Built In is a staffing agency, so giving out awards is not their primary function. But making it easy for companies to lie makes their staffing suspicious (employees who apply through Built In might end up with fewer benefits than advertised). On the other hand, it's tricky for a smallish company to vet the claims of every company that makes an account, so maybe they rely on employee complaints to filter out the liars?
I don't put much stock in Built In's awards. It's only been around for 3 years. If I seriously trusted "Best Places to Work" awards (which I don't), I would prefer one of the longer tenured award programs like Fortune or Glassdoor or Indeed (there's a lot, take your pick).
Really, it's just a tacky move by Verkada: find an obscure award program, win it, and pretend that it means something. Not real cool.
It is worth noting that Built In lists an 18-person content team on their website covering a wide range of topics, including various tech industry topics. Most of the staff seems to have joined the company within the past few years.
That's true. Apparently they began as a social network / blog platform for startups. The local tech hubs (e.g. builtinaustin.com) push the staffing part, but the main Built In homepage pushes the tech articles. Not sure where they make their money, but I'm guessing it's mostly from the staffing. That's because I'm not sure a tech news site could justify millions in funding without more ads, paywalls, etc. John would know more on that subject.
Built In's methodology is based 50% on comp and 50% on benefits:
Comp and benefits in and of themselves do not make a place a "best place to work." I know plenty of people with great comp and benefits who are miserable at their jobs.
What makes a place great to work is usually intangible—work environment, supervisor's management style, work-life balance, promotional opportunities, learning opportunities, timely pay and reimbursements, etc.
Without verified employee feedback, Built In's rankings are bogus.
Anyways, I agree with Andrew, I don't think someone who otherwise has the chance to work for Apple, Google, Intuit, Uber, Zoom or any other large Bay Area tech company would choose Verkada based on Built In's "Best Places to Work" rankings.
I would also question how they get the compensation and benefits information. Clearly not by due diligence. Do they at least ask for that on the application? The two-week paid retreat is certainly a nice benefit offered by IPVM...
Built In did not respond which may be the cleverest tactic since very few of their target audience read IPVM so they can reasonably hope people won't notice.
I actually used a physical therapist at that address in NYC. Had I known you were virtually there, I would have stopped by for a virtual visit.
Everyone is looking for "validation" and the ridiculous proliferation of award tags is getting out of hand. We've participated in some juried award competitions (ISC, Campus Safety) and are always happy to be recognized (especially when there is excellent competition in the category).
Prospective customers always like to see the banners. When someone has to move a decision up the line, having some bonafides from independent organizations always helps.
But the awards that give out "certificates" just for paying an entry fee cheapen everything else.
We have been on the INC5000 list several years in a row. I agree it is paid and boy do you pay if you want to use the logo or get an official award but the INC5000 conference was worth it. Great speakers and networking with other like-minded business owners.
IPVM conducts reporting, tutorials and software funded by subscriber's payments enabling us to offer the most independent, accurate and in-depth information.
Comments (18)
Undisclosed #1
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Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Well, if you can't be on a "Global Influencer" list, at least you can be a good place to work.
It sounds like IFSEC and Built In both use the same methodology for determining their "Winners"
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Andrew Myers
Built In is a staffing agency, so giving out awards is not their primary function. But making it easy for companies to lie makes their staffing suspicious (employees who apply through Built In might end up with fewer benefits than advertised). On the other hand, it's tricky for a smallish company to vet the claims of every company that makes an account, so maybe they rely on employee complaints to filter out the liars?
I don't put much stock in Built In's awards. It's only been around for 3 years. If I seriously trusted "Best Places to Work" awards (which I don't), I would prefer one of the longer tenured award programs like Fortune or Glassdoor or Indeed (there's a lot, take your pick).
Really, it's just a tacky move by Verkada: find an obscure award program, win it, and pretend that it means something. Not real cool.
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Undisclosed Integrator #5
Waiting for the "Our Awards Are Not Endorsements "....
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Mark Berger
John,
I actually used a physical therapist at that address in NYC. Had I known you were virtually there, I would have stopped by for a virtual visit.
Everyone is looking for "validation" and the ridiculous proliferation of award tags is getting out of hand. We've participated in some juried award competitions (ISC, Campus Safety) and are always happy to be recognized (especially when there is excellent competition in the category).
Prospective customers always like to see the banners. When someone has to move a decision up the line, having some bonafides from independent organizations always helps.
But the awards that give out "certificates" just for paying an entry fee cheapen everything else.
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David Pilchick
01/26/21 03:43pm
A few years ago I signed up to be listed on the Inc 5000
Which is a list of the 5,000 fastest growing companies in America
Thank God, we can qualify for this list every year
After the first year, I never reapplied
Once I was on the list, I received hundreds of inquires
Mostly about buying my company
Inc 5000 also charges for the "honor" of being on their list
Which is why I was at first suspicious
But in their defense
It was a nominal fee
They did request a lot of financial documentation to verify our revenue
I think the lesson is, these rewards are mostly paid for services
Some are obviously more reputable than others
Having the award on the bottom of your email may give you a little ego boost
For some it is an exciting experience
I cant say I didn't enjoy it for a few minutes !
But after that initial excitement wore off
The annoyance of being placed on some list outweighed it
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Donald Maye
UPDATE: Verkada made the 2022 list for Best Places to Work in San Francisco, coming in at 73:
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