey, and the CEO must have an approval rating higher than 50%.

²Glassdoor carefully reviews each ratings survey, company review and salary report submitted through its website and only those surveys and reports that are approved by the Glassdoor research team are eligible for the list.

Employees’ Choice Unveiled: Glassdoor Announces Top Best Places to Work is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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So new CEO, here’s your chance – listen close to the Yahoo Reviews by your soon to be employees:

Yahoo Business Development Manager in Sunnyvale, CA

“Big layoffs to reduce expenses. Figure out what Yahoo stands for – no one seems to know (Google = search, Microsoft = software, Yahoo = ??? email, gossip news???, large audience??). When I was there, Marketing couldn’t come up w/ a coherent message b/c no one could figure out what defines Yahoo. A bunch of lame marketing at that time – FUSE acronym, TV commercials w/ people carrying around placards w/ URLs on them, etc”

Yahoo Anonymous Employee in Santa Clara

“Retain your best talent and cut the fat (there’s a lot of it). Provide clear directions and act like you mean it. Just a while ago, upper management was constantly chanting “We have to win” at all-hands. Watch closely and you’ll see that no alignment in action has taken place at all. Engineering excellence is not recognized nor rewarded. Your perseverance in finishing crap jobs is valued more than outstanding engineering work. Company talks innovation but doesn’t value it.”

Yahoo Software Engineer in Sunnyvale, CA

“Company has clearly lost direction. Yahoo is now mostly busy chasing Google, even though it’s clear that Google has pulled too far ahead. Yahoo should return to its roots as an innovator and risk taker. Try things and see what works. There is still enough (for now) talent at Yahoo to come up with the next brilliant thing.”

Yahoo VP of Engineering in Sunnyvale

“Buy AOL. Partner with MSFT on search. Focus on Display with the same level of commitment that G has to search. Press-the-flesh with the rank-and-file as much as you possibly can.”

Yahoo employees, like AIG before them, have some pretty strong opinions about what needs to happen with the company. And given the continuous news coming out of Yahoo! we have been watching the situation pretty closely.

One thing that was surprising to note is that Jerry Yang did not grace the Glassdoor CEO Watch Lists. (The Glassdoor CEO Watch list identifies the lowest rated CEOs according to employees – Watch List alumni include the CEOs of Alcatel-Lucent , AMD and WaMu. This month we have a newcomer to the list – Office Depot CEO Steve Odland takes “top” rank with a 98% disapproval rating.) Although we are observing that employee opinion doesn’t always dictate a departure of CEO, it does present some compelling arguments that a low CEO approval rating may mean tough days ahead for a top executive boss.

Advice for the new Chief Executive at Yahoo! from Glassdoor is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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The past few months have been a whirlwind, and Glassdoor.com has experienced significant growth. Our new investors share our vision of providing greater transparency to the employment space and helping people make better decisions about their work.

With this round, I’m happy to announce that Jim White, managing director, Sutter Hill Ventures, will join the Glassdoor board of directors. Jim has a proven track record of successful collaborations with leading business and consumer-facing companies, including Shutterfly.com, Fix.com, Farecast and Infinera, and his experience will be a valued asset to our board. He’s also great guy and I’m looking forward to working with him.

Since we launched our public beta in June, the site’s “employee generated content,” has grown nearly 40-fold to more than 115,000 contributions for 14,000 companies across a wide section of global industries. Immediately following the public debut, we received contributions from employees around the globe, prompting us to accelerate the community’s international capabilities in August. As result, Glassdoor community members have the ability to view salaries in more than 100 local currencies.

Now more than ever, people want to know what it’s really like inside a company and more and more employees are sharing details about their jobs and work environments. With increased resources, employees and employers can improve upon the decisions they make for their career and for their company. In this environment, in particular, we think this investment sends a strong signal about the value of the information available on Glassdoor.com to people around the globe.

This additional funding allows Glassdoor to capitalize on substantial community growth rates. We have a lot of work to do and we look forward to further developing the breadth, depth and quality of our content.

Glassdoor Secures $6.5 Million in Series B Funding is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Consolidation of any size is tough on employees but when the companies are the size and scope of these two, the effects are generally felt far and wide as evidenced by the estimated size of layoffs. The implications for morale impact are high, especially saddled with the already low ratings EDS and HP have as independent companies. EDS CEO Ron Rittenmeyer has been among the lowest rated CEOs on Glassdoor.com since our launch with just 14% approval rating (more than 65% disapprove) While Mark Hurd has a higher percentage of employees that approve of his performance at 44%, the low company ratings are near neck and neck — with EDS at 2.6 and HP at 2.8.

What does this mean for the short-term horizon? We expect to see employee sentiment at HP and EDS deteriorate in the near term and thought we’d share some of the employee advice to senior management in case anyone at HP is listening.

Top advice to Hewlett Packard senior management from employees:

• Cultivate and keep talent: “There is so much potential here, yet we continue to see these amazing, successful people drifting away from HP. You must be seeing it. I’m talking people who hit their numbers, are supportive team members and all-around rock stars who should be promoted. I can honestly say that every person on my team is passively or actively job hunting given frustration over either a) absurdly below-market-rate compensation for their work or b) lack of options for career growth, or both.”
• Share the wealth: “Senior management stock bonus programs are great, but the average employee at HP has none. Share the wealth would be the bottom line I guess I would tell them. Let us share in the satisfaction of doing well for the company, by supporting the company with stock options at the very least.”
• Care more about the customers: “Employees need to be empowered to do what is right for customers. Company is often too process-driven. Not that process is bad, it is very necessary in large company operation, but when nimble, customer-focused decision-making gives way to long, drawn-out discussions, endless approvals and often inflexible process flows, it is customer loyalty that ultimately suffers.”

It’s important not to forget that at the same time HP is managing employees out, they’re managing EDS employees in. It will be important to understand the frame of mind of these employees as they’re generally disenfranchised and dissatisfied as workforce.

We’ve lived through our own integrations in past lives and know the road ahead will be challenging and invite employees of HP/EDS to share their experiences.

HP Restructures, Employees See Pink is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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One of our objectives in launching Glassdoor was to provide employees and job seekers with more information about jobs, salaries and workplaces than previously available. We feel this information is extremely powerful and we want people to use Glassdoor’s data to have more productive and informed conversations with their managers.

We know these conversations are starting to happen at work through user feedback, but I’m also delighted the subject and debate of salary transparency is occurring within the international media. A recent New York Times article by Lisa Belkin discussed the benefits and potential pitfalls of this level of transparency (note: at Glassdoor we don’t think there are any pitfalls). Yesterday, Lisa was on NBC’s TODAY show (see Salary Transparency Secrets) discussing some of her findings and Glassdoor.com. Earlier in the week, CNBC’s Brooke Sopelsa took a look at the implications and even went so far as to encourage people to contribute to the site. In Kiplinger’s September issue, Jessica Anderson shows readers how to get the scoop on salaries. On September 1, the Sydney Morning Herald talked about the implications in Australia, while the Times Online in London kicked off significant chatter about the issue in the UK that landed yours truly on the BBC with an English economist.

Of course, we love the attention because it leads more and more people to our site and underscores the importance of the work our team is doing here. But most importantly, it reinforces the cultural evolution afoot to make this information more accessible. What’s really gratifying is the involvement and activity we’re seeing from people around the world in a variety of roles in cross sections of industries. While we may have created the technology and forum, everyone who has used Glassdoor is really helping to drive this fundamental change and open the doors to companies and workplaces a little bit wider every day. Thanks to those who have contributed thus far. To everyone else still sitting on the sidelines – what are you waiting for?

Given ‘em something to talk about… is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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