Company has bad Glassdoor - How to think about it?

It's reasonable to consider a company's Glassdoor rating when evaluating a job offer, especially if work-life balance and company culture are important factors for you. Glassdoor ratings can give you an idea of what the company culture is like and what employees think about their experience working there.

However, keep in mind that Glassdoor ratings are not the only factor to consider when evaluating a job offer. Ratings can be subjective and may not always reflect the entire picture. It's important to do additional research on the company and division you would be working in, such as reading employee reviews, speaking with current or former employees, and researching the company's values and mission.

It doesn't hurt to take the interview and get a feel for the over all culture and make a call from there.

For me, I setup some criteria/rules ahead of time to make decision making process easier. Obviously, there's some discernment needed for one-off situations but generally here's how I look at initial recruiter messages.

• Glassdoor 4+ rating
• Total comp
• Remote flexibility (hard requirement)
• Fintech company
• IPO'd/10+ years company

I'm at stage of my life where I'm more concerned about stability/consistency. When I'm looking to change jobs, If a company has at least four out of the five, then I usually go forward. If less, then I generally say no.

With glassdoor, it should be noted that most people report/review on glassdoor because they've had a negative experience with the company. At my current company there was < 4 glassdoor company, but I'm loving my experience so far. With bigger companies (1000+ people), I'd take the comment/review section with grain of salt. I think a more relevant feedback would be asking your potential teammates/manager what the work environment is like.