Insider Information on your Prospective Employer

On September 7, 2008, search string glassdoor.com has reached a top Google Searches list. This is a respectable marketing exposure, taking in an account that the site opened its doors in June, and announced it supports international locations as well in August 26. Since its June debut, the site has collected reviews or salary data for more than 11,000 companies.

Glassdoor.com is a California startup Web site that showcases salaries from individual companies along with employee reviews, created with money from Menlo Park, Calif.-based Benchmark Capital, by the founder of the popular home-valuation Website Zillow.com.

Glassdoor.com is bringing more transparency to the workplace so that everyone has the information needed to make better career decisions. Evert community member can find and anonymously share ratings, reviews, and salary details about specific jobs for specific employers - all for free. The employee generated content usually covers a range of workplace factors, including work-life balance, career opportunities, compensation, leadership, and much more of what you need to get an inside look at what it’s really like to work at a company. To become a community member, you just anonymously submit your own job information and opinion.

What is new in the service comparing with the existing competitors on the market? By contrast, Salary.com shows salary ranges for job titles in your Zip code, but job descriptions are fairly generic and may not match the position you’re evaluating. PayScale.com is similar to Glassdoor.com in that it compiles salary data directly from users. You can see where you rank (or how much other jobs pay) compared with similar profiles, but no companies are named or reviewed. Combination of the real companies and real positions makes the provided information so valuable on the verge of the important decision-making. This knowledge helps to leverage the playing field slightly between the employer and employee at the position discussion.

Glassdoor takes pains to ensure data are on the level, reviewing every submission before it’s posted. Suspicious content -- such as outlier salaries or multiple entries from the same user -- is thrown out.

The site’s original focus was technology companies; banking and consulting listings have grown quickly, and Glassdoor is pursuing other industries.

Just, out of curiosity, Google’s overall rating is 4.1, Microsoft’s - 3.8, Yahoo! - 3.4, Intel’s - 3.4. My company’s rating is 3.2. Is that time to move? It is true, that eBay does have even lower rating - 3.1. If you planned to join eBay team, watch the movie first.

eBay reviews at GlassDoor.com