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      Equilar

      Engaged employer

      Equilar Reviews

      4.1

      87% would recommend to a friend

      (170 total reviews)
      avatar

      David Chun

      87% approve of CEO

      88% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.2

      Culture and values

      4.2

      Career opportunities

      4.1

      Diversity and inclusion

      4.0

      Work/Life balance

      3.7

      Senior management

      3.2

      Compensation and benefits

      Equilar has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 170 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Equilar employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management and consulting industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      170 reviews
      1.0
      12 Feb 2017

      Join if you’re desperate

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      • Equilar is a good job for 3 types of people: 1) those looking to make a career transition who couldn’t get hired elsewhere in their new field, 2) those just out of school with no prospects and no experience, and 3) those desperate for a job. If you fall into one or more of those categories, Equilar is probably a good choice for you for a year or two MAX. So take the job but go in with your eyes open and don’t linger too long. Get the experience you need and move on ASAP. • As mentioned in other reviews, there is high turnover at Equilar. Yes, their business model involves hiring Research Analysts straight from school but don’t be fooled: people of all ages and departments can’t seem to leave fast enough. This means that after as little as 6 months you may find yourself to be a senior member of your team taking on projects a more effective organization would never send your way. Use these opportunities to pad your resume. • Solid health insurance. • Great people below upper management. Almost anyone is a fun, smart person to get to know at lunch or happy hour. Low morale helps you bond with these coworkers in a way you won’t find at happier companies. There is a pervasive, “We’re in this together!” mentality that is sadly comforting.

      Cons

      • Low morale company-wide. • The CEO rules with intimidation, a closed mind, and his emotions. 1/5 of the time he will join a meeting in a bad mood, resulting in uninformed and emotional decisions that essentially make the team as miserable as he was when he entered the room. As if the emotional roller coaster wasn’t enough, the CEO is also a naturally distrustful and controlling micromanager. Any executives with ideas and/or backbones were eliminated long ago, resulting in a team of yes-men that live in fear, longing for an earthquake drill so they can hide beneath their desks. • Low compensation is an ironic feature of working at Equilar, a compensation benchmarking data provider that specializes in helping organizations analyze whether or not they are paying for performance. While often promised, bonuses rarely pay out. This past year’s batch of young Research Analysts was bumped to salary right before the busy proxy season, depriving them of the overtime pay they were promised and counting on. • With the high turnover, you may be assigned the projects and responsibilities of departing employees. This would be fine if the expectations for your own responsibilities (which yes, did indeed serve as a full-time job up until that point) were also adjusted. But alas, I have seen multiple employees struggling on their own to do the work that used to be allocated to 3 full-time positions. In these instances, whether an EVP or a lowly analyst, the employee is set up to fail. • The company’s direction changes every time the CEO reads a new self-help book. This is concerning, to say the least. (See bullet point 2 for a reminder of why his whims rule the day.) • The industry itself is very dry. Don’t talk about what you do with friends, family members, or significant others if they are driving or operating heavy machinery as it’s quite likely they’ll fall asleep. If you take this job, prepare to become the queen/king of deflecting questions about your day at work. • What makes working at Equilar different than a normal job? Well, on rainy work days you pray for power outages; when you go to Target you fantasize about donning a red shirt and khakis and having a happier work life; when you leave the office during the day for a doctor appointment or an interview, you marvel that while the Equilar office feels like it’s being overwhelmed by a swarm of dementors, the sun still shines, babies still laugh, birds still chirp, and the world keeps spinning right outside the front door. • Ultimately, Equilar will always look out for Equilar so be sure you look out for yourself. They asked employees to be honest about their thoughts and suggestions but then fired those that came forward. Key takeaway: tread lightly.

      avatar
      Equilar Response
      9y
      This is a rather comprehensive review and I wanted to thank whomever took the time to put so much thought into this. I cannot address every point, but I will say that management is looking at these reviews and doing what we can to get feedback (positive and negative) and make changes where we can. I do want to address the point about trying to PAD GLASSDOOR REVIEWS. We noticed that the reviews had been ignored for years. Ultimately, this made the overall rating lean towards the very negative. What has happened is a concerted effort to also communicate the positive experiences that people have had. We welcome all feedback, and hope that it is balanced and well informed. Companies who care about their brand all do this. We are just a bit late in making this a priority. The business market that Equilar addresses is very regimented (data, rules, regulations, prompt processing of information) and some of that filters into the culture. We have strict guidelines and processes which must be followed to assure the quality of our services. Despite this overwhelming order and process, the company tries to provide relief. Perhaps this comes across as trying to be a laid back Silicon Valley company. We understand what we are and after 17 years. We do not sell a leisure time product to care free consumers so there will always be a corporate overtone here. That doesn't mean it can't be challenging, fun and rewarding. Finally, I am glad you met some great people at Equilar. Ultimately that's what makes or breaks a company. We have some of the brightest people and we will continue to do what we can to inspire and hold onto them. The Silicon Valley is a hyper competitive space. There will always be folks who move on and we understand and have helped several people transition when the time came. This is the #1 problem that technology companies share in the valley.
      1.0
      15 Oct 2015

      Research

      Research analyst
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      -Benefits (401k match, GOPASS). -Opportunities to do things you never thought you would be able to do, as a result of the constant turnover.

      Cons

      After working at Equilar and having had time to reflect on my time there, I've come to the conclusion that Equilar's office is the closest equivalent to Azkaban that can be found in our world. As soon as you enter the door, you can feel your soul slowly dying. Dave acts as a sort of ultra efficient dementor, working quickly to drain employees of any energy or enthusiasm. There is a pervasive feeling of fear and discontent that is readily apparent. At first, it may not be obvious, with the deceptive ping pong table and "lair," fooling you into thinking that maybe this is a "fun" place to work. As your tenure increases, though, your suspicion will, also. You'll start to notice that all of your coworkers are going to "doctor's appointments" every other week. Let's not fool ourselves. These are people desperately trying to claw their way out through a series of never ending job interviews. AVOID THIS PATTERN AT ALL COSTS. Find a place where there aren't stories of the CEO screaming at employees. Find somewhere where the executive team doesn't change every 6 months. To those who do work here, I've got good news. After a few months on the outside, I'm happy to report that the symptoms of working there, which includes a ghostly pallor and generally sense of "I HATE MY LIFE," have largely disappeared. STAY STRONG AND GET OUT.

      1.0
      9 Jan 2017

      WORST LEADERSHIP I EVER ENCOUNTERED- FEMALES BEWARE!

      Inside sales
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      The office is located in downtown Redwood City, close to cal-train and walking distance to a variety of options of places to escape for lunch.

      Cons

      - The current CEO is the definition of a horrible leader. He takes the great people he hires for granted, plays favorites, has his mind made up before listening to input, creates an atmosphere of fear and though he may say innovation is encouraged you will be penalized or immediately shut down for it. - To FEMALES: This office is a man's world & condescending. It is extremely sexist towards women. If you do not yield to management expect to see that they will find ways to make your life miserable there even if you are performing above and beyond male counterparts in same role. -To POTENTIAL CANDIDATES: If you bring up the Glassdoor reviews in your interviews to help you decide whether or not these reviews are biased or not, expect to be told by management that they are working on a culture change and attempt to sell you on the fact that they want you to be apart of it. I believed I could make a positive impact but this is IMPOSSIBLE with the extremely poor management.

      avatar
      Equilar Response
      9y
      Equilar has female leaders in the Executive, Sr. Director, Director and Engineering Team lead positions. In fact, 2/3rds of our Sr. Directors and 1/2 of our engineering leads are female. They have all earned their positions through excellent performance. We expect the same level of performance regardless of gender. Recently we have championed the Gender Diversity Index and made gender a major focus in Americas top companies. The company has survived 17 years and is profitable, this would be difficult/impossible with poor management. We will continue to expect the highest performance from our leaders and employees and apply the same expectations regardless of gender.
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      Glassdoor has 177 Equilar reviews submitted anonymously by Equilar employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Equilar is right for you.