Should I make a life choice based on Glass Door information?

[DinoDinner]

I've been offered a position in a charity and the reviews on Glass Door are SHOCKING!!

I always take reviews with a pinch of salt, whether they're holiday or restaurant reviews.

But you can normally get a common theme from reviews and usually I find them informative.

But what about GlassDoor? Do people use it to see if they could work there? The reviews are really putting me off working there and don't know whether to accept the position!!

Am I being unreasonable to take these reviews into account when making my decision?

I would take it seriously. If you decline to take the opportunity any further I would tell HR exactly why. The last place I worked everyone knew the senior leader was the primary problem but nothing was ever done. If it began to effect recruitment (there was always a high turnover and found it easy to re-recruit) maybe it would have been?

I've seen a lot of sad stories on here from people who have moved to charity roles. Bad management, bad training, excessive pressure and responsibility. One of the recent ones that stuck out was a disabled person who took a job at a charity for disabled people and was refused reasonable adjustments. She was made to feel like an inconvenience and failure despite being clear about her disability (mainly around travelling into the office several hours away).

I've volunteered for several charities & also managed property housing some. I'd be inclined to believe the reviews.

I'd always take it seriously.

Yes people post to moan, but benchmark it against somewhere you have worked previously so you can calibrate.

Erm I don’t know actually OP, the company I used to work at (and IT company known by 3 letters) had f’ing hideous Glassdoor reviews and after having worked there, I can categorically say that it was 100% factual. The company knew it too, so used to have their marketing department created endless ridiculous 5 start reviews to balance out the awful score.

Where I work now is more balanced and I can see, both sides as it’s a huge company. So personally I’d pay mind to glass door reviews

I suspect it's the charity I work for. Without saying too much, it's been a really difficult time for staff the past 2 years.

It very much depends on the team. My team is great - excellent manager, most colleagues have been here 6+ years. Other teams have been very unstable.

1 or 2 negative I wouldn't worry about.

more than that and I would do more research i.e was there a restructuring that left many people in upheaval (rightly or wrongly)

If it’s RBL, steer incredibly clear. Poor management, those that are left being leant on to do more with absolutely no resource. This “flower appeal” has financially been a disaster so more challenge to come.

As someone in recruitment who knows how Glassdoor works, I wouldn't judge on the reviews alone. They're very often manipulated.

Judge on your interviews, the policies, the culture, the people you've met etc

Depends how shocking really - you can normally spot aggrieved reviews tbh.

I just checked the company I work for which has fantastic benefits including bonuses and pensions, really good (independently surveyed) culture and employee satisfaction and it’s high three’s on Glassdoor.

That said, I think there are ones with low scores where the reviews sound fairly balanced, I suspect the devil is in the detail.

Also agree a lot of third sector / charity employment is a poor offering compared to commercial companies although some excel.

A few years ago, I left a job I had been in for 10 years for what seemed like a great opportunity. I read the reviews on Glassdoor before accepting and they were generally awful except the odd few that were suspiciously good. I wanted to decline the offer but friends and family talked me round because it seemed like a great career move. From the minute I started, it was horrendous, every bad review was completely accurate. I'm pretty resilient and I ended up crying in the loo on day one then walking out altogether after a couple of months. My advice would be to trust the reviews if there are quite a few.

Before going self employed I worked for a company in the UK that had awful reviews on Glass Door - I really wished I'd listened to them!

dreamers I'm debating a temp job, was planning to SAH for early years childcare but feeling the pinch.

After reading your post, I'm wondering if it's worth sending them a CV on spec....that's how I ended up with the charity job I mentioned upthread.

I've found glassdoor pretty accurate so I would be very careful with those kinds of reviews.

The worst place of my last 20 years has shit reviews. They are, if anything, kind. They are interspersed with utterly bogus positives posted by trusties after a run of bad ones.

@TooBigForMyBoots

I'd believe them. The charity sector can be a complete nightmare.

Why is this? I know nothing whatsoever about the sector.

I find it pretty accurate. I agree people are more likely to review things if they want to complain so I think bear that in mind but if it’s overwhelming I couldn’t ignore it. I love my employer and I find them supportive and they have innovative. They have 3.7/5.

It's a combination of factors @iwanttobeonleave.

Little to nonexistent regulation.
Reluctance to complain or whistleblow for fear of the repercussions on colleagues/clients/the charity.
It attracts kind, intelligent, optimistic, hard working staff. It also attracts more than it's fair share of "wounded helpers".
Good deeds can be used to mask bullying, sexual harassment, unethical behaviour and dodgy accounting. It can attract some very unsavoury characters indeed. Camila Batmanghelidjh is an extreme example, but there are plenty of others like her in the charity sector.

Wow! Thanks for all the opinions. Seems pretty conclusive.

A PP poster mentioned the actual charity, and made some interesting points. I think I will turn down the position

It's not a better wage, it was a more flexible position than the one I have now.

I wonder if organisations realise how much sway Glass Door has. Particularly, it seems in charities!

Interesting discussion.

Glassdoor is pretty accurate, I have used it many times. I am also in the third sector and moving to a large national soon- read Glassdoor right away! I think I know the charity you are referring to, I haven't heard anything from peers but a few of my friends just joined actually.

@DinoDinner management are definitely aware of Glass Door and they imply that former employees posting on there just have axes to grind, nothing to worry aboit. Hmmm. We'll have to see how things go in the new year.