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Views on You is a new website that allows users to research companies to see if they might be good places to work. It has an intriguing potential. When you first log-in you are given the choice of doing so using your LinkedIn or FaceBook accounts. Presumably this is done to help build your personal profile. However, it seems to make more sense to do so with LinkedIn because their user profiles typically contain the same career, education and colleague connections information that is relevant to Views on You. (One possible critique of registering via these social media juggernauts is the promotional aspect. New users are asked if they want to share their profile information with their associates on these larger social media sites.)
There is a third option for registration, however, simply using an email address. After completing the registration process, there is a quick personality matching where you select a radio button next to a picture of a very well known person. Examples are Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton and many others.
Once you are past that screen, you will see a sort of homepage with your name, Top Company matches, Featured Companies, My Companies, My Network Fit, My Teams, Profile Accuracy and Latest Updates.
So what is the value of this site, and why does it focus on trying to help people find the right fit for their employment? Virtually everyone knows a bad fit for one's work is a source of unhappiness, stress and lower performance. People who are in the right job or career are happier, less stressed and are more productive. (Research has supported what most people instinctively know.)
This is all to say Views on You, and other sites that try to help people learn about companies and themselves to find those good matches could work. However, there is another component to Views On You that might be a little problematic and that is the peer evaluation.
When you click Options on the upper right side of your homepage, in the drop-down menu there is an link titled Get Reviews. The idea is you invite your colleagues to post reviews of your working style, productivity, creativity and so forth. If you want co-workers past and present to write these reviews, it might be a little dicey, depending on who you invite. On the other hand, if reading such comments is something you believe will be beneficial, it could be a constructive experience.
Overall, the site seems to hold much promise, if for no other reason than it gets people reflecting carefully about their past job choices and how they might find better situations going forward. If they build a robust collection of non-profit organizations you can research for work opportunities, that may add value to their site, because some people are happier working in that sector.
Image Credit: The Opte Project
