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Shazam Entertainment

Acquired by Apple

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Disgraceful HR - Anonymous employee Shazam Entertainment Employee Review

2.0
Apr 23, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Shazam is a well known, global brand which users tend to love. Looks impressive on the CV. - Benefits and pay are reasonable, with some nice extra little perks like catered lunch on Fridays, free drinks a couple of times a month, games area. - People are generally friendly, although not the most social bunch in the world. - A reasonable amount of autonomy and ability to implement ideas in the department I'd worked in. - App is always changing (although not always for the better) so always lots to adapt to and learn.

Cons

- While the perks were fine, I've definitely had better elsewhere, in particular with the social side of things. - HR is a disaster. I worked there for over a year and there was no written sickness policy for the entire period. if you asked your manager or HR, you'd be told that the lawyers were still writing it. Your contact would tell you to refer to your Employee Handbook, which no longer existed. For an established name like Shazam to have no written sickness policy to protect their employees is a disgrace and meant that they made stuff up as they saw fit. - I saw people in probation made to feel bad for attending hospital appointments even when told weeks in advance and when they were in lots of pain. if you work at Shazam, pray that you never get seriously ill because I have never worked anywhere where people were so scared of getting sick. - Head of HR in London is unapproachable, lacking in empathy, and makes judgements based upon who her favourite people are. - Some of the managers are so loud and egotistic that speaking to them is like banging your head against a brick wall. They know best and that is that, no matter how many other people may say otherwise. - Constantly ignoring what users want and instead putting so much time and effort into things they never asked for and never used once implemented (see - Visual Shazam). - A steady stream of redundancies. Struggling to cope financially in a world where paid music downloads are plummeting. You would go in one day and find an entire team suddenly gone. Focus seemed to be mostly on how many more adverts they could squeeze into the app when I left.

Explore other reviews about Shazam Entertainment

5.0
May 5, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great working environment, good benefits, free perks, team events. Executive team is amazing. No one bothers you as long as you do your job.

Cons

I cannot think of one

3
4.0
Aug 8, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The best part of working at Shazam is the ability to impact real change that is noticeable and impacts the business. The work environment is flexible, which is great if you are a self starter and don't need a ton of direction. The advertising and TV organization is very new (3 years old) and therefore is still a work in progress. My personal style is pretty entrepreneurial and therefore allows me to think creatively and outside the box to solve problems. My colleagues are also self starters, but understand the value of a work life balance which keeps us close, both in the office and out.

Cons

What can be difficult is that Shazam has experienced quite a bit of changes over the past two years. We are just now getting to a state that provides even a shred of structure on the business side of the company. Some people can't manage in a ambiguous work environment, so it creates stress when the lines of communication aren't fully in tact. Luckily the company has made some great strides in resolving this issue. A few other areas I wish they would invest in is career development, training, and outside educational resources. With such a small team and big mission, I would like to be able to utilize 3rd party resources to advance my skills.

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