[Rick Lee]

I got in trouble asking this once, though I probably could have phrased the question better. I was probably in my fourth interview in the process, the place had horrible Glassdoor reviews, and I asked the boss about that. Mistake.

In my worst previous job, which had about a 90% turnover per year, a woman who had an interview scheduled, messaged me through LinkedIn and asked if she could call me to ask about the real lowdown. After checking her out and being convinced she was not a plant (not uncommon at that company), I agreed to the call. I didn't tell her how bad it was and pretty much just answered questions she asked. But that was enough to scare her off and she canceled the interview.

Check for mutual connections on LinkedIn and see if you can have an honest conversation with someone really in the know.