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
2.0
Jun 3, 2015

Mixed Review

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Potential for great impact and mission is strong. Smart staff get the job done.

Cons

Leadership is abrasive and the culture is a weird mix of non-profit and tech start-up that just never gels.

5.0
Jul 25, 2016

Not perfect, but pretty good

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- I work with truly lovely, smart people - the employees here are dedicated to their work and it shows. - Relaxed culture - Work/life balance is great - you actually see people take time off! Plus, lots of paid holidays, including a week between Christmas and New Years. - Pretty good benefits, even compared to for-profit companies. - We're not entirely grant funded, which makes me feel more secure about working at a nonprofit.

Cons

- For a tech company, we're pretty low-tech. There are a lot of manual processes that could be solved by a online solution. I think we're getting there, but the change has been slow. - CEO is smart, but is largely out of touch with reality and what goes on day-to-day within the org. A lot of the c-suite's time is making sure the CEO doesn't do anything unwise. Don't work with him closely, and for that I am grateful. - Not terribly diverse, though we do have a high proportion of women in the office and in our leadership staff. - Salary could be higher, but what else is new? - Opportunities for growth exist, but are not clearly defined. Some teams seem to handle this better than others.

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.

Viewing 16 - 18 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.