Community Guidelines
Last updated: July 1, 2026
The Hiring Index exists to hold employers accountable through honest, firsthand reporting. These guidelines protect the integrity of the Platform for job seekers, employees, and companies alike. Reports that violate these guidelines may be removed without notice.
Write from your own experience
Only submit reports about hiring processes or separation events you personally experienced. Do not submit reports on behalf of others, based on secondhand accounts, or about companies you have not directly interacted with as a job applicant or employee.
Be specific and factual
Strong reports describe what happened, when it happened, and what made it notable — positive or negative. "The recruiter never responded after three follow-ups over six weeks" is useful. "This company is terrible" is not. Specific, factual accounts are more credible, more legally defensible, and more useful to other job seekers.
Distinguish opinion from fact
You may share your opinion about a company's hiring process. You may not present opinions as objective facts. Saying "I felt misled about the role's scope" is an opinion. Saying "This company deliberately deceives candidates" as a statement of fact may expose you to legal risk. Frame your experience as your experience.
Do not identify private individuals by name
Do not include the name of any individual — recruiter, hiring manager, or employee — in your report. Our platform grades companies and hiring processes. Individual employees are not identified in our current scoring system. Reports naming individual people are not accepted. You may reference a person's title or role (e.g., "the recruiter," "the hiring manager," "a VP on the panel"). Public executives of public companies may be referenced by name only when their actions are directly relevant to your report and documented publicly.
No fabricated or coordinated reports
Submitting false reports, submitting multiple reports about the same experience, or coordinating with others to flood a company's profile is a serious violation. We use technical and editorial controls to detect coordinated inauthentic activity. Violations may result in permanent removal from the Platform and referral to legal counsel.
No competitor manipulation
Do not submit negative reports about a company you compete with for business purposes. Do not submit positive reports about your own employer. The Platform exists to serve job seekers, not as a competitive intelligence or reputation management tool for businesses.
Positive reports are welcome
If a hiring process was transparent and respectful, or a company handled a layoff with dignity — say so. Positive reports are equally valuable and help job seekers identify great places to apply. The Hiring Index recognizes companies that do this well through our Awards program.
No personal attacks or harassment
Reports that target individuals with personal attacks, profanity, threats, or content designed to harass rather than inform will be removed. Criticism of a company's process is appropriate. Personal attacks on individuals are not.
Accounts are pseudonymous — real names discouraged
Community participation (forum posts and replies) requires a free account. Reports do not currently require an account. When you create an account, you choose a pseudonymous display name — a handle — not your real name. We actively discourage the use of your real name or any identifying information as your display name. Your display name appears only on forum posts you make; it is not associated with any report you have submitted. The two are kept strictly separate by design.
Account suspension for repeated violations
Repeated violation of these guidelines — including submitting content that targets individuals by name, posting false information, or engaging in coordinated inauthentic activity — may result in account suspension. Suspension blocks posting and forum participation but does not affect any reports you have previously submitted. If you believe your account was suspended in error, contact us at guidelines@therespectindex.com with your display name and the relevant context.
Reporting violations
If you see a report that you believe violates these guidelines, use the flag feature on the report or contact us at guidelines@therespectindex.com. We review flagged content and act on clear violations. We do not remove reports simply because a company finds them unflattering.