How do you sift through noise when evaluating a company?

First off, ignore Blind. Blind is overwhelmingly toxic and negative: It's a place people go to complain and vent. According to Blind, every company is the worst company ever. In general, people are more willing to go to the effort of publicly sharing feedback on the internet when they have something negative to say.

Glassdoor is a bit trickier as even though it leans negative from the inherent aforementioned nature of the internet, it's not as purely negative as Blind. Personally, I would be super wary joining a company with a Glassdoor average of 3.5 stars or less.

I don't know how to get a more "well-rounded" view of a company, and I'm wondering if there are any tips on how to get a more unbiased take?

You really just have to talk to people, and this comes from building a strong network. The deeper the relationship you have with someone, the more likely they are to be truly honest with you. There's a judgment call for you as well as you need to figure out which of your friends have higher emotional intelligence and are able to see past the Kool-aid.

When it comes to people giving you a truly unbiased, fair take, the chances of this go up with the following:

• Tenure at the company - Systemic problems usually take a while to realize. I wouldn't trust the opinion of someone who's been at the company for just 6 months or less. They are likely to be still on the Kool-aid at that point.
• Seniority - Junior engineers in particular are often just happy to have a job. It generally takes them far longer to figure out that they're actually drinking the Kool-aid. Senior engineers are more grizzled with real-world experience. They have the pragmatism and holistic viewpoint to see the true culture of a company faster.

People are more likely to write a review when they have something negative to say, esp. when it comes to employee reviews. Writing negative comments helps them get things off their chest, which makes them feel better, and that's pretty much the only thing they can go short of pursuing their case with HR, etc. So, there should be no surprise that when there's a large number of reviews, they lean negative.

When faced with a wall of negative reviews about a potential employer, I like to glean the general trend and make a note of the situations that are more likely play out negatively than others. But I don't take each negative review as a possibility that can play out for me—if I did that, then I'm afraid most companies would be eliminated as all of them have at least some negative reviews.

Your experience at any given company is highly dependent on your little corner there—your manager, your teammates, the nature of projects, their significance to the company, how the work plays to your strengths, and finally, your leadership (skip-level and above, if you're Senior+). I like to say that no one can predict your experience until you get there and work for 3-6 months at least.

Tying all of this together, I'd:

1. Glean the general trend from the negative reviews to see if there are any dealbreakers for you.
2. Try to talk to your immediate manager and team members to glean what's likely to play out for you. If those conversations instill confidence in you, I'd say go for it. But I'd be wary if what you read in the reviews surfaces in these conversations.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask follow up questions.

One high-level piece of advice I have is to lower the stakes of this decision. This job is just a starting point for your career: it will not define your career unless you let it.

You can (and will!) quit the company at some point when you decide to move on. So don't feel like you're trapped in this company.

How big is the company you're joining. In a large enough company (e.g. FAANG), you'll find wildly different levels of skill, mentorship, feedback, etc. I'd optimize for finding a good team with people you enjoy working with while also having senior people to learn from.

It's completely normal to feel some doubt, especially when feedback from different sources is so mixed. Sites like Blind and Glassdoor often attract extreme opinions, and negative experiences can be overrepresented. Instead of taking it all at face value, look for consistent themes. do specific issues pop up repeatedly, or is it more general negativity?

Since your friends at the company enjoy it and have similar work styles, that’s a strong positive indicator. If possible, you might try reaching out to others in different roles or teams to get more balanced insights. LinkedIn can help you connect with current employees or alumni with similar backgrounds.

Think about your own deal-breakers—work-life balance, culture, growth opportunities—and weigh them against what you’ve heard. Since you feel drawn to this company and can picture yourself being happy there, those personal vibes are worth paying attention to. Compatibility with your team and manager often matters more than generalized feedback, so trusting your instincts here could be the best guide.

I have a few friends in the company (albeit not close) who say they really like the company

If you can, I would try to get a well-rounded discussion going with each of them by having a coffee chat or lunch with them. After 30 minutes-1 hour, all of the generic feedback starts to taper off, and the real discussion starts. You can start to tease out the strengths and weaknesses of a company by very specific questions to them.

I do agree with @Alex that you want to talk to people that have been at the company for 2+ years because it's easy to get a skewed POV from someone who's only been at the company for less than 6 months.