How to Use Glassdoor

Whether you’re a job seeker who is looking for a new position or you are an employer who has job openings to fill, you may have heard about Glassdoor. An American-based company, Glassdoor is a website that allows current and former workers to anonymously review the companies they work for or have worked for in the past. Users can also anonymously submit and view the salaries that companies pay, and job seekers can even use the website to search for and apply for job openings directly through the platform. 

How does Glassdoor work? What type of features does the site offer? How accurate is the site? To find the answers to these questions and more, keep on reading. 

About Glassdoor

Before examining the frequently asked questions that job seekers and employers (pointed out above) have about Glassdoor, let’s take a look at the company’s background. 

According to their website, Glassdoor’s mission is to “help people everywhere find a job and a company they love”. Essentially, it’s an open source network for job seekers and employers. Employers can post job openings with their companies to the site, and those who are looking for work can use the site to search for and view job openings anywhere in the world. 

Glassdoor was built on the foundation of improving transparency in the workplace. Founded in 2007 by Tim Besse Robert Hohman, the CEO of the company, and Rich Barton, the founder of Expedia and the chairman of Glassdoor, the company has become the worldwide leader in on job and company insights. The idea for Glassdoor was born from a brainstorming session. Hohman accidentally left the results of an employee survey on a printer while he was working with Expedia, and it was then that the co-founders began discussing what would happen if the results of that survey had reached the public. They talked about how if the information had been revealed to the public, it would have been highly advantageous to those who were attempting to make decisions about their careers. 

Quickly after launching their website, Glassdoor gained a tremendous amount of traction, as it was received very well by the public. In fact, it was so well received that in 2013, the company was awarded the Red Herring North America Award for Social media Innovation. 

In 2018, Recruit Holdings, a Japanese firm, acquired Glassdoor for $1.2 billion, though the firm continues to operate independently. Their headquarters are situated in San Francisco, CA, and there are offices in Chicago, London, Dublin, and Sao Paulo. 

Glassdoor’s values include the following: 

  • Transparency. The site is committed to being open and honest about job openings and the companies that post them. They say that they share both good and bad information so that the site users can continue to learn, collaborate, and make the best decisions. 
  • Innovation. The people behind Glassdoor are constantly seeking new and unique ways to advance their mission and challenge the status quo so that site users can forge their own paths. 
  • Goodness. The site also says that they’re “good people”. The team prides itself on integrity, respect, and compassion for each other. They also say that the team behind Glassdoor has fun with each other and that they’re “inclusive, fair, and humble”, yet they always remain confident. Their objective is to do the right thing, always. 
  • Perseverance. The Glassdoor team claims that they are highly resilient, innovative, resourceful, and that they have grit. They view challenges as opportunities and using passion and bravery, they join together to “get the job done”. 

As mentioned, Glassdoor was built on the premise of boosting transparency in the workplace. The site collates reviews and ratings about millions of companies around the world, as well as approval ratings of CEOs, salary reports, reviews of benefits that companies offer, reviews and questions about interviews, and even photos of companies offices. 

What sets Glassdoor apart from other career sites is that the information posted on the site is shared by individuals who know the companies the best: the employees. As such, those who are using Glassdoor to find employment have done a great deal of research and are highly informed about the positions and companies they apply to and that they consider joining. For these reasons, employers of all shapes and sizes, across all industries, and throughout the world, rely on Glassdoor to assist them with recruiting and employing the best candidates for the jobs that they need to fill. Glassdoor is easy to access via their mobile app devices. 

Key Statistics

To give you an idea about the type of traction and impact that Glassdoor is having, and how successful it is, here’s a look at some of the vital statistics that are associated with the site: 

  • 55 million unique monthly visitors
  • 100 million reviews, salaries, and insights
  • 65 percent of users search and/or apply for jobs that are posted to the site
  • 84 percent of candidates are likely to assess company reviews and ratings before applying for job openings
  • 1.9 million employers post job openings to Glassdoor
  • 60 percent of Glassdoor users read a minimum of 5 reviews that are posted on the site prior to formulating their opinions about a company
  • The average rating of companies posted about on Glassdoor is 3.7
  • According to date collected on the site, 78 percent of employees are “ok” or “satisfied” at work
  • The average CEO rating on Glassdoor is 73 percent
  • 66 percent of Glassdoor users  say that they would recommend the site to their friends or employers

Given the information highlighted above, it’s easy to see why Glassdoor has become such a popular and highly useful tool for employers and job seekers. It really has made the job market more transparent and has changed the way that job seekers find work, and the way that employers find employees and fill positions. 

Who is Glassdoor For? 

Glassdoor is intended for anyone who is seeking gainful employment anywhere in the world. Employers of companies of all shapes and sizes and across all industries can post job openings to the site, and job seekers from around the globe can then view those job openings and apply for the positions that they are interested in. In other words, the site is intended for individuals who are currently in the workforce and are interested in making a career change, for first-time job seekers, and for employers who are seeking talented employees for their companies. 

How does Glassdoor Work? 

Glassdoor allows those who are looking for employment to find job openings that fit their interests, talents, credentials, qualifications, and even their salary requirements. The site is free and very easy to use. 

Glassdoor can be equated to a social media site for job seekers and employers. Prospective employees create an account, complete with a profile photo, and they then list their skills, post their resume, and provide links to a portfolio of their work experience. After creating an account, users can then search Glassdoor for job opportunities that have been posted to the site. They can also browse through the site to research information about potential employers, including reviews from past and present employees, to learn about the work environments of the companies they are considering applying to, and they can even find out information about employee salaries. 

Once a job seeker has found an opportunity with a company that appeals to their interests and that they feel that they are qualified to fill, they can apply for the position directly through the site. Employers can then view a job seeker’s application by reviewing their resume, viewing their portfolio, and other pertinent information that relates to an applicant and their qualities, experience, and other benefits that may be beneficial for a company. Employers can reach out to applicants that they feel best meets their needs to invite them for an interview. 

What Types of Features does Glassdoor Offer? 

Glassdoor offers a variety of innovative, easy-to-use features that are intended to make finding gainful employment for job seekers easier, and that are also intended for employers to find talented workers to fill job openings. Some of the key features that Glassdoor offers include the following: 

  • The most recent job openings in a wide variety of categories; industry, geographic location, and position, for example
  • Crowdsourced ratings and reviews from both current and former employees of a specific company
  • Approval ratings of company CEOs so that job seekers can get an overview of the leadership of the companies they are interested in applying with 
  • Salary, benefits, and compensation insights, which employees can use to determine whether or not they are interested in applying for a job opening
  • Basic ideas and helpful tips that pertain to questions that employers may ask on interviews
  • Photos of offices and other pertinent information

What really makes Glassdoor stand out from the crowd of other job boards is that the information the site complies and shares is very well-researched, and is supported by evidence, which allows prospective applicants to make informed decisions about the job openings they are thinking about applying for so that they can make smart decisions about their career paths. 

What Are the Benefits of Using Glassdoor? 

Prospective employees and employers who are looking to fill job openings can benefit from using Glassdoor’s job platform for a number of reasons. Some of the most notable benefits of this site include the following: 

  • It can be used by anyone, anywhere, complete for free
  • The company reviews that are posted on Glassdoor are all crowdsources, which means that users of the site can compare and assess information about companies that they are interested in from different perspectives and draw their own conclusions before applying to a job
  • It helps to connect employees with the best companies to meet their needs, and it helps to connect employers with the most talented employees

Are Glassdoor Reviews Accurate? 

Since the information that is featured on Glassdoor is anonymous, many users or those who are interested in using the site wonder if that information is accurate. That’s understandable, given the fact that unfortunately, websites can be compromised, and information can be altered and doctored to suit agendas. For example, if an employer wants to quash the competition, they could potentially post inaccurate reviews on the site in order to deter talented job seekers from applying with that company. Conversely, companies that actually have a questionable track record can post glowing reviews on Glassdoor in an effort to encourage talented employees to apply for job openings that they would otherwise not apply for. 

So, are the reviews on Glassdoor accurate? The site does have guidelines in place for employer reviews, and those guidelines attempt to maintain the authenticity of the reviews that are posted on the site. For instance, employees are only permitted to post a maximum of one review per employer, per year. The companies that post job openings are held to a similar standard, as they apply algorithms and filters that are used to identify organizations that attempt to skirt the website’s regulations. A Content Moderation Team detects any violations of Glassdoor’s guidelines, by either employees or employers, the team will take down all of the reviews that have been posted by that source. Glassdoor also encourages site users to monitor and assess review that they interact with and to flag anything that they believe to be questionable and posted by suspected those who abuse the site’s guidelines. 

How Can Job Seekers Leverage Glassdoor? 

Whether you’re currently employed and you want to find a new job, you’ve been out of the workforce for a while and you are looking to start working again, or you’re a first-time job seeker, if you’re planning on using Glassdoor to find employment, here are some tips that you can use to leverage the site: 

  • Optimize your resume and portfolio. Make sure to highlight information that prospective employers will find most appealing. 
  • Create job alerts so that you can instantly receive notifications when employers post jobs that suit your interests. 
  • Thoroughly read reviews so you can make an informed decision before you apply for job openings.

As always it is very important to use the keywords associated with any job advertisement effectively so we suggest studying how write an effective resume before applying anywhere.

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