Exit interview do’s and don’ts

01.22.2020

If you’re reading this, you have probably accepted a new job, and are in the process of trying to gracefully leave your current job. Congratulations on the new position, by the way! Your current boss, or maybe even your CEO (This Inc article cites a CEO who recommends every CEO does their company’s exit interviews) has invited you to do an exit interview. You could be nervous about this for any number of reasons. Popular anxiety inducing reasons surrounding exit interviews are the fact that you think you were too honest in your last exit interview and don’t want to repeat your mistake, you have never been asked to complete an exit interview, and you really, really dislike your boss and are weighing how or if you address that in this situation. Here is advice on what you should do, and, more importantly what you shouldn’t do in an exit interview.

 

DO: Express what you liked about working there

You’ll want to tell your exit interviewer that you were grateful for the opportunity to work there and contribute to the company’s goals. Give examples of what you enjoyed about your role, the environment, the people you worked with, and the company perks you might have received. If you truly felt like it was a hard decision for you to make to leave, make sure you express it.

 

DO NOT: Bad mouth your boss

It might seem like this is the perfect time to talk about your dysfunctional relationship with your boss, or blame your boss for your departure. No, no and no. Human Resources or your CEO might go get your boss’s side of the story. In fact, depending on the content of your story, the company might be legally obligated to follow up on it if sounds like your boss’s behavior has any legal implications. Your boss might not appreciate this line of questioning from their CEO or Human Resources, and may choose to talk badly about you given the opportunity in the future. If you’re going to say something negative about your boss, be specific and matter of fact and only disclose what you feel you need to. No matter how horrible your boss was, in an exit interview, your comments are not going to come across as neutral and helpful, they are more likely to be interpreted as a disgruntled employee trying to get “one last dig” in at their boss. 

 

DO: Get ready to answer this question

The question you should be ready to answer is, “What made you start looking for another job in the first place?” It’s a very common exit interview question, and if you’re unprepared, you might be inclined to bad mouth your boss or use some other garden variety excuse that might sound borderline unprofessional. A good answer to that question can be something like: “It’s an offer from a company I’ve always been interested in because my aunt/uncle/dad/neighbor has worked there for years, and I’ve always told myself that if I got an opportunity there, I’d seriously consider it.”  Here are seven other common exit interview questions you might want to prepare to answer.

 

DO NOT: Lie

If you go back to the section on not bad mouthing your boss, we mentioned the fact that you should not lie in an exit interview. Your comments are likely being written down by the person or people interviewing you, and your comments will go in your personnel file in Human Resources. However, that doesn’t mean you should get into every last detail about every person you had an issue with at the company. When you picture your responses as a written account of your time at the company, ask yourself, is this what I want someone to read about me? 

DO: Ask this one question

Usually it’s the employer that’s asking all the questions in an exit interview, but it’s okay if you have a question or two to ask. One question that your exit interviewer might not know the answer to, but you can certainly ask is if you performed well over the course of your employment, and would the company hire you back if they had the opportunity. You can take the opportunity to again emphasize what you enjoyed about the role and the ways you felt you were successful, and have it noted that you have an interest in returning for the right opportunity.

 

DO NOT: Skip your exit interview

You should not just skip your exit interview. Yes, it might feel like because it’s not technically required so that makes it optional, but it’s not. Declining an exit interview doesn’t look great, and is likely to put you in the “disgruntled employee” category. Just skipping it all together without any warning or communication makes you look unorganized, unprofessional, a little flakey, and you don’t want to be remembered as the employee who “spaced their exit interview.”  

 

No matter how long you’ve been working, the size company you’re leaving, or if you’re changing industries with your next job switch, remember, do what you can in order to keep all bridges in tact when you’re leaving. If you can keep that advice at the forefront of your mind when you’re in your exit interview with Human Resources or your CEO, using that short caveat as your guiding principle will not let you down in even the most uncomfortable situation. You might be thrilled to be leaving your current role, but that shouldn’t inspire you to be anything other than classy when you’re on your way out.