About Coworkers.com

What Is It?

Welcome to Coworkers.com!  This site is based on a very simple premise: it's not who you know, it's what they know about you. 

You may be old enough to remember when all it took to get a great job were a strong resume and solid interviewing skills.  Well guess what... the rules of the game have changed, and that's not enough anymore!  Thanks to the success of Web 2.0 and social networking, our lives are more transparent than ever.  Whether you like it or not, information about you is "out there," and it takes no time to get a quick snapshot of who you are.  The question is, does this snapshot portray you accurately or not?   You may not care what your friends and family think of you, but when it comes to your career, your online reputation can make all the difference in the world, so it's important to think about the impression you make.

This is where Coworkers.com comes in.  We believe that the best policy with regard to your online reputation is to fight fire with fire.  So we give you tools to proactively gather real, balanced, honest feedback ("reviews") from your coworkers.  The result is a profile that employers can trust, because they know that it contains unbiased information, not just testimonials like you see on other sites.  We allow your coworkers to remain anonymous, which encourages them to be more honest.  When you apply for a job, you can use your Coworkers.com profile as a discussion starter, acknowledging that you have areas to improve as well as strengths.   This is important because employers understand that no one is perfect, and what they really care about, in addition to your skills, is that you have the capacity to grow professionally throughout your career.

Sounds great, you say, but what about issues like invasion of privacy, revenge, mistaken identity, and so on?  We understand your concerns, and we have worked hard to make Coworkers.com safe and fair for everyone, giving you control over your information without sacrificing the balanced nature of the feedback you receive.   Here is a summary of the protection we provide:

		We only display feedback that has been submitted about you if you have registered.  You can opt out at any time.
		You have full control over your profile and which information about you will be exposed.
		Reviews can be public (visible to anyone) or private (only visible to the recipient).
		You can dispute any review that you feel is unfair or invalid.  Disputed reviews do not count toward your average rating, and nobody can see the comments associated with them.

How Does It Work?

We know you're in a hurry, so here you will just find a quick a quick overview of how the review system on Coworkers.com works.  For a more detailed description of the site's rules and procedures, click here.

		To get started managing your work reputation, register with the site, fill out your profile, and ask coworkers to review you.
		A review consists of a set of numeric (1-10) scores that provide a general impression of the coworker in the areas that are most important to employers.  To provide context, you can enter optional information such as how long you have worked with the person.  Finally, there is a comment field, where you can write any additional information that may be helpful in describing your experience with the coworker.
		When a review has been submitted about you, you receive a notification email with a link to the review.  If you have not yet registered, nobody (including yourself) can see the review.  After registering, you can see the review, and other users can too unless it is private.  If you disagree with a review, you can dispute it, which removes it from your average rating and hides the reviewer's comment from others.
		If you are interested in someone else's ratings, you can look them up by simply entering an email address, or you can search by name and other criteria.  If the person has been reviewed, you can see their average rating and reviews.  If you want to be notified when someone is reviewed, you can add that person's email address or username to one of your personal Groups.  You will receive an email notification when a review is submitted for that person.

Why Should I Use It?

With Coworkers.com, everybody wins!  When you submit a review of someone, you are able to express your admiration (or lack thereof) for that person in an honest, no-strings-attached way.  When you are reviewed, you can see yourself through someone else's eyes, and use that perspective to determine how to be more effective in your workplace.  If you are an employer considering hiring someone, you can get the truth about that person's work habits and experience, allowing you to make a more informed decision about whether he or she would be a suitable match for your company.

Please Beta With Us

We are currently in Beta mode, which means that you will notice new features popping up frequently.  We are also tweaking the look and feel of the site, in order to make it as intuitive as possible.  Thanks for your understanding, and we apologize in advance for any quirky behavior that you may experience.  We would love to get your feedback about how we are doing, so please drop us a line.