ask for an exit interview and be brutally honest as to why I am leaving my job?

[Myusernameismyusername]

a large part of me thinks this is probably pointless in all honesty, and nothing will really change and life will just carry on without me in the same chaotic shitty manner as always, tied up in red tape and buracracy.

I am torn over whether its the right thing to do, for the sake of the next person who takes my job or a waste of my time and energy and I should just skip off to pastures new and be happy.

Brief outline: stressful job, poor management with awful incompetent colleagues. Am leaving for own mental wellbeing

Exit interviews are taken quite seriously where I work. Feedback is often acted upon if it's something that can be remedied. Id try to avoid personal slights and focus on facts/ what you feel could be improved.

Exit interviews are a last chance to make sure they'll have your back (to whatever extent) should you need it in the future.

It's foolish and immature to burn your bridges. Always act as though you'll be working there again one day.

I left a job a decade ago because the guy I reported into was an aggressive bully. The person I had replaced had moved to another area of the bank and confided that both she and her predecessor had left for the same reason.
I laid out my reasons with examples and dates at the exit interview and the HR person sat stony faced, didn't take any notes and thanked me for my time.
It was a technical area of risk management and the bank had decided that it was easier to have a succession of minions leave than have the cost of getting rid of him and a difficult and expensive job of hiring a replacement.

Depends how professional your HR team are. I have done exit interviews and fed back on an anon basis over a period of time. I have never broken my word about keeping things anon.

Mixed feelings on this. It's a small world and you do tend to see the same colleagues again and again. So it's often better to just leave with good grace. Also HR don't really care.

Having said that.... I once worked for a big multinational that's a good company but in a terrible department run by terrible managers. It was like a cross between primary school and a salt mine. Utterly bizarre management, used to time people going to the loo, that kind of thing.
I left, and it wasn't just me - they had 70% staff turnover one year. As its a small world I got talking to someone who was moving over to this dept higher up. He asked me to be honest about it. I was. A month or so later I get an email from their HR asking me to fill out an exit questionnaire- I know others who'd left had the same. I filled it out in a very dispassionate way but a decent bit of detail. Others must have done too because the entire layer of management was fired.

I would absolutely love to tell my current boss why she's a nightmare, but as I plan on working in this industry again I probably won't.

If the issues that you want to talk about are the same areas that they have been attempting to make changes in and you've spoken about problems as they arose, then it could be worthwhile if you can be constructive about it. Otherwise no, it does tend to look like sour grapes if someone suddenly spends the exit interview outlining a highly detailed complaint about someone/something they have never mentioned before in their life

I've always bottled it in exit interviews. I don't like leaving on a bad note, and by the time I'm leaving I'm beyond the point of caring anyway.

I did feel bad in the last job I left though. After sticking it out for 6 months of absolute hell I just wanted out of there, but my successor walked out after less than a month without another job to go to, and she took her complaint all the way to the top. I might have made her life a little less stressful if I'd done the same. But at the time I was made to feel like the problem was ME, so I guess I just thought that someone else would have been fine.

Loads of interesting view points, qthank you!

One of the main reasons for leaving is that if I do not, I am concerned I will turn into a bitter old haggard tell tale tit of a nightmare myself. And this isn't like me! I don't personally think I have unreasonable standards (but I suppose everyone thinks that about themselves) and I am able to be flexible and patient. I just have none left anymore and I hate that feeling.

So far I have my dignity still intact and no I don't want to lose that or burn any bridges.

I am not sure about the sour grapes thing though, if I have a better or equal job to leave to then it's not resentment

Oh God, I was really tempted to let rip when I left my old job, but I didn't dare because you really don't want to burn bridges.

I was a Personal Assitant. The person I was assistant to left and wasn't replaced so I had NOTHING TO DO. When I requested work, they told me to watch my emails in case something came in.

Then they moved me to an office in another building to everyone else so I spoke to and saw no one all day.

When I requested redundancy it was denied.

But still, I smiled sweetly and told them it had been great working for them when I finally managed to get out.

An exit interview? I've never heard of them. Shows how long I've been away . But really enjoyed some great points.

What I'd say is (1) do you have to ask for an exit interview or (2) do they give one as a matter of course? This would be a signficant question for me.

If the latter, you can allude to gently concerned and philosphical, thus outline very briefly. Apart from that focus on the positive that its sad you are moving on, etc. That way you can feel you have spoken your truth, without looking as if you are hostile or going on a rant IYSWIM.

If you have to "request" an exit interview, there is already a slightly confrontational aspect.

100% agreed Cotswold. Thankfully my department head was fully aware and helpful. I just wanted it noted in case the next poor person in the job wasn't believed. I was moving countries and sectors so I wasn't bothered about bumping into him again!

An ex-colleague and friend of mine did an exit interview. As far as I can tell not a thing changed as a result, although it did make her feel better. One of our former colleagues was totally useless, but unfortunately senior management had his back for some reason. People (including myself) have repeatedly quit their jobs due to his inability to manage or in fact do anything much effectively. Everyone else in the team knows how shit he is yet nothing changes because to get rid of him would have 'political' ramifications. I do sometimes wonder if everyone who had subsequently quit all did exit interviews whether management would have to take notice. I doubt it.

So in summary, do it to make yourself feel better by all means but don't expect action as a result.

I had an exit 'interview' when I left a big multinational 6 years ago- an online survey, deeply impersonal, used to identify 'trends'. I was honest about the 'bad' areas but also praised too. I've had no problem getting a reference. I think it depends on how you frame it- don't just moan, be constructive.

I left a small business a couple of years ago- was headhunted, promised the earth, and the job was awful. Terrible leadership, no clear responsibilities, lots of accountability but no real control for employees. They didn't bother to interview me when I left- I honestly think because the MD knew he'd let me down a bit. He asked why once, when I physically handed him my resignation, and I just said I'd been offered another opportunity closer to home. They've given me a good reference too.

I now look at exit interviews as part of my job. We do take constructive comments seriously, and report on changes we have made to processes, training, etc. The ones we ignore are the ones that just make seemingly bitter statements with nothing constructive.

I have had two exit interviews - once after redundancy, once after resignation. I was so pleased I did both times. Both companies were fairly large and I had them with a member of HR that hadn't had any dealings with me during my time there. Both times I was completely honest and very constructive with my comments. It was so satisfying to see the expression on the HR person's face as they agreed with me re my frustrations. Maybe they both pretended and never did anything with my comments? I took the view that if I were in HR these were things that I would want to know. I really found it therapeutic to dump all my frustrations on an understanding person and left feeling much lighter. Everything I said was true and wasn't personal so I don't feel I would have burnt any bridges and have stayed in the industry.

I had to have an exit interview years ago. The HR woman asked me to be honest so I was . I told her my Manager was a nasty bully and gave her examples. I said I hated the job because of her.
She told me that it was not the first time she had heard this but as my Manager was the daughter of the MDs friend, they had had no success in getting it sorted out!
Another woman who left the same day as I did, told her the same.
My Manager left the Company a year later so I have no idea whether it was because she had been dealt with.

Yes I had one on leaving my first job. It was done by a senior manager who didn't know me. I told them all my issues. They ended up asking the two managers into the meeting. I loved watching them squirm when he asked them if my points were true. He ended up apologising to me. I have friends there and I know changes were made as a result.

I had an exit interview. They weren't generally commonplace but the company had started to haemorrhage good staff and wanted to know who was poaching why.

I explained that my main reasons for leaving were to do with career progression - I'd requested increased hours and training and been refused both on tenuous business grounds with a "management decision is final". The very senior manager who did my exit wanted a lot more detail about that. Turned out neither request had ever reached management: HR manager had not bothered putting them through and had lied made an executive decision on behalf of the top brass. What's more, they'd have been more than happy to approve the extra day, and had a national policy about training which would have made the request a mere formality.

That said, I work in such an incestuous industry I didn't need to ask them for a reference, getting my next much better job on reputation alone.

I don't know the exact circumstances you're in, but I did something similar when I left my job a few years ago. There was one colleague who was a real nasty piece of work, but the place was something of a boys' club and, being the only girl on the team, I never felt like I could make a proper complaint about him without making my own life much harder. Cowardly, perhaps, but I was deeply unhappy and couldn't face the idea of making things even worse for myself.

When I had my exit interview, I finally felt like I was in a position to say something, so I did. The bosses made some awkward noises and assured me that he'd be investigated. I don't know whether they ever did, but I at least slept a little easier knowing I'd said my piece!

I'm part of a pretty big team and I am the pivot between two management structures that are completely different but run along side one another. It's my role to ensure that happens, that everyone is happy and also the department is run efficiently and meets targets.
I am poorly resourced to do but I'm used to that and am fairly innovative in that respect. It's irritating but not game changing.
It's the team I have below me who I need to rely on. They are all poorly skilled with bad attitudes and lack any kind of motivation unless it benefits them. They focus on the tiny aspects of things and usually get stuck there and we can't move on.
It's like silent drowning for me sometimes.

As a team leader in the NHS I fought for exit interviews. When I left A very large NHS trust was sent a survey monkey. I filled it in and sent it off wondering if my carefully considered response would yield any result.

Six months later they sent me the same form. I'd be surprised if it was even read.