Glassdoor rankings fall in line with student preferences

Step back, Google and Facebook: the best place to work in 2016 is Airbnb.

That’s according to Glassdoor.com, a website which collects and compiles anonymous employee reviews on employers ranging from Walmart to the U.S. Army. 

Penn students can receive unlimited access to Glassdoor without an account via a link on the Career Services website. Career Services also provides access to similar companies like Vault and Wetfeet. While the University does provide access to such company rankings and review services, Career Services emphasizes the importance of looking at multiple sources to determine if a company is the right fit.

Along with providing access to employee reviews and job listings, Glassdoor releases yearly reports on the highest-rated companies and jobs on their website. Their “Employees’ Choice Awards” rank the 25 best large and small companies in terms of employee satisfaction, potential for career advancement and CEO quality.

Technology and consulting firms fared well on Glassdoor’s list. Airbnb took the top spot, with reviews praising its upward mobility, fast growth and company culture. Consulting firm Bain & Company took the second spot, with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and Boston Consulting Group also within the top 10.

“It was pretty awesome,” said College and Engineering senior David Xu, who interned at Google last summer. While Google has reached out to Penn’s campus through events like January’s Mock Technical Interview Prep Workshop, Xu applied independently through the company’s website. He was drawn to the company, he said, because of the size and breadth of its projects. “They have a lot of computing power,” he added.

For students in the tech sector, career fairs and conventions can also be a useful tool in searching for jobs, as can recommendations from friends and acquaintances.

“I usually find out about tech jobs at hackathons,” Wharton and Engineering sophomore Christopher Kao said, adding that he uses networking as his primary job search tool. Events like the MARC marketing conference have helped Kao, who joined Wharton as a dual degree student this winter, search for jobs in the business sector that may not have been as accessible to an engineering student.

While Glassdoor provides feedback from employees, a more personalized account is also useful, particularly when searching for internships.

“I would want to go somewhere where I can actually learn a lot because I know that a lot of companies won’t actually give you something meaningful to do,” College sophomore Lily Wu said. Wu, who studies math and computer science, uses feedback from her friends to better understand the atmosphere and workplace environment of tech companies.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.