How much stock do you put in employee review sites when considering a position?

9 Comments

1. AnonymousMay 21,2024 at 3:38PM UTC

   First, employee feedback is important, but people are more inclined to post when their experience is horrible than when it was great. For a multi-site company, the comments may not even be appropriate to the site you will be working. or the department you are applying to.

   Second, a bad review is always about a bad manager and every company has them.

   Third, check the dates of the reviews. A lot changes within a company within a couple of years, and considering my first point, the issue/manager may no longer be relevant. Any comments before or during COVID, because of disruptions and the time that has passed are likely no longer relevant either.

   The most important thing I look at when considering a career job is the mission of the company and the products they produce. Is this something I want my name associated with?

2. AnonymousMay 21,2024 at 3:49PM UTC

   Agree with previous poster's tips! (Esp focus on filtering (US vs global) and post-COVID)

   I scan for trends in the feedback/comments and ask questions in that area to try to get a sense if it is a dept issue or something wider spread.

3. Balanced124557May 21,2024 at 5:12PM UTC

   a lot, but as an aggregate. There will always be (possibly fake) highs and lows -discard those. But look for patterns - is everyone saying management is horrible, or the long hours are expected, or anything that gives you some insight into the culture.

4. AnonymousMay 21,2024 at 5:32PM UTC

   I take the reviews - good and bad - with a grain of salt.
   I feel like I am only getting one side of the story - if it's a negative review...was the person having a bad day, were they actually a problem employee, are they a trouble maker, is it legit, was the person an actual employee, when was the review, did they mention their concerns to someone who could have been in a position to do something. If I see something particularly concerning or a pattern in reviews, I might ask about it in an interview.

   I feel like with positive reviews...you can kinda see right through whether it's a legit positive review or someone in the company trying to make the company look better.

   A better gauge of what's going on at a company is to find someone that works there...is there someone in your LinkedIn network? Family? Family friend? Friend of a friend? that works there that you could get some feedback from them?

   As far as ratings? Anything over 3.0 I'm comfortable with.

5. AnonymousMay 21,2024 at 5:39PM UTC

   They are primarily filled with malcontents and disgruntled former employees. Then are rebutted by anonymous employees usually in HR or PR.

   Some of the best companies I've worked for have some terrible reviews online.

6. AnonymousMay 21,2024 at 6:26PM UTC

   None lol.

7. AnonymousMay 21,2024 at 7:00PM UTC

   Take it all with a grain of salt but it is worth noting if the reviews show a pattern of behavior (bad communication, a particular department is well/badly run, etc.). FWIW I've worked with an executive recruiting firm and one of my tasks (it was a temp job) was to scour sites like Glassdoor and check reviews of the tenure of possible candidates the firm was looking at. My directives was to see if there was any patterns, do note the time frame (less interested if the candidate wasn't there when the bad behavior happened unless it was something they happened to continue). This could be more work but you could also pair this with doing news searches on Google or on social media sites. If the timing of these reviews happen around the bad news hits, there might be more "proof" for you if that helps. I've used these sites myself because there is no other way to warn people and no other form of accountability (HR is not your friend, etc.) in some cases so those workplaces can cope, as far as I'm concerned.

8. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistMay 22,2024 at 12:45AM UTC

   I take those with a giant grain of salt. Both positive and negative. Most of the negative reviews have been left by disgruntled ex-employees and I've heard stories of managers making employees write positive reviews.

9. AnonymousMay 22,2024 at 4:50PM UTC

   There's the 'worst place to EVER work' to the 'Best Butterflies and Bubbles Workplace' feedback. NO workplace is perfect and if they say they are or present them as euphoria, stop talking to them. There's truth in the middle. Do your own research. Watch for your own red flags. Look at their business in a sustainable way and growth mindset.