Exit interview

[Snowflakewater]

How honest would you be. I was thinking of being very honest but I realised it won’t achieve much. Thoughs?

I would say that too then.

I would start by saying you don’t think this meeting will be productive and list the reasons you’ve had for feeling that way.

Then I would either explain further or end the meeting.

I’d still be pretty respectful and professional, you never know who might be where in the future 😬 Unless it’s McDonalds or somewhere you don’t want to tarnish your reputation.

I know you might be angry and want to unload but please try and let it out some other way. A couple of girls at my old job went all in and it didn’t leave a nice taste at all xxx

Depends if it’s a bridge you can afford to burn

Keep it impersonal in case the people you slag off get a job in the same place as you in the future.
Also keep it factual.

I thought the exact same. I’m not leaving the profession and tbh someone always knows someone somehow and as much as I want to say “it’s shit I hate it blah blah blah” I’ll just keep it basic as possible.

a colleague of mine is leaving too and said “it says in the email be as honest as you want so I’m going to be brutally honest” so I said fair enough you go for it.

I though this too tbh because there’s always someone who knows someone

I refused mine. Small industry, everyone knows everyone and I wouldn't have been able to keep my mouth shut!

Are exit interviews a requirement?

Are exit interviews a requirement?

no Idea

Don’t burn any bridges, but if yiu don’t let your old employers why you are going, then they won’t be able to address the problem.

I think generally be fake positive, polite, thank them for experience etc.
If you want to throw in some diplomatically worded constructive criticism that should be ok.

I wish that companies could learn systematically from candour during exit interviews and be entirely fair to existing employees even after being criticised, but that is probably not the reality in most places.

My advice today would therefore be, assume that the person who will delivery your employment reference to future employers will be fully informed of exactly what you said during the exit interview. Express your reason for departure in a way that does not come across as critical or negative about the organisation or the role, especially if you have quit rather than being "pushed." And find something positive to say about the organisation.
If and only if you really like them and have a huge amount of trust, consider giving them constructive feedback on one small thing they could change that would not be too politically difficult for them. But in case you have any doubts, do not do that. Look out for yourself.

This is slightly hypocritical, I know, but unfortunately I think it is also pragmatic and realistic.

How do I do that without potentially burning a bridge though

The reference is done but you never know who might be at another work place

I think generally be fake positive, polite, thank them for experience etc

If you are going to follow this advice then you may as well decline. Generally people can see straight through fake positive and it is just a waste of everyone's time, which is really annoying

Be honest but constructive, do you have any suggestions on how things can be made better? The whole point is to understand why you are leaving and see if there are any key themes amongst leavers that need to be looked at

I went absolutely all in when I left one job, I was going for a complete career change and knew I’d never go back to that field (not if they paid me ten times the salary). They had treated me appallingly though - sexist, ableist, just disgusting behaviour to the point I had threatened tribunal but left instead. I gathered all the evidence I had about their behaviour towards me, collated it into an eight page document, lodged it with HR and absolutely went for the jugular.

it made no difference to anything, really, but it gave me closure and made me feel better after a few hellish years that nearly broke me.

However, if you’re staying in the same field I don’t really recommend it!

Exit interviews are pretty pointless imo.

I was completely honest but constructive at my last job but I had a good relationship with my manager so felt like I was being taken seriously and we'd had similar conversations previously.

Ultimately I knew that the girl replacing me was already in a worse position than I had been doing the job and I wanted them to be conscious that if things didn't change they'd drive her out.

You can give constructive feedback without making it personal. What sort of issues have led you to leave?

Bad leadership and no support and a bad manager. Maybe I’ll just withdraw from the meeting if I have nothing nice to say

Mine was two hours long I broke it the fuck down for them (I did limit it to stuff currently affecting my colleagues though - not stuff about my own job)

sadly exit interviews have gone the way of restaurants sending the server up halfway through your meal to ask if all is ok. It's difficult to respond to - if something is really bad then you will have already complained but if it's just not great then how do you tackle it?
I would be tempted to do the shit sandwich of good bad good and try to do it calmly without being personal. Easier said than done

Exit interviews are entirely for the (former) employer's benefit and it is not compulsory to say anything. On the basis of not burning bridges, I would therefore say nothing.

I’ve decided to cancel the meeting