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Let's assume you are going to have the final interview with a company. And through your professional networks, you know someone who worked there before, but at a different department from which you are interviewing for. And they tell you from their experience that it is not a great place to work, always stress and burnout workplace, more like a churn. Besides, you also read employees' reviews about the company on their site, and it is a mixed reputation. Some say it's good, some say it's bad (comparing to IMDB, the company's rate is 6/10)

Now, is it wise or appropriate to ask the interviewers about these during the final interview, to make sure that everything is alright. Or what is the best approach to bring it up to interviewers?

Ragnarsson
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  • @Dukeling I like this duplicate because the top answer gives the advice of asking question based on the reviews. Nice find. – SaggingRufus Jan 12 '18 at 11:53
  • Don't ask, but be very observant when you're shown around. – pmf Jan 12 '18 at 12:25
  • Let me put it this way. If someone asked you, "What kind of reputation do you have?" or "I've been seeing some things on the Internet about your reputation, would you like to respond?" what would you say? Would you say, "Yeah, I've screwed over so many employers it's hard to find work" or would you say "My reputation is great if you talk to people who actually work with me. I had a client who didn't want to pay me for work I did so they started spreading lies."? My point is that asking someone will always give you "it's not true" response and possibly cast you in a bad light. – Chris E Jan 12 '18 at 14:36

5 Answers5

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Do not ask them about their reputation.

There is nothing good that will come of it. If you actually want the job, this will just give the interviewers the impression that you may not want to work there. Also, it is their job to sell the company and show how working there is in your best interest (if they want to hire you). So asking them about it will either lower your position as a potentially candidate, or you will just get told its untrue and this place is a great place to work.

Take the information you have before you and decide if you still want to work there (knowing what you do now). If you do want to work there, forget what you heard and go into it like every other interview. If you don't want to work there anymore, then just pull out and keep looking.

SaggingRufus
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There's nothing to be gained by raising this in an interview with them. Any answer you get from them will be about as far from objective as you can get - if they tell you the company is great you won't have any way of knowing if they are telling you the truth, even if they hate the company and spend every waking moment fantasizing about burning the place to the ground the fact remains that they are still working there and therefore have nothing to gain by bad mouthing the company to a virtual stranger and quite a lot to lose.

If they tell you the company is bad to work for then that tells you more about them then it does about the company - someone unprofessional enough to say that sort of thing as an interviewer probably doesn't have good professional judgement and their opinion should be taken with a whole sackful of salt anyway.

So either way you still don't have any information you can really act upon and you risk coming across as a negative person to them by asking in the first place so I would highly recommend against doing this.

motosubatsu
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Is it wise or appropriate to ask the interviewers about these during the final interview, to make sure that everything is alright. Or what is the best approach to bring it up to interviewers?

It may not be wise to confront an interviewer, but I think it is wise to use the interview to get as much certainty as you can about whether this is the right place for you.

1. Ask the interviewer to describe their working environment (open question rather than accusation). If there are major issues then they may use the opportunity to set expectations accordingly. Either way, you will get additional info that you can try to interpret, and if they are the hiring manager also be setting expectations with them in case you do take the job.

2. Approach your network contact and see if you can get a more nuanced picture. Their experiences may be more about peers, direct managers, particular offices etc. This input has to be interpreted as well (disgruntled ex-employees aren't necessarily providing a neutral view either).

Ultimately you will need to make up your own mind and are not likely to have conclusive "evidence" so it will be a judgement call. The best you can do is to get as much information as possible, and understand the context so that you can interpret in the best way. The interview should be one of these sources.

JonathanS
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Now, is it wise or appropriate to ask the interviewers about these during the final interview, to make sure that everything is alright. Or what is the best approach to bring it up to interviewers?

Definitely

Yes, you absolutely want to inquire about their reputation. Your potentially going to go to work for them which is a huge commitment. How you ask for the information you need to make an informed decision is the key.

You need to ask in such a manner that you get the information you need, without being too direct or perceived as rude. For example, you could ask something along the lines of this:

  • I noticed your reviews on glass door are all negative. How would you respond to that? ( Not I have heard this place is a sweat shop, is that true? )

Remember, during an interview, its just as much about you getting information you need to make a decision as it is about the company. Just don't be rude about it.

Neo
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No, don't go straight to the point asking about their reputation.

If you want to have some information on the work environment, you can for example ask what is the turnover rate for the office you are joining, or ask the interviewers what they like and what they would improve in their job.

Then try to read among the lines of their answers.

L.Dutch
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