How Glassdoor Gives Applicants a Transparent Look at Employers

How Glassdoor Gives Applicants a Transparent Look at Employers Many different integrated apps have tried to introduce recruiting and job finding into Facebook, but none have been entirely successful. I was invited to one I had not heard of before Glassdoor and it seemed interesting so I tried it. I will now review this app and website  a new way to find jobs and leave feedback on past and current employers,  anonymously. Glassdoor was voted the ‘Best Employment Site 2012’ by the Webby Awards, and is touted as ‘a free inside look at jobs and companies’. Employees can leave anonymous salary information, reviews, interview questions and photographs from current and past employees. Think TripAdvisor for jobs if you are considering a job offer from a particular company you probably want to check out what others think of it. Activation: Whether you are invited to join Glassdoor (as I was) or you search for the app via Facebook, a connection page first appears, where you can alter profile visibility. As with all apps, you can set the visibility as Public, Friends or Me which may be useful if you have current employers or colleagues in your Friends list. This automatic connection to your Facebook profile allows Glassdoor to use your original Facebook profile information (such as schooling and jobs) to create a separate Glassdoor profile (you can change/delete this information later on). A typical Glassdoor profile lists only ‘Work Experience’, ‘Education’ and ‘Connections’ with current job title under your name and uses your current Facebook profile picture (so make sure its a good one, as you cant change it!). The profile information is linked back to Facebook-type pages for each company (to be discussed later). Profile completion: Once signed up, I had a 60% complete profile with a ‘Basic’ membership. The first important step was to complete my profile with Glassdoor giving me a list of tasks to do, each with a percentage that would total 100% when all three were done. My three tasks were ‘Add current city’, ‘Invite 3 friends’ and ‘Like’ or ‘+1’. The ‘Add current city’ was an easy option in the Profile, with drop down suggestions for town names and locations. The ‘Invite 3 friends’ option was annoying. This is done through a page where you are invited to ‘Include’ a certain amount of Facebook friends (either ALL of your Facebook friends, or all of your colleagues from school, University or a workplace), with the idea that the more friends you have, the more connections you will have. The invite window (a private request) is not very helpful either â€" you cannot remove people so you cannot choose specific people to invite to the app. The Like or +1 element of the profile is a clever marketing tool for the company’s social pages. You have to complete both elements â€" liking the Facebook page and +1 the company on Google+ to gain the added 10%. Once you ‘Like’ the company, it will appear on your profile page, enticing your friends to sign up. This will allow Glassdoors presence on both sites to increase. You are then asked to write a review/salary/interview post or upload a workplace photograph to grant yourself an Unlimited membership.  There are two types of membership on the Glassdoor website â€" the ‘Basic’ membership and the ‘Unlimited’ membership. The website states that “all new members automatically get a Basic Membership with 1-month of access to everything posted by our community.   However, no payment is needed for unlimited membership (as the site is financed by large ads on every page), as it only takes a minute to upgrade. Simply give back to the community by posting an anonymous inside look of your own â€" remember, your posts are anonymous.” The wording is extremely casual and friendly, and shows a sense of applying to a younger generation â€" maybe graduates or people looking for their first job. It is also a  crucial  point that everything is anonymous no matter whether you are posting a positive/negative report, you will never be found out. Connections: The front page of Glassdoor boasts the bold sentence: “Most jobs are found through an inside connection.  Each friend that joins Glassdoor allows you to see more connections at more companies.  The main aspect of Glassdoor is the more people you add (who then accept), the more connections you will have, and also access to a higher number of companies will be granted. However, people have been getting annoyed at the app requests on Facebook (as a simple Twitter search of Glassdoor Facebook will show), as not everyone may be looking for a job at the time you invite them! Writing a review: When you write a Company Review or post a Salary, you are asked to select between Current or Former Employer. If your employer is not yet listed, you are asked to enter some details (website, type and number of employees (from drop down menus), and the Headquarters City). Once submitted, a new form appears (with again a reminder that it is anonymous at the top) and the user can rate a number of elements of the job, as well as give Pros, Cons and Advice to Management as well as whether you would recommend this employer to a friend, and where your job prospects are looking for the next 6 months (up or down). Next to each submission form is an important ‘Message to Our Community’, a sign that fairness and good quality is  crucial  to Glassdoor. When submitting a photo, the rules outline that a  behind-the-scenes look is needed and the user is informed that they may upload 10 photos. All content is reviewed before being posted on the site a simple way to ensure that people cannot tarnish a company or the website itself. The website is then split into four sections Jobs, Companies Reviews, Salaries and Interviews, with a separate blog. Jobs: Jobs lists available Jobs in a certain area, with change range and date posted. Each job links to the Company Overview, Reviews, Salaries and Interviews of the company posting the job and these elements are extremely detailed (the Review has an average rating from all posts). Companies reviews: Under this section, there are the Featured Companies, with the Most Popular Companies, Best Places To Work and Companies and Reviews By Industry. Each company is given its own page on the site (which they can edit to describe the companys missions/morals and other details), and a link to its Facebook and Twitter feed. Everything about this website is based around sharing sharing information on companies, sharing connections with your Facebook friends, and sharing your use of the site. Salaries: The Salaries part of the website is the one which may be the most problematic for two main reasons. Firstly, people may lie about their salaries, either directly (to sound as if they earn/have earned more) or indirectly (mistakenly inputting the wrong salary). Secondly, current employees of the company could use it to look up other peoples salaries (either for the same job title or the same company), and this could cause friction in the workplace and even complaints (if someone was secretly earning more than you, but doing the same job). This is the section that Glassdoor have to take care with the most, to ensure it does not cause more harm than good. Interviews: Interviews are listed by job and company, with the most popular from both in separate tables. Interviews are also tagged, with the most used tags in a chart at the bottom of the page. When an interview question is clicked on, it can be answered, tagged or commented upon. This is useful for interviewees (to prepare) and interviewers alike (as they can change the questions they ask, in case it becomes a very popular post on the website). Is Glassdoor useful for job seekers? Yes. It is an extremely handy tool which people can use to choose the right company and job to apply for (by using the reviews and salaries section). However, it needs to be handled with caution rogue posts (both positive and negative) may have passed through the system, and it should be used with a pinch of salt. Is Glassdoor useful for employers? It is more necessary than useful for employers. Again, the posts should be taken with a pinch of salt, but may be needed to improve work ethics at the company, and fairness in terms of salaries, as well as changing interviews to make sure that every candidate passes the interview easily. Pros? There are many different pros for Glassdoor: This website is one of a kind there is no other major site where you can review your company, post your salary, photos and interview questions, all anonymously. Reviews are always checked before they are posted to ensure for a fairness, with  guidelines  clearly set out so as not to allow any malicious posts. Glassdoor uses prizes to get people to write anonymous reviews or salary posts â€" in this case I was offered the chance to win a free iPad in return for a post so you may  receive  a really good prize for writing 100 words. It is extremely difficult to find negative reviews there is no lowest rated company chart etc. This makes it fairer to companies to ensure that they are not brought down or trash talked. It has a clear layout, with easy navigation and titles, and an interesting design. Cons? The ‘include’/invite friends element is the main con. Sometimes with these apps, you don’t want to include all your friends (such as bosses/fellow colleagues which you may have in your Facebook friends).  A quick Twitter search of ‘Glassdoor Facebook’ brings up a lot of frustration about the app requests sent by friends. You cannot change your picture (say if you want a different photo to your Facebook profile picture). The website is coded in HTML, and could be made to look slicker and smoother. Conclusion: In conclusion, Glassdoor is an interesting website with many pros and cons. It works in terms of ‘connections’, so is extremely similar to LinkedIn. Is it trying to be a better LinkedIn or just a simpler LinkedIn (that anyone can connect to), with the added anonymous review elements? I feel that Glassdoor is extremely useful for first-time job seekers (as well as employers), but is more aimed towards the Facebook generation, who like to share a vast amount of information as it easy to use with its casual language, prizes and large graphics. RELATED: What is the Best Employer Review Site? [Featured image: Shutterstock]

3 Smart Strategies To Find Work You Love

3 Smart Strategies To Find Work You Love My brother  loves music and lately he has  taught me a very important career lesson, do work you love.   You may not start on top and you may have some bumps along the way.   But,  if you work your butt off, you will succeed in doing what you love and get paid for it! When we were younger, my little brother and I were complete opposites.   I was a straight A student, varsity tennis player and loved high school.   My brother hated high  school, high school teachers and any extracurricular activity that had to do with high school.   When he told me that he wasnt going to his high school  prom, I thought he  must have been  adopted because there is no way we were related.   I mean that is the most important day of your life! This week I got to see my brother in action.   My brother is the  man behind the music industry and gets to travel around the world with musicians.   Even though he is on call 24 hours a day, he has a smile on his face the entire time and he loves what he does.   He  is what we all strive to be, passionate about his job. So, if you want to find work you love and live your passion every single day just like my brother, here are some smart strategies to implement in your career search. 3 Smart Strategies To Find Work You Love 1. Informational interviews Informational interviews give you a  first-hand perspective so you can see how you fit into the work setting and allow you to see if the person you are interviewing loves his or her job.  Its really like an investigation and you are really determining if the type of job could be work you love doing in the future. Most likely, the person you conduct the informational interview with should be  upfront with you about the positives and negatives so you have a better idea if you really want to go into that profession. 2.  Career Assessments Career Assessments and personality tests provide feedback on what careers  will be a  good fit for you based on your interests, motivations and abilities.    These will also help you find out what kind of organizational culture you will be most comfortable and successful in. 3.  Network Over 70% of positions are secured through networking. Keep your  network filled with  former employers, colleagues, friends of parents, classmates and neighbors. Remain in contact with them whether you are employed or not. Networking is most useful when you are not looking for work.  [RELATED: The 30-Day Networking Plan That Will Change Your Life] The average American manager works 42 hours per week, but a substantial number of managers and professionals three in 10, or 10.8 million people work 49 or more hours per week.  With so much of your time spent at the office,  are you doing work  you love?

How to Rebrand Yourself After A Career Switch - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Rebrand Yourself After A Career Switch - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career People choose to switch careers for a variety of reasons. Maybe you were unhappy in your industry, or your job didn’t offer enough flexibility, or you just needed a change. No matter what your reasons, making a career switch can be tricky, especially if you’ve already branded yourself as an expert and professional in an entirely different field. But the process isn’t impossible. There are a variety of ways you can work to rebrand yourself to impress employers in a new industry, and many of them involve leveraging the skills you’ve already got. Check out these tips for rebranding yourself after making a career switch: 1. Assess your transferable skills. This is the first step to making a successful rebranding effort. First, identify what skills and abilities are required in your new field by doing a bit of research. Consider conducting an informational interview with someone in the industry, and pick their brain about how they learned to demonstrate the skills necessary to succeed in that field. Chances are, you already possess some of these qualities, so look at your resume and determine which you’ve already demonstrated in your past employment positions. Identify specific examples of ways you demonstrated those strengths, and rework your resume to include these details. 2. Rework your online presence. Start revamping your online presence to reflect your new career goals. Begin to slowly pivot your tweets to include news and updates about the field you’re looking to get into. Follow industry leaders on Twitter and connect with them on LinkedIn. “Like” company pages on Facebook, and see what information they’re sharing. Rework your LinkedIn bio to reflect your new career goals. Employers are highly likely to Google you upon receiving your job application, so pay close attention to this step. Social media is an excellent way to showcase your dedication to your work. 3. Start a blog. A blog can show employers you’re dedicated to learning about the industry, and you have relevant insight to share. Don’t portray yourself as an expert right off the batâ€"let your audience know you’re still learning, and as you try out new things, share what you’ve learned with your readers. Employers will appreciate that you’re taking the effort to become a trusted professional in your field. 4. Network in your new industry. If all of your networking contacts are still grounded in your old career field, you need to start meeting others to mentor and guide you on your new path. Old contacts can still be valuable if you’re moving to a related industry, but don’t skimp on building new relationships. Look for networking events, have coffee with a professional you admire, or interact with others via LinkedIn groups. Take the opportunity to enhance your professional reach even further, and reap the benefits as you move forward on your new path. It can be hard to find the motivation to rebrand yourself, but it doesn’t always mean starting from scratch. If you leverage your existing knowledge and abilities, the process becomes much simpler. Good luck! Have you ever had to rebrand yourself in your career? How did you go about doing so? Share your thoughts below. Author: Heather R. Huhman  is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder president of  Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. She is also the author of  Lies, Damned Lies Internships  (2011),  #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle  (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for  numerous outlets.

Guerrilla Marketing for Jobseekers

Guerrilla Marketing for Jobseekers Guerrilla Marketing, like Guerrilla Warfare, evens the playing field between large entities with resources and the little guys. Here’s how Jay Levinson, who wrote the book and coined the term in 1984, describes Guerrilla Marketing: : The soul and essence of guerrilla marketing consist of achieving conventional goals, such as profits and joy, with unconventional methods, such as investing energy instead of money.” Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'sFVoEdAVQStI5e_Yxk5y2w',sig:'EzEY5YEWkzcMjk605mJD_W6YBbjcZjTPvXgCne0eyso=',w:'516px',h:'332px',items:'156727866',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); How can you apply Guerrilla Marketing techniques to your job search? That’s the question Rob Mendez will be answering in his presentation at the CareerSource Professional Network meeting on November 17.   He’s used unconventional techniques to research and connect with hiring managers in his own career as an IT project manager, and he invests his free time in helping other job seekers learn from his experience. Mendez describes himself as a “battle-hardened IT executive” focused on delivering breakthrough results through technology.   He’s also a published author, consultant, speaker, and trainer, and has been featured in USA Today, PBS, Sirius XM Radio, and The White House Blog. Mendez believes that most job search advice is outdated. “Everyone gets the same advice about their resume and search strategy â€" it’s basically a one size fits all approach. But the market is very different from one industry to another; industries have different cultures, different objectives, and different kinds of people reading your resume.   You have to get inside their heads to get noticed.” In fact, Mendez says, you have two audiences: your human screener and the applicant tracking system that receives your resume. You can cultivate relationships with humans, but the applicant tracking system is not your friend. Mendez estimates that 70 percent of qualified applicants are screened out before a person ever sees their application (along with, presumably, 100 percent of unqualified applicants.) Of the 30 percent who survive the digital cut, almost all meet all of the minimum qualifications for the job. That turns them into commodities; if every model has the same features, companies feel free to shop on price and look for bargains. That’s bad news for candidates, so Mendez helps people find another route to the hiring manager. He helps people understand what he calls the “force multiplier effect”: adding several techniques to your job search to increase the chances of being noticed. To be successful, he recommends three strategies (in place of the single strategy most job seekers employ.) Strategy one is to hone your search down to one or two high quality targets. A more intense focus on fewer opportunities increases your chance at success. Strategy #2 is to take a top-down approach: find a way to get to higher-level people in the company and provide a strong value proposition. While recruiters focus on filling slots, executives are focused on solving problems. If you can prove that you can eliminate a pain point, you’ll get the attention of the people with the power to hire. The third strategy is a passive one: make sure your LinkedIn profile is strong enough to create interest and generate (job) leads. Turning job leads into job offers is an art form, and Mendez suggests that most job seekers don’t understand the sales process. As a company connects with a candidate, there will be several touch points, and each requires a different kind of communication. More on that in a future post. Learn more about how Rob Mendez helps people in career transition through his volunteer organization at http://www.careernetworkoutreach.org .

Edit What You Preach How to Become a Better Writer

Edit What You Preach How to Become a Better Writer Photo Credit â€" Pixabay.comIf you’ve been trying to get published, make money writing, or learn more about the field of freelancing, it is important to focus on developing your talent as an author.While it is possible to start freelancing even if you don’t have a strong background in writing, learning more about the English language and proper grammar patterns will offer you a strong advantage when it comes to landing new clients.Practice writing dailyevalPerhaps one of the biggest ways that you can improve your writing skills is simply to write.evalSome writers maintain a journal, which allows them to sort out their daily thoughts and emotions. Other writers practice writing a page of dialogue. Some writers will pen articles to use on their blogs or websites. Still others will write from writing prompt books or guides.The truth is that what you write about really doesn’t matter. It is simply important that you write as an exercise and that you do so on a daily basis.Finding t he time to sit down and work on your writing can be difficult, so consider scheduling a specific time when you are able to be alone. If you have children, consider writing during their nap time or after they are in bed for the evening.If you have full time job, a better option might be working on your stories during a lunch break or even in the mornings before you head to your job.Read books about grammarIf you thought that your homework days ended when you graduated, you thought wrong.Reading is an essential part of developing your mental muscles as a writer.Head to your local library to pick up a few good books about grammatical skills and proper writing style. Keep in mind that depending on what type of writing you plan to do, you may need to learn different styles for formatting your writing.evalA lot of writers tend to shy away from instruction manuals on grammar since big, thick books can be intimidating to start reading. Keep in mind, however, that it’s important to write p roperly if you want to make money from your craft. The better that you write, the more your readers will enjoy your work. Connect with other writersWant to meet other writers?Head to your local coffee shop to see who’s typing away. You could also attend a writer’s conference, join a local writing guild, or post on a local message board to find out what writers live in your area. Connecting with other writers is a fantastic way to develop your craft, but you have to be willing to accept some criticism.Sometimes it can be difficult to know whether or not something that you’ve written is a good piece of writing. If you meet with other writers to read and critique one another’s work, you’ll be able to get some solid feedback on different ways that you can improve your manuscript and make it more readable, more interesting, and more appealing to readers.Read great writersevalHead to your favorite publication or website, and pick out a few articles you like. What makes this arti cle so good? Everyone will start off by emulating the best. Pay close attention to the wording, the mechanics and the style.By picking bits and pieces from other writers, this can help distinguish your own voice. Remember, it will take time, so don’t expect to be a New York Times writer in your first month.Becoming a good writer will take time, and applying these tips will only make you a better writer. Even though this saying is always sense, it applies perfectly to the writing world: practice makes perfect.

Finding your perfect career - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Finding your perfect career Everyone has their own unique skills and interests, and an ideal career is out there for everyoneif, of course, you know where to look. Finding that perfect career can be a challenge so job seekers should take note of the tips and resources available to connect them with that dream job. Connect Your Interests With a Career Not all interests translate directly into lucrative careers, so its important to think outside of the box when identifying a way to incorporate your hobbies and skills into a job. A writer, for example, may find it difficult to become a novelist or editorbut by broadening the search, a number of important jobs on the market are focused around great writing skills such as: Advertising copywriter Human resource manager Product reviewer Language teacher Legal document writer Industrial procedure writing If youre still stumped, participate in a strengthsfinder test online to help highlight your strengths that you might not have considered to be marketable. There are a variety of tests and evaluations online (free and fee-based options are both available), designed to pinpoint a trend in the way you answer certain career- and life-related questions. Answer openly and honestly and you may be surprised at your results. Work Your Resources A number of resources are available to help connect those seeking work with the perfect job. Take advantage of sites like www.job-applications.com which helps job seekers organize their resume and necessary documents. In addition to being able to save your documents for easy access later, the site also offers a database of applications to hundreds of open jobs on the market. Network Within Your Network If you recall the anonymous quote, Careful not to burn bridges, you might just need to cross back, you probably recognize the importance of it. Past employers and coworkers can be excellent lead-finders when it comes to landing your next great career. Instead of just reaching out to your past employer for a written recommendation, consider going a step further: ask your employer what strengths he recognized in you. His answer might be different than you thought. Use that feedback as fuel to help identify your ideal work environment. Another network at our fingertips these days is the social network. Start with family and friends and ask those within your network to stay on the lookout for anything that may be suitable for your skills. The more people you have aware of your situation, the wider your search. Remember to take the proper steps to ensure your social media accounts are employer-friendly, by removing any photos or posts that you wouldnt want a potential employer to see. If you havent already created a LinkedIn profile, do so. LinkedIn works as a digital resume, and allows plenty of room to elaborate on your experience, skills and attributes. If you already have a profile, make sure it is up-to-date and includes examples of your work if applicable. The more information you include the better. Ask a respected peer to critique your profile since a second set of eyes may catch mistakes, or may offer ideas on ways to improve.

How to Find the Smallest Font Size For Resume

How to Find the Smallest Font Size For ResumeWhen you are considering your next job or consulting opportunity, you might be curious as to how to find the smallest font size for resume. A resume is a powerful tool for your job search and there are many different ways to use it effectively. If you are struggling with a fine print on your resume, this article will have something for you. You can have the exact same resume, but it will look and read better.When you are writing your resume, it is important to remember that there are no wrong answers when it comes to formatting your resume. Your resume should be structured in a way that is easy to read. There are three general types of resumes: chronological, functional, and functional resume. The chronological resume has one to two lines of text that give an overview of what you did during the last three to four years. The functional resume has a list of skills and responsibilities that relate to the job you are applying for.It is possibl e to work with a larger font size in the chronological resume, but if you are applying for a position that has been open for three to four years, a smaller font size will work just fine. If you are applying for a position that has been open for less than three years, you may be able to use a larger font size.Before you actually send out your resume, you should get a few things in writing from your prospective employer. This includes information about their expectations and goals, along with contact information. Keep in mind that if you do not follow up and get a response to your resume, your employer may not want to talk with you.The last thing you want to do before sending your resume is to make sure that you have a full proof of it. Do not just type out your resume and send it off to your job. Make sure that you take the time to edit and proofread it properly.You can also put your resume in a reverse email service. If you are an entrepreneur, you can have your resume posted on the website of your local chamber of commerce. You will also receive emails from potential clients at no cost!After you have sent out your resume, wait for a response. Some employers will require that you give them a specific amount of time to respond. While you may not receive an immediate response, they are more likely to respond to you after they have received at least five resume applications from you.