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8 Questions with Tim Besse Co-Founder of Glassdoor.com

April 3rd, 2009 by lewis

Tim Besse is the co-founder and VP of Product and Marketing with Glassdoor.com. He’s originally from Ohio and earned his bachelor’s degree from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to Glassdoor.com, he worked with Expedia where he helped launch early stage businesses, including Expedia’s telesales and private label businesses as well as its online luxury offering, Classic Custom Vacations. However, his most recent role at Expedia was the director of product management and online marketing for Expedia’s Asia Pacific division. I chatted with Tim about Glassdoor.com’s success.
 
Tim, thanks for joining us today! What is Glassdoor, and how is it different from Salary.com and PayScale?
We like to think of Glassdoor as the TripAdvisor or Yelp of jobs and workplaces that uses employee-generated content to provide a free inside look at companies from those who know best – employees. We are the only site that offers free access to in-depth and real-time employee opinions about companies along with details of their pay, benefits and work environment, including CEO approval ratings, not just salary. Unlike other sites that charge for this information, our “give to get” model is totally free – the only requirement is that first-time visitors to the site have to contribute to the community through an anonymous posting on their current job and employer (or recent one) before getting access to all the information provided by others. 
 
How have companies responded to the employee ratings and salary data posted on Glassdoor’s website?
Companies have been very receptive – Glassdoor is as valuable for companies as it is for employees. Our focus is on providing transparency for employees, but the wealth of information is great for employers as well. For example, Glassdoor provides real-time feedback, so employers can supplement costly annual surveys with a review of Glassdoor at what employees really think. This can help quickly identify and exploit areas of strength and address areas in need of improvement. Our reviews are designed to be constructive, not rants, and many include actionable advice for senior management that provides great perspective on the inner workings of a company.
 
We also help companies see how they stack up against competitors. Glassdoor lets employers and recruiters instantly see how a company’s compensation and ratings stack up against the competition. This is valuable information – employers can adjust areas as needed and focus on the differentiators that matter most to employees and recruits.
 
Om Malik recently featured Glassdoor data that showed the “Top 10 Tech Companies That Pay Engineers the Most.” What other interesting insights have you found from the Glassdoor data?
There are multiple layers to our survey, so we have a wide variety of information on salary and compensation, CEO and company details. Some interesting things we have seen in analyzing recent data is that female engineers make significantly less money than their male counterparts – especially as the years of experience increase. We have also been able to determine which industries are still hiring in this economy – and which ones are still giving salary increases – and even which companies pay their interns the most.
 
We also recently announced 50 best companies to work for, which was based on CEO and company ratings from actual employees of that company.
 
When I think about Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter, its users have come up with creative ways to use the core software.  Has the Glassdoor community created anything unique with Glassdoor’s underlying functionality or data?
Our mission is to become the world’s most trusted source for helping people make informed decisions about their work. We really are unique in the type of content that’s available and the functionality of the site, which we designed to help people engage with one another to improve discussions in and around the workplace.
 
How does Glassdoor plan on making money?
We have a media model and have started incorporating display and search ads through Google AdSense.
 
You’ve had a long, successful career at Expedia.  What’s the biggest difference working at Glassdoor vs. Expedia?
The biggest difference is the workplace culture of a start-up. Expedia is a big corporate culture with thousands of employee’s, whereas Glassdoor is a small team of about 15 employees. Each of us carries an immense amount of responsibility, and we all share a great amount of satisfaction when things go right. 
 
If you had to launch Glassdoor all over again, what would you do differently?
I wouldn’t change a thing. I am inspired all the time by the feedback and community engagement within the site. It’s a really exciting time for Glassdoor, and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help other people by giving them the tools and resources to make more informed decisions that impact the workplace and their careers.
 
Do you have any tips on today’s job seekers?
One thing we recommend for job seekers is to do their research. It is so important in this job climate to go into an interview well prepared with info on the company, including any challenges identified by other employees. It is also smart to have a realistic salary goal in mind; being well prepared will help set you apart from other job seekers.
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Improve Your Interview Skills: Tips from Heather Huhman and Karen Burns

April 2nd, 2009 by lewis

Heather Huhman and Karen Burns wrote two fantastic blog posts on improving your interview skills. Here are my favorite interview tips from their two blog articles:
Be a standout interviewee by telling a good story.  
Karen writes, “Humans are hard-wired to love stories. You know, the kind with a beginning, middle, and end. Your interview will have more impact and be more memorable if you talk about yourself and your qualifications in story format.”

Be accomplishment-oriented with your interview answers.  
Heather quotes Sherry Mirshahi , president of Interview Roadmap, “Candidates should use the SAR method—Situation, Action, Result—to answer all interview questions. Career professionals have different names and acronyms for this but essentially the idea is the same. Explain the situation or problem that you or your past employer experienced. Provide a short, but clear explanation of the actions you took to solve the issue. End your answer by telling your interviewer what the results were in the end.”

Explain what you can do for the employer.  
Another quote from Mirshahi, “When practicing for your interviews, create a list of several key attributes that your prospective employer is known for in their industry, and align yourself with one or two of these attributes in your answers. For instance, if an employer asks about your strengths, and you learn that they are known for providing fast service, you might state at the end of your response: ‘I know that your company places a high value on providing service that is quick, so as you can see, I share that same philosophy.”
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How to Improve Your Interview Skills and Beat the Competition

March 31st, 2009 by lewis

If you’re getting interviews but not the job offer, you should read this guest post on “How to Improve Your Interview Skills and Beat the Competition” over at the What Would Dad Say blog. Feel free to add your own opinions in the comments section over there.
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Do you need a cover letter?

March 30th, 2009 by lewis

Stephen Van Vreede wrote a nice guest post titled the “Great Cover Letter Debate” over at EmploymentDigest.net.  It address the question: “Do I really even need a cover letter? Does anyone read them anymore?”  Stephen’s main takeaway: “the reason cover letters aren’t often read isn’t because they are antiquated or even unwanted necessarily; it is because they simply aren’t effective and hiring people are tired of reading them.”

I absolutely agree with Stephen.  As a hiring manager, cover letters fall into one of two categories.  At best, it regurgitates the resume.  At worse, it’s a page long document filled with dense, meaningless paragraphs.
I haven’t seen the perfect cover letter, but personally, I’d like to see a document that summarizes the top 3 reasons why you’re qualified for the job, backed with concrete examples from your work history.  If a job seeker can provide that, I’ll read it.
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What’s Next After the Microsoft Layoffs

March 29th, 2009 by lewis

There’s an interesting New York Times article about the recent Microsoft layoffs.  It discusses the post-Microsoft plans of those who were part of the 1400 cut by Microsoft: Chris Paladino, Wendy Pravda, Corey Salka, Maura van der Linden, and Joshua Corneil. 
There’s also a Facebook group, “Microsoft 1400,” where they can share job tips and advice.  For those who are affected, I wish them luck and happiness on their post-Microsoft careers.
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Interview Tip: Don’t Touch Your Face

March 27th, 2009 by lewis

During the interview, don’t touch or stroke your face.  It is often interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as a sign of nervousness.  
This Stanford Graduate School of Business comedy skit reinforces this point, with some exaggerated humor.

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How NOT to Answer the Weakness Question

March 23rd, 2009 by lewis

I don’t like it when my clients respond to the greatest weakness question with “I spend too much time trying to make things too perfect.” From my experience as a hiring manager, most employees (and even interviewees) don’t put in effort and give up too easily. To sum it up, I want prospective employees to do the opposite of what my clients often suggest; I want them to spend more time trying to make things perfect.

Why is perfect important? John Lasseter, Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, implies in Bob Sutton’s article, if it wasn’t for their high quality standards, Pixar wouldn’t have made beautiful films such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E. And conversely because Disney Animation studios did not have a high quality bar, they made “dull movies.”

So what’s the right way to address the weakness interview question? In an earlier blog post, I mentioned how Barack Obama handled the biggest weakness question during a Katie Couric interview. I’ve included the dialogue below for reference. What I like about Obama’s response is that he acknolwedges that being thorough (aka perfect) is a strength. However, he never says that being perfect is undesirable. Instead, he calls out a potential problem with being perfect — being indecisive. And he’s assuaged Couric that indecisiveness is not a problem for him, that he’s able to “make the call quickly and surely.”

I like this response. Obama hasn’t compromised his principles. He still strives for high quality work. But he’s aware of the problem of being perfect and has figured out a way to address it.

Katie Couric: What one personal flaw do you think might hinder your ability to be president?

Barack Obama: I don’t think there’s … a flaw that would hinder my ability to function as president. I think that all of us have things we need to improve. You know, I said during the primary that my management of paper can sometimes be a problem.

Couric: You can come up with something better than that, though, can’t you?

Obama: I just use it as an example of something that I’m constantly tryin’ to work on. What is often a strength can be a weakness. So, you know, for me there are times where I want to think through all our options. At some point you’ve gotta make sure that we’re making a decision. So far, at least I’ve proven to be pretty good about knowing when that time is.

I think, as president, with all the information that’s coming at you constantly, you’re never gonna have 100 percent information. And you’ve just gotta make the call quickly and surely. And I think … that’s a capacity that I’ve shown myself to have.

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26-year-old Gets 50 Jobs in 50 States

March 20th, 2009 by lewis

In college, I loved summer internships; it gave me a chance to sample new jobs. Unfortunately, I could only do one internship per year.

Daniel Seddiqui is shattering that notion by doing not just one, but 50 different jobs in a single year. His internships have ranged from wedding coordinator to meat packer to cheese maker.  His goal: “travel the U.S., learning about cultures across the country and developing a respect for what other people do.”
The job that he’s most excited about?  Meteorologist.  The one he’s most concerned about?  Coal miner.
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7 Questions with Julie Greenberg, Co-Founder of Jobnob

March 19th, 2009 by lewis

Julie Greenberg has worked in the Internet and media sector for over ten years in a variety of finance, business development and leadership roles. Before co-founding Jobnob, she worked as a Business Development & Strategy consultant for ZING Systems which was sold to Dell Inc., and also headed Corporate Development for Napster, Inc. Previously Julie worked at NBCUniversal in Corporate Finance and was a lead on the merger team when Universal was acquired by GE/NBC.  Julie received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Northwestern University. I spoke with Juile about Jobnob; she also shared her salary negotiation tips for job seekers.

Julie, thanks for dropping by the blog.  So tell us, what is Jobnob, and why did you decide to start this business?
Jobnob has hundreds of thousands of individual salaries listed by company and by job. Now you can finally see real salaries being paid at specific companies and not just industry averages.  It’s an excellent resource for checking out if you’re getting paid fairly, and for researching salaries when you’re looking for a job.  For the first time consumers have unprecedented free access to specific salary information – see how much people are actually making at Google vs. Microsoft or Goldman Sachs vs. Morgan Stanley.  Jobnob also has millions of job postings listed on the site, making Jobnob the best place to look for a job.  Now if there’s no salary included in a job posting, you can quickly use Jobnob’s salary data to figure out what a company is probably paying.  And you can ace the interview when they ask you how much money you are looking to earn, because you will already know what they are paying others.
I started Jobnob to empower employees with real information about jobs and companies. The Internet  helps you find great bargains and the best restaurants, but offers nothing about the best place to work or where to earn the most money.  It’s crazy that we still can’t use the Internet to find information about how much people earn and what it’s like to do different jobs and work at different companies.
Who are your biggest competitors, and how is Jobnob different?
The unique thing about Jobnob is that in many ways we have no competitors.  Jobnob is the only place I know of where you can get specific salaries being paid to employees at real companies for free, with no fees and no sign-ups.  There are other salary sites on the web such as Salary.com or Payscale.com, but at those sites users only get to see average salary information, not information by company.  We all work at companies (not some average) so in many ways average data doesn’t help us know our real worth – how much should we be paid at a specific company for a specific job.  Also, on the other salary sites they require you to go through a long and invasive sign-up to give your personal salary information, and then they try to upsell you on a salary report for $20 or $30!  The information at Jobnob is totally free.
Jobnob is a very unique name.  What inspired the name?
Jobnob is a play on the word “job” and “hobnob” which according to The Free Dictionary means “to socialize or talk informally.”  So Jobnob is a place to hobnob about jobs!  Right now we just have salary info and job listings, but we have lots more cool features coming soon which will give you an opportunity to talk amongst yourselves (aka, to hobnob). 
How have candidates used the job salary data listed on Jobnob?  Any of them use it during their salary negotiations?
We’ve had great feedback from users on how they’ve used our data at Jobnob.  One example is that one candidate received an offer from a company that he knew was low.  But because he already knew what the company was paying for the position, he was able to negotiate a salary that was $12,000 higher than what they had initially offered.  Another example is someone who is in an MBA program and was considering dropping out.  But when she saw the salary information for post-MBA type jobs she decided to stay in the program.
Jobnob has thousands of actual salaries.  Combing through the data, what’s the most fascinating insight you’ve found?
The most fascinating thing we’ve found about the data is the wide range of salaries that people can be paid within a single company or region.  Sometimes this could be attributed to a difference in skill sets or experience, but often it can just be due to better negotiating.  Too often people forget to ask for more when they are negotiating a salary or a raise.  If you don’t ask, you won’t receive!
Here’s an obligatory question for all start-ups.  How do you plan on making money?
It’s our mission to keep information free for all consumers, so we plan on charging employers to pay us to post jobs at Jobnob.
For many job applicants, salary negotiation is intimidating.  What’s your best negotiation tip?
The best way to deal with salary negotiations for is to have a game plan, be prepared and ask! Too many people forget to ask: either ask for more after an initial offer or ask for a raise. 
For salary negotiations for a new job: Do your research before you go to an interview to learn what a company is already paying.  You can talk to your headhunter or recruiter or use online sites like Jobnob.  So find out what the company is actually paying for the position you’re interviewing for, decide how much you want the job and what you’re willing to accept as a salary, and maybe push the boundary a little with your initial salary request.  As long as it’s reasonable, even if it’s high for them, you can still be in the game and land the job you want at the right price.
For salary negotiations for a raise:  There is a right way and a wrong way to ask for a raise. First, make sure that you have good reasons for asking for a raise and a game plan.  Before you go talk to your boss, write out all of the reasons why you deserve a raise, and make sure that you have good examples to back them up.  For example, have you gone beyond the call of duty over the past year?  Have you gotten excellent reviews?  Has it been a while since your last raise? Remember to keep your tone pleasant and friendly.  You should be confident, not controversial. Also, use your common sense regarding the timing of your request.  If the company is currently going through layoffs, this might not be the best time to ask for a raise.  If you are unsuccessful in getting a raise this time around, see if you can schedule a review for some time in the future to revisit the idea (3-6 months maybe) and find out what you need to do in order to merit a raise.
Julie, thanks for telling us more about Jobnob and sharing the salary negotiation advice!



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Interview Tip: “What other companies are you considering?”

March 18th, 2009 by lewis

If the employer asks if you are interviewing with other companies, it’s okay to tell them that you’re looking at other job opportunities.  It’s not easy getting a job; most people look at more than one option.  However, to answer this question well, you have to be very specific why this company is your top choice.  If you are considering Google, Microsoft, and Apple, don’t give a canned response about how you want to work for a leading high-tech firm with smart people.  Take the time to research each company and have specific reasons for why that company is best suited for you.

Also keep in mind that if you’re interviewing for jobs in different industries, it’s bound to raise some eyebrows.  For instance, if you’re interviewing at Proctor & Gamble, and you mention that you have interviews at McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and FedEx, the hiring manager will question your career focus and industry passion.  The same applies for different job functions, so don’t tell the interviewer you’re applying for the COO, CFO, and VP of Engineering jobs at different companies.