Glassdoor: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Nick_corcodilosNick Corcodilos (Ask The Headhunter) wrote this post: Can I trust Glassdoor reviews?  It has been travelling around the internet quite a bit since he posted it yesterday.  Nick’s answer is awesome, so I’ll let you spend most of your time reading his answer (and the comments there).  The comments I’ve seen from recruiters is that they aren’t buying the value of advertising on Glassdoor (although I’m sure plenty of companies/recruiters are).  They are talking about the difference between a user-generated feedback and review site, which can be valuable, and the old-fashioned, cliche job board model… and the disconnect between the two.

So here’s my good, bad and ugly:

The Good: 

I think it’s awesome that people can come and leave reviews on companies that I’m interested in.  The information you can learn from the reviews can go broad and deep.

The Bad: 

People will lie.  We see it on all of the review sites.  Giving someone the ability to leave something anonymously, without accountability, will empower the honest people to write the truth… but not everyone has honest and integrity. Some people will be vindictive, or exaggerate (for better or worse).

The Ugly: 

Apparently, some company employees are misrepresenting their companies with too much positive, to try and squash a negative.  Blatant lying that companies do, just to have a more positive company or a better rating in Glassdoor is not just bad, it’s ugly.  It’s gaming the system, and I’m sure Glassdoor programmers have thought long and hard about how to give freedom but control the lies.

So that’s it from me.  Check out what Nick and his commentors have to say: Can I trust Glassdoor reviews?

2 thoughts on “Glassdoor: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly”

  1. I just take Glassdoor with a grain of salt. My BS detector was calibrated with Amazon reviews, LOL! It’s not perfect, but then again I’m not basing all my job search decisions on Glassdoor reviews. What I find interesting is that the fake positive reviews are so crystal clear to me, especially when they are in a virtual sea of negative reviews.

    Recently I was thinking about applying for an IT job at an area company, but the GD reviews of the company were atrocious. I called the recruiter to learn about the position. I heard him pick up the phone and then put me back on a hold. Ultimately I left a voice mail. He never returned the call but a few days later I got a email thanking me for applying for the position (which I didn’t apply) and wanted me to call to discuss it more. The email wasn’t sent direct to me, more like blind-copies, so I’m guessing the recruiter just sent a blanket email.

    I also looked up the recruiter’s name on LinkedIn and found he has only been at the job for a few months. With all that info, I ignored the email and decided not to consider that company at all.

  2. To clarify, I did have a non-targeted resume uploaded at the company’s database, but I never applied for any jobs. The recruiter must’ve got my email from the resume in their database.

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