Site name: GlassDoor.

URL: http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm

Who runs it: Sausalito, CA-based GlassDoor

What it provides: At the time we tested the site, it advertised it was in beta, but that will probably change, since the company just announced that it just raised $6.5 million in venture capital — a mere droplet in the sea of venture-capital bucks, but still a good sign that the site is progressing.

Right now, for starters, you can access in-house appraisals of what it’s like to work for many of the major employers in the United States, posted by people who actually work for those companies. The site’s public-relations blurb says the number of companies is 14,000 and rising.  That means if you’re looking for a job or want to know what it’s like at a competitor, you can get the inside scoop.

Other fun stuff that falls into the category of softcore corporate voyeurism: You can look up what insiders have to say about the top people at some of the major firms. For instance, put “Yahoo” in the search box and you’ll get a review of CEO and Director Jerry Yang (who turned down a bazillion-dollar buyout from Microsoft). He gets a 36% approval rating, and the company overall score 3.4 on a scale of 1 to 5. There’s some real nitty-gritty commentary about other companies, too, such as “we hold too many meetings.” Who doesn’t?

OK, here’s the cool part. By clicking on the “Salaries” tab, you can also look at some of those companies and see what they’re paying people like you. Or you can post your salary anonymously, along with some registration information, and see what the range and average is nationwide.

We entered a salary and sought more information, but had to wait a couple of hours after completing the registration before getting the activation e-mail. That could have been because of our e-mail system or the fact that they’re still fine-tuning the in-beta Web site. Sometimes, this stuff happens, but it’ll probably happen less when they start spending that $6.5 million.

The site is called Glassdoor.com. It allows users to, among other things, write reviews about their company and check salary information. If you’ve ever done an employee-satisfaction survey, think of Glassdoor in that way – except the world gets to see the survey responses. 

Some less-than-complimentary posts already on the site:

• Wells Fargo: “A great place to work if you like getting yelled at constantly,” although the writer does say the company has great benefits. 
• Google: “The perks are great, like getting free food (though quality is getting ho-hum lately)” and “Management is mostly useless and doesn’t know how to manage projects, let alone people.”