Why You Should Treat Employer Reviews Like Online Shopping

Hundreds of people quit jobs they just joined because they weren’t treated well or had a bad work environment. Thankfully, there are ways to help job searchers research before joining a company.

You want to join a company where you’re treated with respect and allowed to grow. If that isn’t the case, then you’ll have to start looking for other opportunities immediately.

To reduce the number of bad experiences candidates and new employees face and also make it easier to find a job that’s worth investing your time and energy in, it’s crucial to treat recruitment offers and job listings the same way you’d treat any discounted product you saw online—with high skepticism.

It’s always better to be doubtful and then be pleasantly surprised when you figure out there was nothing to be worried about than the other way round.

Let’s dive into three reasons why you should be wary of employer reviews, even if you’re desperate for a job. Let’s get started!

Your Time is Valuable

Most young people make the mistake of assuming they have enough time to explore. Working for an employer who prevents your growth as a person is not worth your time.

For instance, if you’re spending your early years switching between different jobs – there’s no harm in that. You’ve made more connections and learned how to work in different environments than someone who’s worked in the same company.

But if you’re going to join a place only to realize that it was a huge mistake, that’s not really going to help you grow much as a person. Instead, it would have saved you more time to join a place where you’d learn something or build better contacts.

The bottom line is it’s better to do your research before you start thinking about joining a company.

One of the many ways in which you can do this is by talking to employees who work there. Also, reading online reviews left by employees in the past could save you a lot of time and complications in the future.

It’s Easy to Be Cheated

One of the best and worst things about online reviews is that you need to use them while deciding. However, you can’t completely trust them.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to stay away from 5-star reviews, which seem to have nothing but praise for the company and employer.

Of course, some companies may genuinely be amazing, but if you find only a couple of 5-star reviews among mostly mediocre (or even bad) ones, it’s good to be a little cautious.

Base your decisions on what people say. Are they openly criticizing or praising the employer for specific actions? Are the reviews vague without stating any actual points that support their thinking? If they’re vague, there’s a good chance it’s fake.

For this reason, it’s advisable to focus your attention on the 3-4 star reviews—these have more chances of being genuine, authentic, and unbiased.

You May Miss Out on Amazing Opportunities

On the other side of the coin, there’s also the chance that you might end up rejecting a job opportunity that would’ve suited you well, based on a few fake reviews you read online.

A way to avoid such situations in life is by remembering that everyone is flawed and has their own biases. Just because a couple of people hated the job (or the employer) doesn’t necessarily make it true.

That’s one of the reasons why you shouldn’t entirely depend on low star ratings when researching jobs because they’re likely to have been left by people who either hate the company for personal reasons or have other ulterior motives.

We hope you’re able to look beneath the surface of the sea of online reviews and find the best one for you. Good luck!

Do you think employer reviews are important?