Stream of Consciousness

If you’re looking for a new job, you will want to know as much about the organization you’re considering joining. Of course, going to their website, finding their LinkedIn page, and simply googling the company name will help, but let’s go beyond that a little.

Before we jump in, however, we do encourage you to…

• Remember that what you read on the web is not absolute, but it might give you something to look for or form a question on.
• Like everything in life, those unhappy about something tend to make the most noise. We’re all guilty of that at different times and do it in different ways. We aren’t passing judgment on those who aren’t happy with something and voice it, but unless you have a personal relationship, remember that you only see a tiny snippet of the story.
• Acquisition does not always equate to being bad, nor does Private Equity. We all have snap judgments, but we’ll share some tools for you to dig in to see what PE firms have done with other acquisitions they’ve made in the past.
• As in life, you get what you pay for, so you cannot always x-ray sites, the information you get access to might be limited, etc. 

Key Sites/Social Networks:

• Glassdoor – The self-described “worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies” delivers on that more than any other resource we’ve seen. Accounts are free, but they do ask for you to share some information related to where you’ve worked, but you can also use incognito mode if you’re not comfortable with sharing that information.
• Comparably – The most direct competitor to Glassdoor we’ve seen, packs a single page with some amazing info, and uses metrics like eNPS ( Employee Net Promoter Score).
• Indeed – It is the “#1 job site in the world.” Indeed started out as an aggregator but now offers intel in several areas. Oh, and it is a sister company of Glassdoor (Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.).
• CareerBliss – An “online career community designed to help you find happiness in the workplace and your career.” It is kind of like if Glassdoor and Indeed had a baby.
• AngelList – Many big changes are coming to AngelList, but whatever they do, you know it will always be intensely startup focused. 
• Crunchbase – In terms of understanding funding, portfolios, news, and similar companies, Crunchbase is tough to beat.
• Blind – With a little bit of Reddit and a little bit combined with a little bit of Glassdoor, Blind is a “trusted community where more than 7M verified professionals communicate anonymously.” It initially focused on tech, which is still its core.
• Crunchbase – While PitchBook might be the best tool we’ve seen to follow the money, CrunchBase would be next in line. And, unlike PitchBook, Crunchbase will give you a lot of intel for free. Heck, even their paid subscription isn’t bad.

Helpful Google X-Rays:

Simply add the company name to the end of these searches and see targeted results specific to different mediums…

• Glassdoor Overview Pages– You can use this for any company on Glassdoor (remember that you don’t have to have an account in incognito mode).
• Comparably Company Pages – There are fewer results than the Glassdoor x-ray, but most shops can still be found.
• AgelList Company Pages – Use this to quickly find a startup you are interviewing with.
• Crunchbase Organization Pages – You can easily find recent funding news and some insights. Oh, and try adding “acquired by” and a PE firm name in quotations for some great results.
• Blind Company Pages – Especially useful when researching tech companies.
• r/recruitinghell (Reddit)  – This does better with larger organizations.
• Tech Jobs @ FAANGM (Quora) – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Microsoft. Enough said.

We hope that we’ve introduced you to a new resource or technique that will be useful in your job search but do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions.