Writing a fair and useful review

What you write about a company may be the most honest thing a candidate gets to see. The job ad is the company describing itself; your review is what it looks like from inside. That is why short and real beats long and general.

Sharing a negative experience is fine. What matters is that you tell it respectfully, honestly and from your own experience.

Do this

• Write about your own experience. What you lived through, not what you heard.
• Be honest. Positive or negative — both are valuable, both get published.
• Be specific. Instead of "it was bad", say what happened: when, how often, how.
• Give the context. Which period, what kind of team — so a reader can compare it with their own situation.

Avoid this

• Don't target individuals. No names, initials or descriptions that give someone away. You can name the role ("the manager I reported to"), not the person.
• No insults, profanity or threats. These don't get a review published; they get it sent back.
• No personal information. Yours or anyone else's — phone numbers, e-mail, addresses, ID numbers.
• No serious accusations you can't back up. Tell what happened to you; "the company does X" claims don't belong here.
• No confidential company information. Client names, contract values, internal messages.
• No ads, spam or manipulation. No links, job postings, or praise and criticism written to order.

Same experience, two ways to write it

Each pair below says the same thing. The first gets sent back or tells nobody anything; the second actually gives the reader something.

Not this: "Management is terrible, nobody knows anything."
This: "For two years the team's goals changed mid-quarter; we often learned what we'd be working on at the last minute."

Not this: "Stay away from sales manager A. K., he shouts at everyone."
This: "Communication with the manager I reported to was hard; feedback mostly came in meetings, in front of the team."

Not this: "They say the pay is good but it's a lie, the company is going under anyway."
This: "Pay was slightly below market, but raises came every year without fail; there was a meal and commute allowance."

Not this: "Great company, I recommend it to everyone!!!"
This: "I was assigned a mentor in the first three months and weekly one-on-ones actually happened. Work really did end at 6pm."

---

A moderator reads every review before it goes live; the measure is the rules above, not whether the company would like it. If yours is sent back you'll see why under My reviews, and you can fix and resubmit it. Curious how what you write will be read? See How to read employee reviews.