I have an interview at a firm that is a lot closer to home and shortens my daily commute by a lot.

However, I read reviews of the firm on Glassdoor and multiple people have mentioned the firm’s toxic environment.

My question is: is it considered rude or in bad taste to ask about the reviews and how the firm would respond to those criticisms?

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Posting as :
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Well you probably won't get the job if you do.

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They would lie.

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I make it a point to leave reviews of all firms I have been with. Negative reviews on there are what helped me. Ignoring reviews is how you end up with bad jobs and looking for a new job.

Asking them will only make them act out against their current employees or those they want to get rid of. Why do firms think it’s ok to layoff with zero notice and expect you to give them two weeks for instance?

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I wouldn’t bring it up. The managing partner at my firm hates Glassdoor. If someone brought it up, I can’t imagine a scenario where they’d be offered the job.

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I’d wait for an offer then ask if there is an associate you could speak to and try to talk to them about any concerns about the culture

likesmartuplifting

If you ask and they explain it well and then offer you a job then you'll know it's not toxic or not toxic anymore.

Take it with a pinch of salt. Like any review aggregator, people don’t leave reviews when something is mediocre or good enough. They usually only leave reviews when something is slightly or graciously bad or when something is exceptionally good. That skews reviews directionally towards outliers who could have a bad experience due to a multitude of factors. The number of reviews / reviewers is usually a small percentage of total employees they’ve had.

Very few negative reviews are left as well because of the format of the review. Does not apply like an Amazon review. Think about the elements if the review. Underreporting of negatives is also the norm.

I wouldn’t bring it up—as others mentioned, they’ll either lie or count you out from the get go, as they say. What I’d do is go on LinkedIn and see if anyone who worked there would talk to you. Someone reached out to me this way and I was happy to talk to him about a firm I used to work at back when I was still a big law lawyer.

Bad reviews are from people who have had a bad experience. It *may* not be the whole story.
Good reviews go the same way. An attorney friend was forced to put a good review at his firm.
Go on LinkedIn, see other people your job level and ask.

Don’t ask the interviewer. You want to try to talk to people who currently or recently worked there—via LinkedIn, the website, etc.

Did they use the word “toxic”? Negative reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt; reviews saying “toxic” should be taken with a truckload of it…

I completely agree with the LinkedIn advice. You could also ask to shadow who you would be reporting to or the co-workers for 3 days to see if it will be a good fit for both of you. Remember, there are those people who really could not do the job that complain untruthfully. Wishing you the best.

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