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With the massive proliferation of social media, and the explosion of the smart phone, tablet and mobile application market over the last ten or fifteen years, there has been no shortage of web start-ups looking to capitalize on the large amounts of capital being invested into new media. While most tech savvy dreamers think big and hope to invent that new device or app that will earn a massive capital investment into their company, or an even bigger buyout, there are also many who simply dream to work for one of the already well established technology and media companies.
Those companies, like Google for example, that have a strong, if not massive, foothold within the new media and technology market. While we all may dream of being as successful as Larry Page, or Mark Zuckerburg, the reality is, the vast majority of us will not, but there’s no reason why we can’t work for them. Here are the best technology and new media websites to work for, based on industry analysts' research and, more importantly, reviews by employees themselves.
14. eBay
Via Bigstock Images
A long-standing business online, eBay has provided billions of consumers with the ability to buy what they want from anywhere in the world, but it has also been a reliable online employee as well. With a 3.7 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor, eBay employees are most impressed with the work-to-life balance the job offers thanks to eBay’s flexible hours and the ability to work from home as well. The company also offers competitive compensation and benefits packages, but the ability to advance in the company is relatively slow, and, though the company has bounced back considerably, the massive layoffs executed in 2009 have left employees concerned with job security.
13. Zappos.com
Via mmpentertainmentblog.com
Ranked as one of Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for over the last six years, online retailer Zappos.com is known to its employees for a laid-back and casual work environment that sometimes includes hijinks like nerf gun wars, eating contests and the making of music videos. Zappos.com offers a wide variety of positions, from web coding to data management and the management of relationships with retail partners. Furthermore, while the fun atmosphere in the office space is a bonus for employees, Zappos.com also offers more serious benefits for their workers, including a life coach, legitimate room for career advancement and a competitive pay scale. Zappos.com maintains a 3.9 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor lending credence to employee satisfaction.
12. NetApp
Via financenews24.com
With a 3.7 rating on Glassdoor, NetApp is another media company that is a highly sought after place to work. Voted the seventh best company to work for by Fortune in 2010, while maintaining a spot on the list for 12 years, the data storage site, located in Sunnyvale, California has a work force of over 5,000 employees. NetApp has a very competitive salary for executives that can easily top six figures, as well as a comprehensive volunteering program employees are encouraged to engage in. If the pay and the ability to help others isn’t enough, the free coffee might tip the scales in whether you apply to NetApp or not.
11. Intuit
Via network.intuit.com
Working at Intuit, the company responsible for Turbo Tax, is a developer's dream, as each employee is encouraged to take up to four hours a week to work solely on their own new ideas. Furthermore, Intuit holds what they call “idea jams” where employees get together to "riff" (ahem) on ideas collectively, hoping to come up with the next big thing. It doesn’t hurt that those with the best ideas win prizes as well. With a 3.9 rating on Glassdoor, many employees cite the ability to advance within the company, along with a competitive salary and great benefits package as major reasons why Intuit should be a technology company on any prospective employee's radar.
10. Ultimate Software
Via innov8tiv.com
A developer and service provider of a “cloud based human capital management system for businesses,” Ultimate Software develops HR and patrol software, and has done remarkably well doing so, with revenue nearing half-a-billion dollars. The key to any company’s success, beyond a great idea, is a great employee, and judging by the 4.6 out of 5 ranking Ultimate Software has on Glassdoor, the Florida-based company keeps those great employees around. By giving each employee the option of becoming a shareholder in the company when Ultimate Software went public, and offering a competitive salary on top of that, the on-site workout facility is icing on the cake. Ultimate Software keeps the engine running smoothly by keeping the employees happy, and for those who opted into buying shares, considerably wealthier as stocks rise.
9. Elite SEM
Via crainsnewyork.com
New York-based Elite SEM is a search engine marketing agency that was voted the best place to work in New York last year, and why not? With a perfect rating on Glassdoor (albeit from only 52 reviews), Elite SEM employees have the option of working from home, and while working in the office, they enjoy free lunches and other snacks. Furthermore, the benefits and compensation offered are highly competitive, and each employee has unlimited vacation time. Yup, I didn’t believe it either. That said, the more you work, and the harder you work at Elite SEM, the more successful you will be, as the internet truly is a 24/7 industry.
8. The Chive
Via bitesnbrews.com
How can you compete with a slide connecting the first and second floors in the middle of the office? Well, if you’re the owners of the entertainment and humor website theCHIVE.com, you also offer your employees health insurance, profit sharing and a 401K package. You might also throw in free food, live in-office entertainment every month and the Chive’s own beer, KCCO, at the eight different beer taps at the Chive office in Austin, Texas. I mentioned the beer right? Fast becoming one of the best, most dynamic and most fun websites to work for since its launch in 2008, employees at the Chive are tasked with curating and cultivating the type of entertaining content that their work environment promotes, making employees of the Chive the envy of many online professionals.
7. Salesforce
Via soulfulcreative.co.uk
Another cloud-based technology company, Salesforce has doubled its number of employees over the past couple of years, making it now the largest cloud business online. While the nature of Salesforce’s business makes it in high demand, employees are compensated for overtime. Furthermore, the company offers benefit packages to employees and even subsidizes gym memberships. With a string of six appearances on Fortune’s best companies to work for list, and a 3.9 rating on Glassdoor, Salesforce is a highly sought after employer for those in the sales and tech industry. The trip to Bhutan for top sellers last year doesn’t hurt either.
6. Crowdtap
Via blog.crowdtap.com
Considered one of America’s most promising emerging companies, Crowdtap is an online marketing service that focuses on social media to help brands and consumers interact. With a perfect 5 rating on Glassdoor, most employees consider working for Crowdtap to be the best job they’ve ever had. The company is very employee centric, using team building skills to create a culture of friends as opposed to co-workers, in an effort to achieve more productivity. The company routinely holds parties and events for staff that involve dressing up and food, and has even thrown a party after receiving its last round of public funding. Like any highly touted start-up, it remains to be seen whether Crowdtap can maintain the level of exuberance and success it has seen thus far. But when the biggest complaint an employee has about the company (and a tongue-in-cheek one at that) is the green tea in the kitchen, chances are this is a company you want to work for.
5. CareerBuilder
Via glassdoor.com
Ranked 11th on Forbes’ top 25 places to work, and with a 3.8 rating on Glassdoor, the company that helps others find jobs is apparently quite a good place of employment itself. Careerbuilder.com is the largest online employment resource in the United States, with an online presence in Canada, Europe, Asia and South America as well. Boasting over 20 million unique visitors to the site a month, careerbuilder.com really is the go-to site when searching for a job. If you’re lucky enough to already be employed by the company, then you can expect to receive a comprehensive medical benefits package, all-expense paid trips for top employees, and best of all, an education program that will provide between five and ten thousand dollars a year towards completion of a college program.
4. Google
Via mydecorative.com
The Optimus Prime of the Internet, Google is the number one ranked company to work for in 2014 by Fortune magazine. With every employee having shares in the company, and each share being worth over $500, it’s not difficult to see why. Google employees have given the technology company a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor. Depending on location, the “Googleplex” in California was a big winner with employees; the massive complex offers a gym, a massage room, free food all day and night and a multitude of cafes. For others, the competitive salary for full-time employees was a major draw to Google, and the ability to work from home as a contractor was also cited as a good reason to work for Larry Page. Working for such a massive, important company like Google has many employees feeling a sense of pride in their work, and the philanthropy Google is known for also scored high marks on employees' lists of the best reasons to work for Google, though those share packages have got to be tops.
3. Facebook
Via allfacebook.com
Ranked first overall by Forbes Magazine as the best company to work for and third overall by Business Insider, the social media giant Facebook has been cited as a great company to work for by various employees due to competitive compensation, good benefits packages and the on-site health care and gym that Facebook maintains at its Menlo Park, California headquarters. With a 4.5 rating on Glassdoor, the consensus is that Facebook employees generally share a sense of pride in their work, being situated at the forefront of new media technology, and generally strive to innovate ways to improve the Facebook experience for users. While the hours may be long, and the workload may be high, just the idea of being able to tell people “I work for Facebook” is a cool enough reason for many to seek employment from Zuckerberg and co.
2. LinkedIn
Via augustana.edu
Another social media giant, albeit one with a professional nature, LinkedIn has rapidly become the de facto social media networking tool for professionals across the world. Ranked as the 14th best company by Forbes, but ranked as the second most desirable technology company to work for by Business Insider, LinkedIn employees take great pride in their work, and are especially happy about the company’s flexible work hours and great vacation plans, but say that the financial compensation can leave a little to be desired. That said, LinkedIn scores a 4.6 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor, where the vast majority of employees state that the pros of working for the company greatly outweigh the cons.
1. Twitter
Via online.wsj.com
Number one on Business Insider’s list of best technology companies to work for and number two on Forbes’ list, Twitter, despite having no long-term and thorough monetization plan, is still a highly desirable place to work. With a 4.2 rating on Glassdoor, the compensation and benefits packages as well as the global culture of Twitter seems to be a benefit to many employees, while the transparent corporate culture is also high on many employees' lists of reasons to work for the social media giant. The free in-office food, possibility of working from home and the social functions Twitter throws for its employees are added bonuses of working for a new media giant. The innovation that takes place at Twitter seems to be, above all else, the biggest source of pride for a Twitter employee, with one stating: “…we are charting our own course - not copying the playbook set out by other companies.”
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