This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

Is it okay to ask about bad Glassdoor and Comparably reviews?

Rosy199·Apr 05, 2022

A company I'm interviewing with has bad reviews that are not consistent with what I've experienced during the interviewing process. My fear is leaving my role just to be laid off or have a bad culture experience. Would it be okay to ask about the bad reviews and what's the best way to phrase it?

Iynna·Apr 05, 2022

I'm super eager to hear what others have to say here but I think it is totally fair to ask. If anything it is a good test to see if they are transparent / aware too. But before, is it a lot of bd reviews or just a few random isolated? Simiarly what's the content of those reviews? I know it is not a good comparison but just to give you an idea of how I view this: on Yelp sometimes I see reviews with like 1 or 2 stars (so clearly negative), but when I read the reviews, to be it's not a problem at all e.g "the waiter made me wait 10 mns" compared to "I found a cockroach in the dish" ... there's a way to goBut point is it might be helpful to read the content of the reviews and see if it truly bothers you.Assuming you've already figured this out, you could ask "when I initially look up, I noticed a few reviews on Glassdoor from [insert #] months ago. That said going through the interview process alone, I've not had that experience so I was wondering how you went about changing XYZ"Again it will depend on the nature of the review :)

Elida122·Apr 06, 2022

My partner is a founder and the GD reviews for his tech company are sometimes 'false', ie, employees threatening to leave bad feedback unless they get a payout. It happens a lot more than people think so since then, I've never trusted them 100%.

LisaHarbin·Apr 06, 2022

I'd say if there is a theme in the negative reviews, like "no clear career paths" or "lack of diversity in leadership," then it's in your best interest to ask. You don't need to say "I saw this said about you in Glassdoor" but (using the examples above) ask explicitly about how they've defined career paths or what their diversity goals are and how they're putting them into action.

Sherie25·Apr 10, 2022

Its quite fair to ask. I would also look at linkedin and see the metrics on how many folks have left there. Reach out as well to those who have left for some unbiased opinions and if possible to someone in a similar role to yours. While glassdoor is a bit like yelp. Think of the word itself and its a bit like people who aren't hear complaining in general, there will definitely be some measure of truth to it. The best way to ask is to say, " I have done my research on the company and see that the glassdoor reviews seem to reference layoffs and XYZ, can you address that for me and share what your thoughts are?". You should get some kind of response from them, if they just poo poo it there is additional cause for concern. Definitely ask. Another good site is blind, there people post anonymous things from their current employer.