Every point of view is subjective. In theory a company review might not reflect reality at all because:
- people are mostly writing negative reviews after they quit to release their frustrations
- the positives reviews, especially the hyped ones, are likely written by hiring managers or they manage to force their employees to pride their companies.
So, you should bother spending time on forums (glassdoor, kununu — for Germany, Switzerland and Australia, undelucram — only for Romania etc. ). In reality, or at least according to my experience, here is why you are mistaking:
- paradoxical, companies reviews reflect the reality. The reviews are written by people that do care about their careers. They constantly develop themselves and are trying to help others. On way to do this is by contributing as objective as possible on forums. And what they are saying matters, at least to me.
- the reviews are analyzed by a website administrator before being published, therefore chances of dis-informing are low.
- If a company sucks big time, the fault lies on people that work there. I’ve heard this quite a few times “Who cares about company reputation, we can always find a bunch of oxen scratching our door.” And they are correct, that’s why I wish them to hire all the cattle. Let great people work for great jobs.
I am always reading and writing company reviews. Even if I am not actively looking for a job. Hell, I do have my own track of companies that interests me and the ones that are a no-no.
After an interview, whatever it goes, I am writing a review — and yes, even if I am rejected it can be noted as a positive experience. It actually happened :-)
A reader my ask: “OK, so you are guiding by companies reviews, but what about a company that just opened it’s office and has no reviews at all?”
I was a fresher with no referrals at all. I figured my way out, and it wasn’t easy. That is why, in such cases — for new companies on the market, all I can do is to wish them good luck. One solution would be illustrated bellow:
Final thoughts
I am not getting paid for my time that I waste on a crappy company during a hiring interview. That’s why I need to know others experiences. And if I am hiring to a company with red flags, all I am doing is hurting myself.
Bottom line is, as heard many times before, you must take care of your reputation if you want to have good people. Is that simple!