Glassdoor Review: What is Glassdoor, Business Model, Pros & Cons

Glassdoor identity logo

Every professional hopes to work in a reliable organization that doesn’t only inspire them to career growth, but also gives them equivalent value for their contributions. On the other hand, business leaders are constantly invested in finding suitable talents and attracting them to their organization. This means that while professionals are looking for the right place, organizations are also doing their best to position themselves as the best place to work. This is exactly where a platform like Glassdoor comes in, and this Glassdoor review will shed light on the company and its operations

Glassdoor is an online platform that helps professionals make informed career decisions by providing them with reviews, salary evaluators, interview guides, and general career assistance. For businesses, it gives them the platform to source for seasoned talents, make recruitment consultations, showcase their culture, and build corporate relations.

It was founded in 2014 to serve as that platform that bridges the gap between the desires of the professionals and those of the companies. Though the website offers different career-related services, it is however most famous for its company review feature. A lot of people forget that Glassdoor is also a job listing site, as their major interest with the platform is the company reviews and salary estimator.

This post, will review Glassdoor by exploring its history, features, benefits, and how to effectively utilize its resources.

What is Glassdoor?

Glassdoor is a leading job search and company review website. Through its platform, it empowers employees to anonymously share reviews about their companies and workplaces. It offers a vast database of company information, including salary reports, interview questions, CEO approval ratings, and office photos. Glassdoor’s mission is to help people find jobs and companies they love by providing access to transparency and information.

History of Glassdoor, Ownership and Affiliations.

Glassdoor was founded in 2007 by Tim Besse, Robert Hohman, and Rich Barton. The site went live in 2008 and by 2018 (10 years later) the company had grown in value and was acquired by Recruit Holdings for $1.2 billion. Recruit Holdings owns both Glassdoor and Indeed.com.

Relevant: Indeed.com Review: What is Indeed.com and All You Need to Know

Key Features of Glassdoor

As a top career website, Glassdoor has innovated over the years to remain one of the best. And in doing this, they have incorporated different helpful features on the website to help job seekers and employees make informed decisions:

  • Company Reviews
  • Salary Reports
  • Interview Questions
  • CEO Approval Ratings
  • Company Photos and Videos
  • Community Forums

Benefits of Using Glassdoor

Glassdoor offers a suite of services targeted at job seekers and employers. Here are some of their key services:

1. Job Seekers:

  • Job Search: Job search is one of the key services that Glassdoor provides for its users across the world. On their platform, you have the opportunity to search for jobs in various industries, locations, fields, and salaries.
  • Company Reviews: As a job seeker, you can write and read anonymous reviews about companies. This can help you to gain insight into company culture, management, work-life balance, and overall employee satisfaction.
  • Salary Reports: On the Glassdoor website, you have the salary data for various positions across different companies and industries which will help you make informed carry choices.
  • Interview Questions: With the list of interview questions that can be found on the site, a lot of people find Glassdoor as a go-to place to ask interview-related questions and related.
  • CEO Approval Ratings: View CEO approval ratings and employee sentiment towards company leadership.
  • Company Photos and Videos: Get a glimpse into company culture and office environments through photos and videos.
  • Community Forums: Join discussions and ask questions in community forums to gain insights from other professionals.

2. Glassdoor Services to Employers:

  • Employer Branding: Glassdoor allows employers to showcase their company’s culture, values, and employee benefits, attracting top talent.
  • Reputation Management: Employers are free to review, respond to employee reviews, address concerns, and demonstrate a commitment to transparency. Through this, Glassdoor services as an indirect PR platform.
  • Recruiting and Talent Acquisition: As a job platform, it is not a surprise that helps recruiters and business owners to advertise vacancies, discover talents, and make hires.
  • Employee Insights: As a review platform, one of the advantages it serves to employers is that it helps them gain insight into their company and the perception that in-house workers have about it. Employers can discover the exciting things that make their firm a great place to learn. Also, they can discover their shortcomings and enhance employee satisfaction.
  • Market Research: Businesses can analyze salary data, CEO approval ratings, and employee reviews to benchmark their company against industry standards.
  • Competitive Intelligence: Businesses also track the activities of their competitors, understand their employee culture, and identify areas for differentiation.

Glassdoor’s Business Model

Glassdoor operates a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) business model. Technically, it serves two main users (job seekers, and recruiters/Employers). The site generates revenue through a combination of advertising and premium services. Here’s a breakdown of their key revenue streams:

1. Job Advertising:

Glassdoor allows employers to post job listings on their platform, reaching a vast audience of job seekers. Employers can pay to have their job openings featured prominently, ensuring maximum visibility to potential candidates. This revenue stream represents a significant portion of Glassdoor’s income.

2. Employer Branding Services:

Glassdoor offers a suite of employer branding services to help companies enhance their reputation and attract top talent. These services include creating and managing company profiles, responding to reviews, and running targeted advertising campaigns. Companies pay subscription fees for access to these services.

3. Recruitment Services:

Glassdoor provides additional recruitment services to employers, such as sourcing candidates, conducting background checks, and scheduling interviews. These services generate revenue based on the specific services provided.

4. Glassdoor Review Intelligence:

Glassdoor Review Intelligence is a data analytics platform that provides companies with insights from employee reviews. This tool helps companies understand employee sentiment, identify areas for improvement, and benchmark their performance against industry standards. Companies pay a subscription fee for access to this platform.

Traffic Strength of Glassdoor

Glassdoor is a popular website with massive traffic showing how relevant it is in the job search and career space. In October 2023, the SEMrush report shows that the Glassdoor website received an estimated 44.28 million visits for that month alone.

Relevant: Monster Review: What it is, Business Model, Pros & Cons 

Glassdoor Contact Details

Here are the contact details for Glassdoor:

Note; These are Glassdoor’s general contact details. To reach a live person might be a tall call. If you have a specific question or issue, it is best to reach out to them directly through their website or email.

Pros and Cons of Glassdoor

1) Glassdoor Pros and Cons For Job Seekers

ProsCons
Free to use.Too many people applying for the same job as you.
Provides relevant company and salary reviews.You’ll need to drop a review before you can fully explore the company review feature.
Lots of job postings and opportunities.Most of the job postings get filled up fast.
You can get better job offers since you can see the approximate salaries for each available position and you can double check it against the salary reports available on the site for specific companies, fields, or industries.Lacks advanced search options that are available on other websites.
Resource for professionals. By providing a platform where professionals can learn about the company they want to work for, estimate salaries, and gain other career insights, Glassdoor is a resource for professionals.You’ll have to sort the meaningful and factual reviews from the biased employee reviews.

2) Glassdoor Pros and Cons For Businesses

ProsCons
Gain access to a large talent pool.You can have job seekers that will spam you with requests.
Self-service, easy to use.Customer service might not be the best.
Opportunities to list jobs faster.Most of the job postings get filled up fast.
Opportunity to have your brand shown to people who need to see it.Not all companies have enough information and some reviews are outdated or misleading.
Get reviews from past workers.Some employees post fake reviews that give false impressions about their employers.

3) Glassdoor Pros and Cons for Staff

ProsCons
Promotes transparency between employees and management.You’re expected to hit the ground running from day one.
Glassdoor fosters a more open and honest workplace cultureThis can be a limitation when some lines are crossed.
Glassdoor gives employees a voice in their workplace.High-performance environment and there’s always a new challenge.
Growth-oriented.Limited scope for innovation.

 

Our Verdict after Glassdoor Review: Glassdoor is reliable

  • As a job search and company review site, Glassdoor has done a good job for the space since its creation.
  • Glassdoor operates two or more business models that align with its mission.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this post is a product of research. It is in no way presented to bring down or hype any organization. Because they are purely opinions of the writer, readers are advised to independently verify and exercise their judgment before relying on the information provided.

Reference

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Richard Okiasi

I started Fasthire in 2019 with the goal of helping young professionals bridge the gap between their current position and their dream careers. Through my growth process, I have worked with clients from different parts of the world. By writing CVs, Personal/Statement of Purposes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles, I have discovered certain things that make candidates successful in their job or school application. We share all the relevant information here. Do well to drop your thoughts about our content and also share with your loved ones. If you need our service, send us a mail to fasthireng@gmail.com.

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