Common Sense Media reviews

3.8

61% would recommend to a friend

(56 total reviews)

James Steyer

60% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

Common Sense Media has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 56 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Common Sense Media employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Nonprofit & NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

56 reviews
1.0
Sep 10, 2018

Company in crisis

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This company attracts insanely smart and talented people. They care about what they do and work really hard. The teams that are shielded from C-suite interference tend to function well and be productive (Editorial, Product/Engineering, Design, etc.). Despite a lack of oversight or clear process, the organization produces great work.

Cons

Overall, a pretty miserable place to work. No one has any idea what the mission actually is, let alone what to do to achieve said mission. Executive leadership is not transparent and internal communication is a disaster. This leads to confusion and lack of direction, which creates competition for resources and credit. Under staffing and under resourcing means a lot of things go out the window that are actually important, like performance reviews. The CEO Jim Steyer is manic and out of control. At best, he doesn't give you the time of day; at worst, he's downright abusive. Creates a toxic culture. Turnover is really high, made worse by layoffs of longtime employees. There's a huge pay gap, those in the inner circle are paid well and everyone else struggles to survive in the SF Bay Area. (I was once told to compare my salary to Chicago rates... if only my landlord charged Chicago rent!)

3.0
Jul 26, 2018

Department Dependent

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Certain departments seem like great places to work with competent staff, managers and great colleagues. In comparison with other nonprofits, they have decent resources and an ability to spend money.

Cons

There is a lot of micro-management, terrible work flows and working in solos. There is a decent amount of turnover. They've been going through a phase where they are laying off people who have been at the org for a long time - and the company itself isn't handling it well. If you're interviewing, I would suggest asking how long other staff in that dept have been around - if it's short tenure, it's not a good dept. Jim is as bad as every other reviewer says he is.

5.0
Jul 16, 2018

Great place and nice people

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very nice people. People there are highly motivated, and they always try to learn from each other and improve communication among teams.

Cons

Need to hire more people for some positions.

Viewing 34 - 36 of 56 Reviews

Glassdoor has 89 Common Sense Media reviews submitted anonymously by Common Sense Media employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Common Sense Media is right for you.