New window on the workplace
Ever wonder whether you’d be better off working someplace else?
A new Web site called Glassdoor.com is trying to make it easier to find out by compiling free snapshots of the current salaries paid by hundreds of major employers, along with reviews anonymously written by current and past workers.
“We think it’s super important that people are able to find a job where they can go home happy at the end of the day,” said Robert Hohman, Glassdoor’s co-founder and chief executive.
The Zillow.com.
By providing free access to sensitive salary information and sometimes blunt reviews of companies, Glassdoor is bound to upset some employers, predicted Barry Parr.
“I like the idea, but there is absolutely no question that some CEO is going to see something negative on the site and hit the roof,” Mr. Parr said. “It just makes me wonder how long it will take before they get sued.”
A Glassdoor feature that allows workers to rate their CEOs could be particularly provocative.
In Glassdoor’s test phase based on a small sampling of opinions, Jerry Yang, who spurned a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Mr. Ballmer last month.
Mr. Hohman is trying to convince employers that Glassdoor is a great tool for gathering worker feedback. With 12 employees, the startup plans to screen all reviews to identify remarks that seem fabricated or libelous.
Glassdoor has an incentive not to alienate corporate America because it hopes to make money from advertising.
To start, Glassdoor is allowing all visitors to look at the salary information and reviews of four high-tech heavyweights - Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc.
To get the skinny on other companies, visitors must be willing to reveal their salaries and feelings about their employers.
About 3,300 people provided information on about 250 companies during Glassdoor’s testing phase.
Specialty search engine dispenses how-to advice
A new specialty search engine is trying to become the Internet’s go-to spot for finding how-to advice.
Founded by FindHow Corp. (www.findhow.com) has assembled an index spanning about 30,000 Web pages with written, photographic and video instructions on a wide variety of topics ranging from such prosaic tasks as tying a tie to more exotic missions such as inviting the Queen of England to a Super Bowl party.
Relying on a team of human editors, FindHow has sifted the information to discrete categories like “food and drink,” “careers and work” and “wild and wacky” and emphasizes tips from well-established government and business sources.
Mr. Ives believes FindHow’s more organized format and emphasis on brands will help separate it from the horde of other Web sites that provide how-to information. The competition includes such specialty services as YouTube.
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