238
© 2022 Fairygodboss. All rights reserved.
Company Review Sites
What's the best way to evaluate company culture and decide if it's a place I want to work?
I had an interview this morning with a small but growing company, both the job and the company sound great. They just moved into the city, they're getting more contracts, the location is perfect, the space is lovely, people get offices with doors, they said they focus a lot on professional growth and build people up, and of course, everyone I met said how much they like working there. Bonus, one of the men talked about how he took a sabbatical to be with his son the company embraced it. The EVP I talked with sounded very optimistic about getting me an offer (not counting my chickens yet, but I have hope).
The biggest problem I see right now is that they have a TERRIBLE rating on Glassdoor (2.6 of only 4 reviews total) and only one, very good, review on Indeed. They aren't on Fairygodboss- is there anywhere else I can look? I can afford to be a little picky right now, but I don't want to pass up a good opportunity at a place to grow a career.
Vanessa175Tech entrepreneur, traveler, HR professional
87
07/28/19 at 9:14PM UTC
4 reviews isn't many to base a decision on, and disgruntled employees are probably more likely to post a review than people who loved the company. Did you try looking up former employees on Linkedin?
Tami WolfInnovative & Experienced Project/Program Manager
238
07/29/19 at 1:05PM UTC
I agree with your point, that's why I asked about other resources. I started looking at the profiles of former employees, most were either there for several years (if not longer) or under a year.
Ruzana GlaeserCo-founder of brightmeetsbrave.com
950
07/25/19 at 4:39PM UTC
When I read through reviews, I try to see if I can find a thread of commonality. It could be just a disgruntled employee, especially considering that it's a small company and only 4 reviews. But if you see the same things being mentioned in all the reviews, then you know that is an area of opportunity for the company.
Sounds like you got good vibes from in person meetings and those are important, don't discount your gut feeling.
If you are worried about some reviews, I would bring it up with the company - "I have read some reviews that have raised a question for me about your culture. Although there aren't many reviews available, the few that I did find seem to mention a common thread of xxxx issue, can you elaborate on what your company does in that area?" and then see what they answer. Do they consider it an opportunity for improvement, if yes, then what are they doing, etc. etc.
Good luck!
Tami WolfInnovative & Experienced Project/Program Manager
238
07/26/19 at 1:17PM UTC
I didn't even think of addressing issues with them directly. Thank you!
Carrie TopolskiEmpowering women and beyond!
2.34k
07/25/19 at 4:58PM UTC
Great advice!
Pamela TemplinExploring new paths in the SF Bay Area.
392
07/25/19 at 5:41PM UTC
Good advice above. I would also look at customer reviews of their product/services and those of their competitors. See what kind of press releases have been issued lately, and other industry or financial news reports. Then compare the timing of the reviews with the comments you’ve read. You may detect a pattern such as: bad product review led to decrease in sales led to a layoff and then -boom- bad review. That’s not as concerning in some ways (at least to me) as: new product release, sales go up, but (per unhappy review) no new hiring for the workload, leads to overworked and burnt out employees. People leaving a bad review because they were laid off is expected; a company working its employees to burn out instead of hiring is a red flag.
You just need to Nancy Drew what you find. ?
Tami WolfInnovative & Experienced Project/Program Manager
238
07/26/19 at 1:37PM UTC
I've been trying to research them for the past couple days, but almost nothing comes up. It's a smaller government contracting firm, and they're not getting the super-sexy contracts so...
© 2022 Fairygodboss. All rights reserved.