Being Honest In Exit Interviews Is Pointless

Esther Schindler writes "Say that you're leaving a job, either on your own volition or because they decided it was time for you to 'pursue other opportunities.' Before you leave, the HR department wants to chat with you about the employment experience, in an exit interview. 'Oh goodie,' you think. 'Now I can really tell them what I really feel.' Don't do it. If your employer couldn't find the time to ask you what was good or bad about working at the company while you were still working there, writes Lisa Vaas, why bother with honesty and potentially burned bridges now? (If they did ask, give them constructive feedback before you leave this job; they deserve it). Discuss."

Comments

Easier headline...

[Darkness404]

Easier headline: exit interviews are pointless.

Re:Easier headline...

[Macthorpe]

I don't know. I've had jobs I've hated so much that the exit interview provided some much needed catharsis to combat years of stress.

Re:Easier headline...

[mikeiver1]

Been there, done that, nothing good came of it at all! Exit interviews are simply pointless for the exiting employee. They are simply another keep busy activity for the over payed HR tools. I have never seen any substantial changes come of the info gleaned from them and being critical of the company, management, and your fellow past employees can only result in trouble down the line. Remember that they can't speak ill of you but they can simply answer that they would not rehire you. The kiss of death for anyone looking for a job now days.

Re:Easier headline...

[SydShamino]

I don't think that's true. One of the biggest reasons people voluntarily leave a company is because they didn't like their immediate manager. That's true at bad companies, and it's especially true at otherwise great companies.

One problem during normal employment is that, very often, you are supposed to take complaints first to your immediate manager. If you don't like him, you have to either go around him (which could get you in trouble with him) or go to HR (which could get you in trouble with him).

That said, if you do work for a good company, they may not realize that your manager isn't very good at his job. Someone has to be promoted to manager before the company learns how he manages, and not everyone will be able to adapt to it.

So, the exit interview could be a time to let someone at the company know that, while they are a really great place to work overall with an excellent business plan, communication plan, work/life balance plan, etc., you found yourself in a situation where you didn't care for your recent immediate manager and therefore chose to move on. I doubt you've burned many bridges saying something like that, and now they know. A good company might later be willing to hire you back, especially with all the nice things you said about them overall.

Re:Easier headline...

[TheGratefulNet]

if you need a shrink to talk to, hire one.

go to a bar. chat with the bartender.

find some person online and vent to them.

venting is useful and needed.

but never vent to HR.

Re:Easier headline...

[blk_prometheus]

Never, ever give an exit interview!!! Why? Because an exit interview is used by your company for legal purposes. Maybe you said in the exit interview that you had no concerns, and no negative things to say. And remember the HR representative is probably taking notes, and they may have a questionnaire for you to fill out. But then in the future maybe you decide to sue them for some reason. They'll pull out your statements from the exit interview as evidence that you have no reason to sue them. And yes, they do keep your exit interview records on file. Your own words would be used against you. Also, HR cannot withhold your final paycheck if you don't do the exit interview. That's the law!! I heard this on an NPR show about 15 years ago. The guest for the show was a woman who decided to do research on how HR departments work. While doing the research, she somehow got invited to a conference for HR professionals, where the presenter for the conference stated "It's Us against Them"!!!! Us is the HR department, which is there to protect the company!!! Them is you, the employee!!!! Don't drink the koolaid!!! Remember, HR is there to protect the company, not you.

Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery

[Anonymous Coward]

Tell the boss how good they are even tho they are the worst type of asshole in the universe

Ummm, no. Thousands times NO! In this instances say nothing. NOTHING!

Positive feedback only feeds the trolls.

Only if there's severance pay involved...

[Angst Badger]

...and then be blandly pleasant. Otherwise, just don't do it. What are they going to do, fire you?

I'm always amused at the naive goodwill that people extend to their employers. Most of us live in at-will states, without unions, and without any real workers' rights that can be exercised without spending more than they're worth retaining counsel. These are the people who can fire you at any time for any reason, but they want two weeks' warning if you leave on your own. Why give them extra freebies?

Look, forget the employer-employee bullshit. You are a vendor, selling a service. Your employer is a customer. As long as they're buying what you're selling at the best price you can get (which includes work conditions and perceived job security as well as pay and benefits), the customer is always right. As soon as they stop buying, or you find someone willing to pay more, then go attend to your new customer. The old customer wants to take more of your time for free? Politely decline. You're running a business -- you -- and the only point in giving something away free is if it leads to another sale.

Don't bother with work ethic or pride in your job at this point. Those are good concepts and they have their place, but that place is well before anyone starts talking about exit interviews. If you're leaving voluntarily, they treated you well, and you feel like extending the courtesy, sure. But even then, don't say anything that can be used against you later. It's just business, and that's how they see it. Go and do likewise.

Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery

[Sir_Sri]

Who cares unless he will be your boss in that future time.

You care, because one thing you do not want to find out is that the person you are applying for a new job with knows someone who knows your old boss. For the same reason you don't bad mouth your old boss in a job interview - no potential future boss wants a whiner on their staff.

My GF has a particularly bad boss, who, as it happens, is very well known in both the community and in their field. Guess how likely it is that they're going to get a call when my GF is looking for work.

But yes, you hit the nail on the head with

Just skip the exit interview and get on with your life.

unless you have a very specific reason to help them improve, don't. E.g. if your job was never intended to be permanent and you're moving on to somewhere else then sure, you can gently provide generic feedback, but generally you're going to get yourself in trouble opening your mouth.

Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery

[modecx]

Sure, if they are asking about YOU, then you have a justification to act cautiously. If they're asking if you saw so-and-so drinking the other night, not so much. Unless you want to protect so-and-so from the consequences of their actions.

Oh, sure they could be asking about your friend, or whatever, probing to find out if you were in the vicinity of a rape which involved a rapist vaguely matching your description, where some young thing got slipped a date rape drug. Oops. Cops are legally allowed to lie to you, that does not go both ways.

During an interview you could unknowingly confess to breaking laws you might not have the faintest clue actually existed in the first place; talking allows them to develop probable cause to search, issue warrants, etc. And if they somehow catch you in a lie, no matter how innocent, and they could all of a sudden be talking obstruction of justice charges and trying to put the screws to you.

Talking to cops is how innocent people (you're guilty of something, though, I guarantee it) wind up in trouble. It virtually cannot benefit you, it is an unlevel playing field, and the only thing that makes some cops happy is fucking with people who think like you.

Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery

[GrpA]

I remember one exit interview when I was made redundant. I still remember my ex-boss saying "You know, it's OK to be unhappy about this, you really don't have to smile so much. It makes it feel like I'm doing you a favour by making you redundant"

Which, in truth, he was.... And he already knew what I had to say about the company that wasn't so nice...

So I convinced him that although the timing was less-than perfect, I would be fine and though he would do well. I have him advice on who could do what I did and completed a handover with him of my clients.

Four years later, I forgot to erase them as a referee on my resume and applied for a job, which I got offered the same day. The reason? They called my former boss and said he gave such a solid reference that they had no doubt I was the best candidate they would find.

Being honest in an exit interview has a point. Just remember to leave bitterness and vicious attitudes at the door and treat it with the professionalism it deserves, because it really is a step towards a career somewhere else.

Good candidates have good resumes.
Great candidates have good references from prior employers.
Exceptional candidates have good references from the person who gave them the exit interview, because the employing company knows they will maintain their professionalism no matter how bad things get.

GrpA