7 Proven Ways to Improve your Job Search Using Employer Reviews

More than 8 out of 10 employees and job seekers research company ratings and reviews to decide where they apply for jobs. But is the star rating giving you the best information for your decision?

Not typically.

A company with a great star rating may have a pocket of unhealthy culture at your local location. A company with just an average rating might excel at supporting veterans. A company with a below star rating might be experiencing a culture make-over with a newly appointed leader.

So how do you use employer ratings and reviews to fine tune your search and not get fooled by the stars?

Although employee reviews don’t always show the entire picture of a company’s culture, they generally show more than enough to help you make an informed decision about working there. Applying for a new job is a big decision. Where you work dramatically impacts your life. It is worth taking some time to do your homework- for your own good.

Now, get started with these 7 expert tips from your friends at Mobrium.

How to better use employer reviews in your job search

1. Check if the employer has claimed their profiles: Go to Glassdoor, Indeed, Comparably, and InHerSight. Search for the employer by name. If you find claimed employer profiles, that’s a good sign! It indicates the employer is aware that employees share feedback online and they have access to monitor it. If you don’t find profiles, or find unclaimed profiles, that could be a signal that the company does not care to listen to employee feedback shared online.
   
   Here’s an example of what to look for. This profile on Glassdoor is claimed:
   
   This profile on Glassdoor is NOT claimed:
   
2. Check for reputation disparity: What is reputation disparity? When you have glowing ratings on one platform and below-average ratings on another platform. After looking up the potential employer’s profiles on all four platforms, compare them side by side. Do they have a 4.7-star rating on Comparably and a 2.9-star rating on Indeed? Why? Isn’t it the same company? This situation can happen when a company decides to proactively ask for employee feedback on just one platform and ignore another. Finding a more balanced set of ratings across all platforms is a sign that the employer recognizes their team members like to share on various platforms and they are proactively engaged across all of them. And that’s a good signal for them listening to your feedback after you join the team.
3. Measure employee review participation: When more employees participate by sharing employer reviews, it means they are generally more reliable. If only a small fraction of employees have shared, what you find on an employer’s profile may be less reflective of the average employee experience.
   
   To quickly evaluate the employee participation percentage of a company, go to the company’s LinkedIn profile and get the total employee count. Calculate participation like this:
   
   [total # of reviews] / [total # of employees] = all-time % participation
   
   Realize that employees can share one new review per year, so some companies will have more than 100%. That’s a good sign of review trustworthiness. Less than 50% participation may indicate reviews are not reflective of most employees. In some cases with extremely low participation, we’ve discovered evidence of employers actively discouraging employees to share feedback online. What could they be hiding?? Not good.
   
   And here’s where to find employee count on LinkedIn. Search a company profile, then click employee count in the headline.
   
4. See if the employer replies to reviews: Search a company on Glassdoor, Indeed, or another employer review platform. Click on the reviews and see if the employer has responded to reviews, especially the negative ones. If they have, judge their response. A caring and detailed response is a strong indicator that they put their people first, even when things go wrong. This can give you greater confidence to apply.
   
5. Sort and read reviews by “Most Recent”: Things change over time. Sometimes an employer with a low star rating may have lots of recent positive reviews- signaling things are changing for the better. Sometimes an employer with a great star rating will have lots of recent negative reviews- signalling things are in decline. It’s good to get a view of how things are more recently before sending in that resume.
   
6. Sort and read reviews by “Location”: The experience at some large organizations may vary greatly by location. The reviews for your location of interest could be above or below the company average star rating. Where possible, such as on Glassdoor, filter reviews by your location. This will even display a location-specific star-rating and review count to help you out.
   
   Go down to the reviews and sort by location:
   
   Compare this location-specific filter: (Redlands, CA)
   
   To the company-wide ratings:
   
7. Debunk untrustworthy positive reviews: Although not illegal when done correctly, the practice of companies asking employees for reviews in mass generates less trust-worthy reviews. To see if the company has attempted mass review requests, sort the reviews by “most recent”. Next, scroll through a few pages looking at the dates. Are they all suspiciously close together? Furthermore, are most of them very short and non-specific?
   
   Granted, a large company like Walmart with hundreds of thousands of employees could receive dozens of reviews every day without suspicion. However, a smaller company of 500 getting several pages of all glowing positive reviews is cause to second guess the reviews.
   
   BONUS TIP- Just because we think you’re awesome, here is a bonus tip for you:
8. Ask the company about their employer reviews: In the interviewing process, share observations of what you found when researching the company’s employer ratings and reviews. One specific question to share could be: “What is the company’s philosophy with employee feedback shared online?” How they respond may be very telling of their attitudes towards any future feedback you may share after joining the team.

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Now that you’ve learned 8 ways to leverage employer reviews for your job search, it’s time to earn a new shiny professional certification to help you get that dream job.

Mobrium Academy is for HR and marketing professionals looking to master the skills of employer reputation management. As a SHRM recertification provider, Mobrium will also award you professional development credits for successful course completion.

And if you found a company you want to work at that has low ratings and a poor employer reputation, this course will arm you with the skills to improve things the right way, helping you show instant added value.

Enroll in Mobrium Academy.

Interested to see how stronger employer ratings and reviews can benefit your company? Connect with a Mobrium expert.