Reviews are also a function of expectation. If you want a decent middling job where you cruise along with the crowd for mediocre pay and benefits, most companies will get good reviews. If you expect more, you'll give worse reviews.

If you have a sample size of less than 30, I would say not necessarily accurate. Depends on what they are saying specifically.

If it's a large company and there are at least 30+ reviews, more accurate. Recency counts as well.

Read the comments themselves vs the number rating-- should tell you more than the number ranking.

I think it depends on the size. The ones for my former job, a small less than 50 trade association, is spot on. Scarily so. I've also that when I see a lot of jobs popping up for the same company, the reviews tend to be negative.

I would say they are pretty accurate. And the spread can reveal a lot of about the corporate culture. I work for a large company -- one of the consistent comments are the company is always reorganizing (true).

On the other hand, some people talk about long term opportunities, others do not. Some talk about Work live balance as a plus, others complain. I know the company, having been there for 20+ years. It is very decentralized. Some groups are looking for just profit in the short term (just this contract), and do not care about what happens next, others are concerned about long term growth, and want to keep (the good) people around.

Anonymous wrote:I think the people posting on Glassdoor often have an axe to grind and that's reflected in the comments. Almost all of the ones for my company are searingly negative, but there are a ton of people who have worked there for a long time (including me), and you'd think that if people hated it that much, they'd find another job. I'm sure some people feel that way, but I can recognize some of the comments and most of them are from underperformers or people who were let go.

its harder to switch jobs imo than 10 years ago. a lot of recruiting and network pipelines have become 'siloed'.

so yes, people with axes to grind end up staying for a long time.

i think glassdoor is pretty accurate to be honest if it is for large firms with many reviews.

for example google, mckinsey are highly rated - duh.

most of fortune 500 is ok rated.

and other firms are all over the map.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the people who post reviews tend to be on the extremes (and generally on the negative extreme). However the ones for my former organization were spot-on (I didn't write them).

The ones for my current organization are really positive, and also spot-on.

+1. I find this is true for my current employer as well. People either love it or hate it here and the reviews reflect that. The positives and negatives posted are all quite accurate as the people that hate it have legitimate reasons to, as do the people who love it.

Anonymous wrote:I think the people posting on Glassdoor often have an axe to grind and that's reflected in the comments. Almost all of the ones for my company are searingly negative, but there are a ton of people who have worked there for a long time (including me), and you'd think that if people hated it that much, they'd find another job. I'm sure some people feel that way, but I can recognize some of the comments and most of them are from underperformers or people who were let go.

Perfect example of why reviews are typically right.

Yes, the people who post reviews tend to be on the extremes (and generally on the negative extreme). However the ones for my former organization were spot-on (I didn't write them).

The ones for my current organization are really positive, and also spot-on.

The temperature on my company's are correct, even if a couple years ago.

I've looked at Glassdoor reviews for places I've worked and have generally agreed--even for a workplace I enjoyed. In one case, the company had a similar name to other businesses, and I wondered if all were for the right company.

As an aside, i was recently laid off, and it's somewhat satisfying to see people write about how crappy morale is since layoffs have happened. But even then, I think those posters were fair and acknowledged the company's strengths too.

Our company has bad glassdoor reviews. I like it there but I understand the viewpoints of others. As for the 2+ years part, we've been working hard to repair parts of our culture and have made strides in 2 years. I wouldn't discount them but you could always ask about it if you get an offer and how they answer will be instructive. It's not like they don't know. If they are dismissive and hostile, be wary. I and I believe our HR would happily discuss the issue to put the mind at ease of someone we wanted to join.

I think the people posting on Glassdoor often have an axe to grind and that's reflected in the comments. Almost all of the ones for my company are searingly negative, but there are a ton of people who have worked there for a long time (including me), and you'd think that if people hated it that much, they'd find another job. I'm sure some people feel that way, but I can recognize some of the comments and most of them are from underperformers or people who were let go.

I'm happy in my job, but the bad Glassdoor comments about my employer are spot-on. I would say, don't let it be your only factor in deciding, but don't write it off, either.

I'm in the process of interviewing for a company and checked out their company reviews on Glassdoor and people are s******* all over them. Even the good reviews are bad. However, all the reviews are from 2+ years ago. So how much do you trust those reviews? I'm fully aware that most people only get online to complain, rarely to write something positive. But now I'm discouraged. Are there other/better sites to check out?