Glassdoor reviews are supposed to give you the real tea about companies. But between fake positive reviews written by HR and negative reviews from bitter ex-employees, it's hard to know what's actually true.

We've developed a translation guide. Here's how to read between the lines.

The Suspiciously Positive Reviews

"Great culture and amazing team!"

• If it's from a current employee: HR is making people write positive reviews. Notice how 15 people all used the exact phrase "great culture" in the same week? Yeah.
• If it's from a former employee who left less than 6 months ago: Actually might be genuine. They left on good terms before realizing how dysfunctional it was.
• Red flag to look for: When every positive review uses identical language. "Fast-paced environment with opportunity for growth" appearing 47 times is not organic.

"Lots of free snacks and perks!"

• Translation: The pay is below market but look, there's La Croix in the fridge! They're trying to distract you from the fact that you can't afford rent with snacks.
• What to watch for: If the review spends more time talking about the coffee bar than actual job responsibilities or career growth, that's telling.

"Everyone is so passionate!"

• Translation: Everyone works 60+ hours per week and has been gaslit into thinking that's normal. "Passionate" is code for "we don't pay overtime and expect you to care about spreadsheets like they're your children."

"Like a family!"

• Translation: Inappropriate boundaries, guilt-tripping, and emotional manipulation. Real families can't fire you for missing arbitrary performance metrics. This is not the heartwarming comparison they think it is.
• Also means: Lots of drama, everyone's in each other's business, and that one person who's been there 15 years has too much power.

The Negative Reviews (That Are Actually Helpful)

"Management has no idea what they're doing"

• If you see this in multiple reviews spanning different time periods: Probably true. One disgruntled person might be bitter, but 20 people over 3 years? That's a pattern.
• What it actually means: Priorities change weekly, no clear direction, lots of "let's circle back" meetings that never actually resolve anything.

"Work-life balance is nonexistent"

• Translation: You will get Slack messages at 10 PM. You will be expected to respond. Your PTO will be "unlimited" in theory and impossible to actually use in practice.
• How to verify: Check if reviews mention "fast-paced" as a positive in the same breath. That's code for "we're understaffed and nobody ever logs off."

"They only promote from outside / Internal candidates never get promoted"

• Both statements are red flags, just different ones:
  • "Only promote from outside" = No career path, your experience doesn't matter here
  • "Only internal promotions" = Insular culture that doesn't value fresh perspectives

"HR is useless"

• Almost always true everywhere, but when it shows up repeatedly: It means HR actively protects the company over employees in egregious ways. Not just normal corporate HR uselessness—weaponized incompetence.

The Passive-Aggressive "Constructive Feedback" Reviews

"Great place if you like [terrible thing]"

• Example: "Great place if you don't mind working weekends!"
• Translation: This person is SO ANGRY but trying to stay professional. They're warning you while maintaining plausible deniability. Heed the warning.

"Pros: Pay is okay. Cons: [17 paragraphs of detailed grievances]"

• Translation: They had THINGS TO SAY and have been holding this in for months. The unbalanced ratio of pros to cons tells you everything.
• Bonus translation: When the pros are generic ("nice office space") and the cons are specific ("boss threw a stapler during a meeting"), believe the specifics.

The Review Red Flags

All 5-star reviews with no critical feedback: Fake reviews or coerced reviews. Real humans have complaints. Even great companies have areas for improvement. Perfect scores across the board? Suspicious.

All 1-star reviews with personal attacks: Might be one very angry person using multiple accounts, or a competitor sabotaging. Look for specific, verifiable complaints vs. "everyone here is terrible."

Sudden spike in positive reviews after negative publicity: Damage control. Company had a scandal, now there's mysteriously 50 glowing reviews in 2 weeks. Sure, Jan.

CEO approval rating wildly disconnected from overall rating: Company has 2.8 stars, but CEO has 97% approval? Either the CEO is writing their own reviews or there's some serious bootlicking happening.

How to Actually Use Glassdoor

1. Read the 3-star reviews. These are often the most honest. People who give 3 stars see both good and bad and are willing to be balanced.

2. Look for patterns over time. One review about a toxic manager might be an isolated incident. Twenty reviews over 3 years? Pattern.

3. Check review dates against company events. Sudden negativity after layoffs or leadership changes is informative.

4. Pay attention to how the company responds to reviews. Defensive, corporate non-answers? Red flag. Specific, thoughtful responses acknowledging real issues? Green flag.

5. Cross-reference with other sources. Check Reddit, Blind, LinkedIn. If the Glassdoor reviews say one thing but everywhere else says something different, dig deeper.

The Bottom Line

Glassdoor reviews are useful but not gospel. Every company has some negative reviews from bitter ex-employees. Every company has some suspiciously positive reviews from people trying too hard.

Your job is to spot the patterns and read between the corporate-speak lines.

And remember: if a company's response to negative reviews is "this person is lying and we're perfect," that tells you more about the company culture than the review itself.

Happy sleuthing!