What is the Glassdoor API? How to Use It and Alternatives

The Glassdoor API opens up a world of employment-related data, offering insights into company reviews, salary information, and interview experiences. This powerful tool connects job seekers and employers, providing valuable information to make informed decisions. We will examine what Glassdoor is, how to use its API, and alternative options for those seeking similar data.

Understanding Glassdoor and Its API

Glassdoor has become a go-to platform for job seekers and employees to share anonymous company reviews, salary reports, and interview experiences. This transparency helps job hunters gain insights into potential employers while allowing companies to understand employee sentiment.

The Glassdoor API, while not publicly available in a traditional sense, offers several functionalities that can be leveraged through various means:

Data Access: Users can retrieve detailed job posts, industry-specific salary data, employee reviews, and interview questions. For employers, this can be useful to see how your company compares to your competitors. Although webhooks don't seem to be available, developers can poll the API to get a heartbeat on the industry and job market.
Sentiment Analysis: Advanced tools can perform sentiment analysis on reviews using natural language processing and semantic analysis techniques.
Visualization: The collected data can be analyzed and visualized to uncover trends and insights.

These capabilities benefit both job seekers and employers in many ways. Job seekers can make informed decisions about potential employers, prepare for interviews, and negotiate salaries. Employers can craft competitive job offers, improve employee retention programs, and benchmark their performance against industry standards.

The Glassdoor API is not Public :(

Unfortunately, Glassdoor closed off public access to their API in 2021. This means that the API can't be easily leverage by individual job seekers. Employers, however, can still get access to the API. Read on the learn how.

Accessing and Using the Glassdoor API

To get started with the Glassdoor API, follow these steps:

Visit the Glassdoor Developer registration page to obtain your API key and partner ID.
Set up your environment by securely storing your API credentials. Using environment variables is a good practice:

export GLASSDOOR_PID=your_partner_id
export GLASSDOOR_PAT=your_api_key

Once set up, you can start making API requests. Here's an example using CURL:

curl -X GET 'http://api.glassdoor.com/api/api.htm?v=1&format=json&t.p=YOUR_PARTNER_ID&t.k=YOUR_API_KEY&action=employers&employerId=3149&userip=YOUR_IP_ADDRESS&useragent=Mozilla/4.0'

For those preferring JavaScript, here's how you can make a request using Axios:

const axios = require("axios");

const partnerId = "YOUR_PARTNER_ID";
const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";
const userIp = "YOUR_IP_ADDRESS";
const userAgent = "Mozilla/4.0";

const url = `http://api.glassdoor.com/api/api.htm?v=1&format=json&t.p=${partnerId}&t.k=${apiKey}&action=employers&employerId=3149&userip=${userIp}&useragent=${userAgent}`;

axios
  .get(url)
  .then((response) => {
    console.log(response.data);
    // Example response
    /**
     {
        "success": true,
        "status": "OK",
        "response": {
            "currentPageNumber": 1,
            "totalNumberOfPages": 151,
            "totalRecordCount": 1510,
            "employers": [
                {
                    "id": 354,
                    "name": "IBM",
                    "website": "www.ibm.com",
                    "isEEP": false,
                    "exactMatch": false,
                    "industry": "",
                    "numberOfRatings": 0,
                    "squareLogo": "http://media.glassdoor.com/sqll/354/ibm-squarelogo.png",
                    "overallRating": 0,
                    "ratingDescription": "Not Applicable",
                    "cultureAndValuesRating": "3.6",
                    "seniorLeadershipRating": "2.9",
                    "compensationAndBenefitsRating": "2.6",
                    "careerOpportunitiesRating": "2.9",
                    "workLifeBalanceRating": "3.5",
                    "featuredReview": {
                        "id": 3855871,
                        "currentJob": false,
                        "reviewDateTime": "2014-03-12 04:56:58.41",
                        "jobTitle": "Employee",
                        "location": "",
                        "headline": "an extremly good compagny with very high benefits and perfectly committed to its employees with a great compagny culture",
                        "pros": "an extremly good compagny with very high benefits and perfectly committed to its employees with a great compagny culture",
                        "cons": "opportunities to travel to conference have been reduced"
                    },
                    "ceo": {
                        "name": "Virginia Rometty",
                        "title": "CEO",
                        "image": {
                            "src": "http://media.glassdoor.com/people/ceo/354/ibm-virginia-rometty.png",
                            "height": 50,
                            "width": 40
                        },
                        "numberOfRatings": 0,
                        "pctApprove": 0,
                        "pctDisapprove": 0
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    } */
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error(error);
  });

The Glassdoor API offers various actions such as company search, job post retrieval, salary data access, employee review fetching, and interview question retrieval. These actions allow users to gather comprehensive information about potential employers or their own company's standing in the job market.

Examining Alternatives to Glassdoor

While Glassdoor is a widely used platform, several alternatives exist for those seeking similar employment-related data. Below is a review of some alternatives, with a focus on whether they offer public REST APIs.

Blind: Blind does not offer a publicly accessible REST API. For more information, it is advisable to check Blind's official documentation or contact their support.
Indeed.com: Indeed does not offer a publicly accessible REST API for general job search purposes. They have the Indeed Publisher API for high-traffic publishers and several hiring-related APIs, but general users may need to rely on web scraping tools.
Salary.com: Salary.com offers REST APIs, but these are not publicly available for general use. Access to their Data as a Service (DaaS) APIs and CompAnalyst APIs requires specific credentials and arrangements.
Comparably: Comparably does not specifically mention offering a public REST API. Users interested in API access may need to contact Comparably directly to inquire about potential API offerings.
Fishbowl: Fishbowl offers a REST API, primarily designed for integrating with their solutions. This API is not publicly open for general use and requires integration approval.

For those looking for an unofficial Glassdoor REST API - many web scraping services offer their own version but terms of service and costs can vary.

These alternatives can provide a broader perspective on employment-related data, allowing users to cross-reference information and make more informed decisions.

Maximizing the Value of Employment Data

Whether you choose to use the Glassdoor API or examine its alternatives, the key lies in leveraging the wealth of employment-related data available. By combining insights from multiple sources, job seekers can make more informed career decisions, while employers can better understand and improve their standing in the job market.

As you use these tools and APIs, consider using a comprehensive API management solution like Zuplo to simplify your data integration processes. With the right approach and tools, you can unlock valuable insights that drive better employment outcomes for both individuals and organizations.