If you want to thoroughly investigate a company as a possible employer, you best brush up on your detective skills. It takes time and some clever search techniques to find out the inside scoop.

Thanks to Glassdoor much of the legwork is already done. It’s a free career site where “anyone can find and anonymously share an inside look at jobs and companies.”  Their data base covers over 84,000 companies. Information is gathered from current and former employees and companies can submit photos, videos, and other “come work for us” information.

To help you ace your next interview, there is a section of frequently asked interview questions sent in from interview candidates. Talk about having some relevant inside information.  Get mentally and emotionally prepared using some of my favorite techniques like setting clear intentions, visualization, affirmations, and deep breathing and you’re very best of who you are will be obvious to your interviewers.

Glassdoor was started by Robert Hohman and Rich Barton. They are masters of creativity, social media and information systems. Barton founded Expedia where they worked together as well as for Microsoft.

Best Features:

Check out the latest salaries by industry, company or job title.

Company reviews come from insiders and include the pros and cons, employee satisfaction ratings, and CEO approval ratings.

Read details about a company’s hiring process from job interview candidates

Check out Glassdoor’s top 50 places to work in 2010. The current top 4 companies to work for are Southwest Airlines, Mary Kay, Facebook, and Slalom Consulting.

I hope this makes your job search a little easier now that you don’t have to be a full time detective. So polish up your resume, get out there, and see what new doors you can open with Glassdoor and by Letting Your Best Self Shine!