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I think with every organization, though... a lot depends on the department that you are in. Some managers are more laidback than others. I feel my last organization would have been a great place to work had I started in any other department other than the one that I was in, so I felt negativity about my experience there that others may not have felt. I had management that would lie to other hiring managers for internal promotions so they could block you from leaving the department. If you were a good employee, they'd lie about you to keep you. However, other managers there tried to foster growth and development.... so I really have found experiences within an organization can vary. I would read the reviews, but wouldn't read too much into everything if I felt like my perceptions of that department was a good one. (in this sense, I knew going into it that they were a little strange, just didn't know they would be mean)
^^^This. I would also add that the bigger the company, the more likely you will see this. My company has over 5,000 employees. In my 10 years here, I have worked in some phenomenal departments as well as some truly atrocious departments. If an employee has spent their entire career working for a lousy boss, of course they are going to think the company is terrible.
Glassdoor reviews probably do a lousy job of giving you a macro view of the organization.
The reviews on the last company I worked for were accurate.
This company is great to have on the resume, but major layoffs, low moral...
Did a temp to hire gig at the company, within 2 weeks 3 people I met on my first day were let go.
From the outside, the department looked so fun. Toys everywhere, free drinks etc...soon realized that most were unhappy and looking for another job.
I couldn't see myself working there long-term. In my position, the company wasn't horrible and there were great perks. But I haven't bothered to write a review on Glassdoor.
I think the individual reviews are worth reading, but I would be hesitant to form too much of an opinion from that website. Aside from the bias one way or the other (disgruntled employees, planted reviews, etc), I don't think it's as black and white as a company being good to work for or bad to work for. One experience does not fit all. And not all teams or segments of a company are representative of the company as a whole. Read the reviews and take what you will from them. I read up on every company before I apply, wherever on the web I can find something. I focus on most recent first since companies can evolve over time.
I do value the interviews and salary portion of the website. I find that very useful, though smaller companies, as you would expect, aren't as well represented here as the larger.
Depends on the level of employment, and if there was a personal issue going on.
I like to check my employer's ratings to see what people say, and I noticed trends.
Ex. I work as a part-time employee for a demo company in a store.
Bad reviews usually involve people who expect it to be more than a part-time job, or hate their co-workers or manager.
Good reviews come from people who had good relationships with their coworkers or got what they expected form a part-time job. Simple as that, really, it is.
Now my last job... might be a little more difficult to frame that way... as a government contact center with several sites around the U.S. and it being a MONSTROUS corporation... where you deal with HR and regulations more...
In my experience, it is normally the disgruntled person who chooses to give an online review (whether work related or not.) Relatively happy people rarely bother.
Have you provided a review on Glassdoor? I never have...
Same here, never.
And the same thing can be said for Yelp, which I tend to think skews negative on certain businesses.
And the same thing can be said for Yelp, which I tend to think skews negative on certain businesses.
It's human nature. If you have a positive experience and your expectations are met, you have little motivation to provide feedback. If you have a negative experience you are highly motivated to speak out and complain.
And the same thing can be said for Yelp, which I tend to think skews negative on certain businesses.
I find Yelp to be very informative. I have contributed to it myself and provided several accounts of positive experiences. I want businesses that I like to patronize to do well and I hope that my positive feedback will help them attract new clients.
As for Glassdoor, you can use it as a gauge. If there is an abundance of negative or positive feedback, then it probably is a good indication of what the company is like. Especially if there are specific details that employees consistently refer to. I was researching one company and pretty much every one of the reviews I came across were negative and they all pointed out very similar details about the company that made it negative. I decided it wasn't a place I'd want to work for. If the feedback is balanced, then it's probably an average company to work for.
I think with every organization, though... a lot depends on the department that you are in. Some managers are more laidback than others. I feel my last organization would have been a great place to work had I started in any other department other than the one that I was in, so I felt negativity about my experience there that others may not have felt. I had management that would lie to other hiring managers for internal promotions so they could block you from leaving the department. If you were a good employee, they'd lie about you to keep you. However, other managers there tried to foster growth and development.... so I really have found experiences within an organization can vary. I would read the reviews, but wouldn't read too much into everything if I felt like my perceptions of that department was a good one. (in this sense, I knew going into it that they were a little strange, just didn't know they would be mean)
yes, agreed 100%. see, people don't join/leave companies, they join/leave *managers*. if you're in a company of > 50 ppl., 99% of your time will be spent with your immediate team members and your manager, so really even tho the rest of the company might be great or crap, your experience could be very different.
I see Glassdoor reviews a place where more disgruntled employees vent for the most part. I am sure there are planted "fake" positive reviews as well. I think if you can find someone who works at a target company and talk to them one on one, you might get a better idea about work culture than you can from just a few negative online "anonymous" reviews.
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