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Being Honest In Exit Interviews Is Pointless

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the but-burning-bridges-is-really-fun dept.

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."

9 of 550 comments (clear)

  1. Exit Interviews are always flowery by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Say nothing but good things -

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

    Thanks the co-workers for their generous help and guidance even tho they are clumsy back-stabbers

    Give great praises the company even tho they are giving you the pink slip

    That will make them happy, and happy people (often) do not find time to do more harm to you, leaving you plenty of peaceful time to look for new jobs
     

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Interesting

      you can't just say nothing... uncomfortable silence is uncomfortable.

      that's your problem. work on avoiding having to give your power away.

      that's what is going on. they want to probe for weakness or reasons to 'mark you down badly'.

      nothing good comes from this. trust me. been working quite a long time in tech, in many of the top-named large and small companies. not once was an exit interview beneficial to ME. and I know for a fact that it has hurt me (a friend at a past job somehow got sight of my exit interview text and said that I was forever blackballed from returning to that place again).

      believe it.

      just say nothing or excuse yourself.

      its like getting questioned by a cop. nothing good can come from that. just say as little as you can and get the hell out of there as fast as you can.

      this is a no-win situation and they try to sell it as a way to 'fix' things that need fixing. there is zero truth to that, I assure you.

      please, for your own sake, bypass the exit interview. please. you will thank me years from now for this advice. I learned the hard way. you should not have to.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    2. Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery by robthebloke · · Score: 5, Interesting

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

      I've seen someone rage quit, declare his boss a moron, before starting work at a rival company. Six months later the two companies merged, and he got his old boss back. Funnily enough, he was made redundant during the restructing process.

    3. Re:Exit Interviews are always flowery by neyla · · Score: 5, Interesting

      On the flipside, Norways laws on that issue are fun. There's very few (and enumerated in law) situations where they can withhold your paycheck. If neither of those applies, you can file for their bankruptcy. That tends to get their attention, to put it mildly.

      Bankruptcy-filings are public - they must be afterall, because all creditors of a company has a legitimate need to know. And if there's one kind of headline that companies would like to -avoid- in the newspapers then it's headlines of the "Acme files for bankruptcy, unable to make payroll."

      The logic is that since everyone know they -should- pay you your salary, the only reasonable explanation for them not doing that is that they -can't- and if they are unable to meet their financial obligations they are, by definition, bankrupt.

  2. I disagree by GrahamCox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have to disagree. Being honest can serve two purposes: a) it can be extremely satisfying, if you have had a very bad time of things and they are coming to an end, and b) it can highlight bad managers or other employees that have caused you so much grief and they might be reined in so that they don't continue to make life hell for others.

    I had an appallingly bad manager some time ago who made my life hell with his ultra-micromanagment and his constant snooping. He finally drove me to leave and there was a bit of a showdown - I wouldn't exactly call it an exit interview but his boss was there. I told him exactly what I thought of him and why he was such a bad manager. I think he was actually surprised that his 'style' caused so much friction. Interestingly (though too late) several people came forward afterwards and told me they had had the same experiences with the same guy, and had asked for transfers to get away from him. My response of leaving was more extreme, but driven by the same problems. I heard a few weeks later he did get moved (not fired, unfortunately) and given a role that did not involve direct people-management. So these things can have a positive result for those you leave behind.

  3. I disagree by DeDmeTe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had a worthless boss at a job I left, I requested an exit interview with the head of HR. They didn't normally do exit interviews, but I had been there for 6 years, so they wanted to know why I was leaving. Took a few months after I left to find time for a meeting, but I laid it all out. How I felt, why I left... 2 months later I got a call to come back. They fired my old boss after I opened their eyes to the BS he was pulling. I went back.. with a nice raise and a $4k signing "bonus". It works in certain cases. YMMV.

    --
    -Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat-
  4. Sometimes it does good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I worked for the biggest jerk in the world, and when I quit, I told H/R the things he had done to me, and urged them to not just take my word but to ask around.

    Later that week, they fired him and escorted him out (not typical there).

    The next day, my former coworkers had a going-away party for him, but they didn't invite him (and they did invite me).

  5. Was nice once by Killer+Instinct · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I gave a good honest exit interview when i left my first fulltime software job.. Wasnt a asshole, and kept it professional, mixed in what i didnt like and what i thought they did real well. The company has hired me back 3 times. Did the same thing at all 4 exit interviews, and maybe if i ever need a job again (with this market one never knows) i will get hired back, and that is worth a lot to me personally. But theres been a couple other places i burned the bridge down from shore to shore, not even a splinter left. Assholes had it coming....and i delivered.
    -KI

    --
    #include bier;
  6. Re:Easier headline... by mmarlett · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I once told my employer that I was leaving in three months. I honestly didn't know what I was doing when I left, but it had gotten so bad for me that I just had to leave. Telling them that I was going was a great weight off my chest. About a month before I was going to leave, they scheduled an exit interview for me. I told them what I thought about what was going on. I also packed what little personal items I had and took them home with me. When I showed up the next day, I had been bared from entering the building except to go directly to HR, where the president was waiting to talk to me to tell me why my resignation was being accepted early. I insisted that he was firing me, because for me nothing was different this day than the day before. If knowing how I felt makes that much difference to them, then they are firing me. So, as was eventually backed up by the state employment agency, they fired me (and still insisted that they were just taking my resignation early). Did I burn a bridge? Not one that I ever wanted to go back across unless they were willing to rebuild it from their end. It was the environment that they created that made me decide to leave, and as long as it was as petty and difficult as it was when I left, I don't care to return.