CoStar Group Reviews

Cons

Not many at all. If you have drive and can adapt to changes, you can make a lot of money and have a long career. Complainers are for those who simply can't do it!

Cons

The metrics. Everything you do is tracked. Accountability is important in any job, but this is next level. How many times you dial the phone. How many times you have a call over 90 seconds. How many times you said "branding statements" on the call. Everything is monitored and if you start to struggle the proposed solution is to dial the phone more. There seems to be a complete lack of understanding that to talk to someone on the phone requires another party to pick up the phone and be willing to hear you talk.

Cons

See above. Merger and selfish leadership cause a whirlwind. No one cares about each other. Everyone is to self.

Cons

Not much growth within company.
Roles aren't clearly defined so it is difficult to climb the ladder

Cons

The negative comments on here do not reflect the company accurately. There are literally thousands of people who like the job that they have here and the work that they do.

Cons

In David Foster Wallace’s infamous “This Is Water” commencement address, he notes that “there is actually no such thing as atheism...everybody worships.” For Christianity it is Jesus and the trinity, for Scientology it is Tom Cruise, and for Costar, it is calls. Calls-calls-calls-calls! Upper management displays such a fervor for calling, irrespective of its utility, that every problem, no matter what the quagmire, can be resolved by drumming up an army of researchers to dial the bejesus out of it.

Perhaps, though, I should provide some context: Costar, among other things, provides a platform for CRE professionals to pay an exorbitant monthly fee to list their lease and sale listings, research new properties, and run market analyses. The crux of a research job at Costar is to call clients and other CRE professionals as often as possible to gather, validate, or verify information already in the database, then, explain to said clients why you are calling them when they pay you to house and accurately display such information. Management claims that clients want researchers involved to manage their listings, but the cacophony of irked clients I speak with proves otherwise. Most clients, in my experience, use the software purely to generate leads. The data is too unreliable to use for due diligence in any deal.

Costar practices a zealous worship of internal metrics that ultimately serve no practical purpose toward improving wellbeing or performance for employees, or the quality of its products. At first this philosophy is just a nuisance, but as the days drag on, participating in such a convoluted and ultimately useless practice wears down on your spirit.

Internally, the call metrics are used by management to pat themselves on the back for a “job well done” while other glaring problems that could have real impact on stakeholder wellbeing are brushed under the rug. There is constant feedback from clients to improve the accuracy of the data, yet it's impossible when research metrics are framed around the ability to call and update listings, irrespective of the quality of the data being updated. There is call-focused cabal within upper management that dictates the fixation on calling to all the lower management trees. It's a massive system of coerced stupidity that only stands to benefit a few higher-ups in a quarterly earnings call.

Costar is an environment where mediocrity is the norm and putting forth any effort to optimize processes is shrugged off with an air of dissuasive nonchalance. Plenty of bright and talented employees quickly become jaded to the rigid business and management structures, and the inorganic work environment becomes suffocating. Any advice or ideas for change and improvement are routinely shot down- to the degree that its a joke among employees. Costar’s best bet for improving employee well being, client satisfaction, and overall data quality, would be to supplant the call-metrics with valuable research projects to enhance data and better respond to client’s frustrations.

Costar is by far the most litigious company I’ve worked for or heard of- to the degree that it puts Donald Trump’s legal history to shame. While the Excelligent investigation made headlines, there are scores of other suits and investigations that don’t bubble up to the outer world. Costar contracts are designed to limit the opportunity for clients to unsubscribe and maximize the ability for Costar to pursue legal action. The sales team emboldens this shady effort by deliberately misdirecting and mis-marketing products to sow as much confusion as possible. This confusion also spills into the realm of customer service: one routinely receives calls from clients trying to rectify simple errors with their accounts- missing log-on information, inaccurate subscription packages, removing old users- but research has no sway over these issues, and we have no choice but to toss them into the maw of the sales and customer service teams. While these practices may not directly affect my day-to-day, my association with a company that endorses such behavior feels like a slow-dripping poisonous thorn in my side.

I could go on, but I’m sure at this point I am straining the average attention span for a Glassdoor review. I can only hope this review dissuades those looking to working here, or at the very least, sheds some insight into what to expect.

Cons

the grind, the metrics, monotony

Cons

Specifically for the help desk team. The DC management team is worthless, and never in the office. The other management is in Richmond and hard to handle some slacking team members based in the DC office.

Projects come out of no where from management with tight deadlines and no clear guidance on how to tackle it effectively. Over time was cut down and not allowed unless approved, 2 hour call rotations daily on the help desk line is not helpful for more senior team members.

Benefits have gotten more expensive over the years, corporate culture is hurting from Andy tightening the budget to get the higher margins he wants for the shareholders.

Pay is okay for industry standards, raises are depressing (low single figures). Promotions are dangled in front of you for years, but if you're good at your job your current manager will sandbag your promotion as long as they can to keep you on their team and know a replacement is ready.

Cons

Lots of employees - difficult to stand out.

Cons

Work load or expectations are not evaluated realistically...by that I mean we’re expected to accomplish so much by managers that do not realize the actual time we do have to complete them. The micro managing is a lot and the job is exhausting especially with the kind of calls we get every day. I applied thinking this was not a call center job— it is. I wouldn’t have applied if I knew it was and it wasn’t mentioned during the interview. I feel a little bit played there. I wish the environment was a little ‘laxed’ considering the demands of the jobs and how we are treated on the phones and just allow people to enjoy their job. I believe people will work harder especially by choice. We’re on the phones all day everyday plus the files we have to do and notations AND emails. In my opinion it should one or the other. Or make phones a little less of a high priority to hinder our work. I wish I could enjoy my job more. I kind of like it here, but sometimes I dread leaving for work. I wish it could be better...oh well