Here’s What You Should Say (and Not Say) during an Exit Interview

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A guide to acing an exit interview, complete with tips on what to say
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It’s your last day on the job, and your boss calls you to their office for one last interview. What should you say? And what should you avoid saying? Don’t stress. An exit interview can be an opportunity to leave a positive impression on your current employer, and we're here to help. We’ve put together a list of things to talk about during an exit interview. Keep reading to learn what questions you might be asked, how to respond, and how to phrase your feedback so that it’ll be well-received.

Things You Should Know

  • Explain why you’re leaving and what you liked about your job. Keep your comments positive and focused on your personal growth.
  • Offer 1-2 bits of specific, constructive feedback on how your current employer can improve. Provide suggestions on how they could implement any changes.
  • Provide 1-2 bits of feedback on the job training, management, company culture, and opportunities for advancement. Keep your comments respectful and specific.
  • Remember that an exit interview is an opportunity to leave a positive impression. Always be respectful, professional, and sincere.
1

“Why are you leaving?”

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  1. If you’re looking for professional growth, describe what opportunities you’re looking for. If you’re leaving for another job, explain what your future role provides that your current job doesn’t. Keep your comments positive and focused on your personal growth. [1]
    • For example, instead of saying, “I’m not happy with my current pay,” you could say, “I’m pursuing a similar role with a higher salary and a strong family leave policy.”
    • Avoid speaking poorly about your current company, colleagues, or managers. Remember that an exit interview is an opportunity to leave a positive impression.
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2

“Do you have any feedback for management?”

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  1. Were your managers approachable? Did they consider your needs when making decisions affecting you and your colleagues? Give 2-3 examples of what they did well, then provide 1-2 specific areas for improvement. [2]
    • For a positive example, you could say “John and Maria were always available to answer my questions. They were very knowledgeable and always gave thoughtful feedback on my work.”
    • For suggesting ways to improve, you could say “Sometimes, Gregory would forget to reply to important emails. This made it hard to meet certain deadlines since I had to wait for his feedback.”
    • Avoid being harsh or venting too much in your feedback. Keep your comments upbeat and solution-oriented to ensure they’ll be well-received.
3

“What did you like most about your job?”

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  1. Talk about colleagues you loved working with, managers you approved of, or tasks that you found engaging. If the perks or benefits were good, emphasize these as well. You can also mention your professional growth during your time with the company. [3]
    • For instance, you could say “I loved being a part of the HR team. Maggie and Jose were wonderful colleagues. I also appreciated the flexible remote work policy which allowed me to be at home with my newborn.”
    • Positivity is the goal, but at the same time, avoid exaggerating. This way, you'll appear sincere while offering honest feedback the company can use.
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4

“What did you not like?”

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  1. If your workload was too high, suggest dividing the work among more people or having an extra person join the team. If the medical benefits weren’t very good, suggest offering different insurance plans with better coverage or lower monthly premiums. Try your best to provide thoughtful suggestions. This leaves a positive impression and could help your employer address the issues you’ve raised. [4]
    • “While I loved the work I did, I didn’t always have a clear sense of management’s expectations, especially when it came to deadlines. It would have been helpful if deadlines were communicated during our weekly meetings.”
    • Avoid vague comments like “the insurance wasn’t good” or “the workload wasn’t what I expected.” While these are valid, without context they may read as impolite.
5

“Did your job or responsibilities change since you joined?”

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  1. List any responsibilities or skills that have become necessary for the job, especially if they weren’t required when you first started. If your team or management changed, explain how this affected your work. [5]
    • “Computer skills and time management are more important than ever. I had to become more self-directed since I could no longer meet with my managers face-to-face.”
    • If your team or department was downsized, you could explain how communication between team members and supervisors was affected. “We had to redistribute the workload and take on tasks that used to be handled by our former colleagues.”
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6

“Do you have any feedback on your training?”

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  1. List important skills or knowledge that the training helped you obtain. If you feel your training wasn’t comprehensive, suggest extra training in areas where you or your colleagues struggled. [6]
    • For instance, you could explain, “The H.R. training was extremely helpful. However, the training we did for our software wasn’t as well-organized.”
    • Remember that training isn’t just for new hires. You can suggest ongoing training for current employees if you feel it would have been beneficial to you.
7

“Were there paths for growth within the company?”

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  1. Explain the path you took to obtain your current role, especially if you started in a lower position. You can also let them know if you struggled to obtain promotions or raises, or if the requirements for obtaining promotions weren’t clear. [7]
    • For example, “I’m grateful to have been promoted to Assistant Manager, especially since I started as a stock person only two years ago. Unfortunately, I’m interested in moving to a corporate position and I knew I couldn’t transition to such a role within our company.”
    • If your company is small and doesn’t have many higher positions to aspire to, you can explain this by saying, “I loved the work I did here, and I want to continue doing this work in a larger organization with more opportunities for advancement.”
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8

“What would have made your job better or easier?”

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  1. Suggest changes to your benefits, work hours, management structure, or the work itself. You could also suggest extra training, better technology, a larger budget, or better bonuses and incentives. Give 1-2 examples, explaining exactly how these changes could have positively affected your work. [8]
    • For instance, “Our team members are great, but our technology is a bit outdated. If we had newer computers, we could have gotten many tasks done much faster.”
9

“Do you have any feedback on the company as a whole?”

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  1. Explain whether its values align with yours, or what you think the company can do to improve its standing among its competitors. Emphasize ways in which your work environment was supportive, productive, or problematic. Keep your feedback constructive and supportive, and offer suggestions for how to implement necessary changes. [9]
    • You could explain, “I’m proud to have worked for an organization that treats its customers so well. However, it would be helpful if employees knew whether to expect salary increases for cost of living, especially since transparency is one of our core values.”
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10

“What could have made you stay?”

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  1. Salary increases, bonuses, better benefits, consistent work hours, and a lighter workload are common examples. You can also cite changes that caused you to leave the company, and explain that you would’ve stayed if not for those changes. [10]
    • For example, you might say “At this point in my career, I’d like to make a higher salary. If my salary had increased or had I been promoted, I would’ve happily stayed.”
    • You could add extra details like “As you know, my department has been downsized and we’ve lost several team members. I understand the need for these changes, but nonetheless, they were a major factor in my decision to step down.”
11

“What kind of candidate should replace you?”

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  1. If your job involves customer service, you could suggest hiring someone with a pleasant attitude and several years of experience working in retail or hospitality. For a more technical job, you might stress the need for someone fluent in a certain programming language, or who can explain complex computer processes in simple terms. [11]
    • You could make a suggestion like, “Ideally, the person who replaces me would be very familiar with the software we use. They should also be extremely detail-oriented since a lot of my work involves fixing software bugs before they become a problem.”
    • When describing a great candidate, emphasize how that person could take on tasks that you’re leaving behind. You could mention current projects and explain which skills are needed to complete them.
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    What is the best way to answer exit interview questions?
    Katherine Kirkinis, Ed.M., MA
    Career Coach & Psychotherapist
    Katherine Kirkinis is a Career Coach and Psychotherapist who has served as a career expert for Forbes, Medium, Best Life, and Working Mother Magazine, and as a diversity and inclusion expert for ATTN and Quartz. She specializes in working with issues of career, identity, and indecision. She has doctoral-level training in career counseling and career assessment and has worked with hundreds of clients to make career decisions through career assessments. She is pursuing a doctoral degree at The University of Albany, SUNY where her work focuses on diversity and inclusion, racism in the workplace, and racial identity. She is a published author and has been featured in academic journals as well as popular media outlets. Her research has been presented at 10+ national APA conferences since 2013.
    Katherine Kirkinis, Ed.M., MA
    Career Coach & Psychotherapist
    Expert Answer
    Answer them with as much respect as you can possibly muster. People are often upset, angry, or experiencing strong emotions at that point; or, they feel like they were mistreated and that they're not getting the severance that they deserve. You can offer the interviewer some feedback as long as you do it in a super professional way—something like "I really enjoyed working here. One thing I think an area of improvement could be is the orientation process. I think I would have been more successful faster if you guys had a more robust training process."
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      • Think of an exit interview as a way to help the company grow and improve. This is your chance to address what worked and didn’t work for you as an employee.
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      Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about leaving your job on a positive note, check out our in-depth interview with Katherine Kirkinis, Ed.M., MA .

      References

      1. ↑ https://hr.wisc.edu/blog/exit-interviews-a-sample-of-divisional-hr-practices/
      2. ↑ https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/starting-new-job/exit-interview
      3. ↑ https://www.adelphi.edu/nonprofit/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/06/exit_interview.pdf
      4. ↑ https://www.adelphi.edu/nonprofit/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/06/exit_interview.pdf
      5. ↑ https://ca.indeed.com/hire/c/info/8-exit-interview-questions-that-you-should-ask
      6. ↑ https://www.adelphi.edu/nonprofit/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/06/exit_interview.pdf
      7. ↑ https://hr.wisc.edu/blog/exit-interviews-a-sample-of-divisional-hr-practices/
      8. ↑ https://www.adelphi.edu/nonprofit/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/06/exit_interview.pdf
      9. ↑ https://hr.unl.edu/documents/Exit%20Interview%20Discussion%20Guide.pdf
      1. ↑ https://hr.wisc.edu/blog/exit-interviews-a-sample-of-divisional-hr-practices/
      2. ↑ https://www.adelphi.edu/nonprofit/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/06/exit_interview.pdf

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