How much weight do you put into negative reviews on a company on GlassDoor when looking for a job
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Anonymous
| My husband recently spoke to a company about a potential position. The company seems very interested in him and we went on Glassdoor to look at employee's reviews of working at this company and were suprised and concerned about the amount of negative feedback regarding working for this company. I do realize that people have to make their own judgements about an environment and company but wonder if anyone else had this situation. My husband doesn't want to walk into a toxic environment and negative workplace. |
Anonymous
| Most reviews will be negative but have proven to be true. |
Anonymous
| Consider that people who write reviews are generally self selecting: those that are content with their jobs probably don't go on Glassdoor to write "Things are ok here, my boss is fine, the pay is good," while people who have a negative experience are more likely to write complaints. What is the content of complaints? Are people complaining that they only get two weeks paid vacation? Well, he probably already knows about that- or are people complaining about bigger problems? |
Anonymous
| I completely discount the reviews. 100%. The only people on those boards are those who have mostly negative things to say. They are also generally more junior. |
Anonymous
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If there are only one or two negative comments, I tend to discount them as being from a disgrunted complainer. However, if I see a trend of person after person mentioning the same issues and speaking about how once they were in the job, things they were promised before hiring never came to pass, then I tend to pay attention.
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Anonymous
| Read and see exactly what the complaints are about. Sometimes it can something petty. If you see a recurring theme across reviews, then it problem is a real issue at this company. |
Anonymous
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I think it depends on the situation. Is it a small organization, or do the reviewers have precisely the same job your husband would be taking? That would be more concerning. Otherwise, no.
I work for a Fortune 500 company, and I doubt any of the reviews would have anything to do with me or my job or department. |
Anonymous
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How many total reviews are there? If there are fewer than 30, I would say (and statistics would say) that that is a less than significant number for the sample size not to be unbiased.
If it's a big company and there are 100 reviews, and everything is 1 star, I would trust that. If there are 5 reviews total, I wouldn't trust that. (P.S. This is my philosophy for Amazon and other consumer generated reviews also). |
Anonymous
| Turnover should be a concern. Obviously, if people come and go a lot it could be a sign of trouble. |
Anonymous
| Depends on size.. if it's a small company and there are no specifics take it with a gain of salt. If it's a large company and the same issue comes up, bring it up to the hiring manager and ask for an explanation. |
Anonymous
OP, the problem is, one division in a company can be great to work for and another is a snakepit. I looked at Glassdoor for my current company and most said the place was OK. I am in a leadership position so what I do has a big influence. So far I like it but am also realistic enough to know that in this day and age, every place has issues. Bottom line: If nobody had ANYTHING good to say about the place, I would be wary. The most important thing, as always, is how your husband clicks with the management. Always has been, always will be. |
Anonymous
| What is the content of complaints? If there's a theme emerging, you can't discount the reviews, there are likely accurate. |
Anonymous
| The reviews for the places where I used to work are accurate |
Anonymous
agreed. |