5 Things To Look for in Company Reviews

When you are considering applying for a job at a specific company, read the reviews of the company in order to be sure whether you would really want to work for that company. Going through the company reviews will also give you a better insight into the work culture and other information about the company to help you prepare for the job interview.

In this article, we discuss what company reviews are, how to find and use them, as well as why they’re important to your job search.

What are company reviews?

Company reviews are descriptions of employees’ experiences working at that company. They’re mostly written by current and previous employees of the company and are available for almost all types of companies, ranging from small employers to large corporations. You can find company reviews written by former and current employees on job and review websites.

Related: The Complete Guide to Researching a Company

How to interpret company reviews

Keep the following points in mind when you try to assess a company based on its reviews:

1. Be critical of negative and anonymous reviews

Some people leave a review or feedback when they have something to complain about. People may write about the ways a company is not a good fit for them personally. Try to understand which elements of their experience they found negative and measure those against what you need in an employer and workplace.

2. Check the dates of the reviews

More recent reviews are often more informative because they discuss what the company is like right now. You can read through older reviews to see how the company has applied feedback and improved on the elements employees have written about. You can also see whether some positive elements have been further improved or increased.

3. Look for patterns

With both positive and negative reviews, identify some common themes and topics discussed by multiple reviewers. Use these trends to make a list of common positives and negatives. Then determine the importance and potential impact of each item on your possible experience with the company.

4. Read as many reviews as possible

A larger sample size can provide you a better, more diverse understanding of the company. Since people have different preferences on a variety of workplace and employer elements, reading reviews from a large number of people with different backgrounds and experiences can help you understand what the company is like for most people and which elements are more personal.

If your potential employer has multiple locations, check out the reviews for different locations. People occupying leadership positions at different locations may have different perspectives.

4. Compare a company with its competitors

This strategy can help you understand a company’s standing in its industry. You can read competitor reviews as well to see the differences in specific elements, such as workplace setting, amenities, benefits and leadership. You may also discover other good employers in the same industry.

Related: What Is an Employee Review Form?

Why company reviews are important to the job search

Company reviews can help you during the job-search process in various ways, including:

• Informs your decision-making ability: Reviews help you decide whether you would like to work at a given company. They also help you shortlist the companies you would like to work for. If a company with good reviews does not have any vacant positions, you may still try sending your resume through a cold email. Also, when you have two job offers in hand, reviews make it easier to decide which one to accept.
  

• Improves your understanding of a workplace: Job descriptions often leave out some important details like working hours, annual pay raise, work-life balance, etc. Company reviews help you get a realistic view of these factors. Most of the review websites require the employees to assign a numeric rating to a company based on various factors like salary, work culture, etc. This helps you compare potential employers based on your desired criteria.
  

• Helps you create the content of your cover letter: Company reviews can be helpful when you are writing a cover letter. You can refer to some specific positive information from a review website. It will demonstrate that you have done your homework and are serious about working in the company.
  

• Prepares you for an interview: Consider discussing specific feedback you came across on review websites during your job interview. If the interviewer is not aware of it or does not respond to your query positively, it may be an indication that the company does not value its employees’ opinions and that you should look somewhere else for a better opportunity.

How to use Indeed’s company review tool

Indeed’s company review tool is a great resource for people searching for promising places to work. Here is how you can use it to find the right job and company for you:

Step 1

Visit Indeed Company Reviews.

Step 2

Type a company name or job title in the search box, and then select one from the drop-down list of suggestions.

Step 3

Although this step is optional, you can modify your search by specifying the city, state or zip code.

Step 4

Click on the "Find Companies" button.

Step 5

You can read the available reviews and ratings by clicking on the company name or logo that links to their review page.

Sections of a company review page

Most company review pages have the following sections:

Snapshot

The snapshot section shows you overall star ratings of the company on five different aspects:

• Work-life balance

• Compensation and benefits

• Job security and advancement

• Management

• Company culture

It also sums up what the leadership at the company is like, what topics people are talking about the most, how the employees perceive the company’s culture and work-life balance, how much the company pays its employees and what jobs are currently available at various locations.

Why join us

This section displays a summary of the company along with a picture gallery of the company’s workplace and employees. On the right side of the section, you can see the company headquarters, the number of employees, the industry and links to the company’s website and social media pages. If the company claims the profile, you will see a checkmark in the “claimed profile” confirmation box.

Reviews

The reviews section lists all the reviews of the company. You can filter the reviews by job title and location. You can also see an overall star rating (out of five stars) and a diversity score (out of 100). The diversity score indicates how positive ratings are spread over different positions and departments. You can click on the “Ask a question” button if you would like to learn more about working in the company.

Salaries

This section displays the average salary after aggregating the salaries reported by employees working in different positions. You can look at the salary satisfaction score on the right side of the section to find out what percentage of employees think they are fairly paid. Common benefits at the company are listed below the salary satisfaction score.

Photos

This section hosts the photo gallery of the company. You get to see what the workplace looks like, the people who work for the company, special events they host and other elements of their company culture.

Jobs

This section lists all the current job openings of the company. Click on a job title to get more details about a position.

Q&A

Here you can ask your own questions or browse through questions asked by others, which may help you understand the recruitment process of the company. If you don’t find a Q&A that you’re looking for, submit your own question to have the employer respond with relevant information.

Interviews

You will find feedback about the job interview process here. Job interviews are rated in terms of the interviewees’ experience, such as favorable or unfavorable. They also rate interview difficulty from easy to difficult in addition to the length of the interview process. You can also find the interview steps and interview questions listed on this page.