Exit Interview: Example Questions and Answers!

Interviews are phenomena that appear in almost every aspect of our business life from start to end. In particular, many institutions conduct various interviews during the recruitment phase. Previously in our article, we talked about the types of interviews, such as the panel or group interviews that we encounter during the recruitment phase. Now it’s time to give detailed information about one of the most popular topics in the business agenda. Yes, it is Exit Interview. It is obvious that this topic has become increasingly popular in the global sense, especially in large corporate companies nowadays. By the way, we will present the a sample form and question samples of the topic for your information in this article also.

Exit Interview vs Survey

The exit interview or survey is actually the opposite of a classical and well-known first job meeting. It is clear that; when companies hire us, they want to know our personal or professional characteristics and understand our suitability for the job description. Just like this, organizations want to conduct an exit meeting to determine why we want to leave the job while we are resigning. Especially big corporates and large companies will want to have an survey test with their departing employees about why they want to resign. This is called an exit survey at the same time.

Exit interview and exit survey are very similar both in meaning and purpose. However, there are some minor differences between them. The exit interview takes place face-to-face in a one-on-one physical environment between the employee who want to quit the job and a human resources specialist or a manager of the relevant company. On the other hand, the exit survey is carried out online via a survey test sent to the employee who has left the job. In other words, while an interview is conducted in a physical environment in one on one, there is no interview in the other side, there is only a test performed in an electronic environment. It is clear that exit survey performed in digital environment is a faster process than exit meeting.

It also gives more precise feedback results as it takes place in the test environment. However, it is more difficult to understand the real views and feelings of the employee in the digital test. Accordingly, it will be easier to collect more detailed feedback from the employee about the workplace with different questions to be asked in the exit interview.

Exit Interview is Crucial?

As we mentioned before, in addition to the cost of losing the former employee, companies also learn about problems that they did not know before, thanks to the exit interview. Therefore, owing to this survey, companies may notice some disruptions that cause serious problems within the company. For example, let’s take the exit survey of a successful salesperson or marketing expert who left a company operating in the motivation-based marketing sector. Let this employee say in the exit meeting that his supervisors constantly lower his motivation. Let him also say that his other successful marketing experts’ colleague or salesperson friends agree with his views about supervisors. After this exit meeting, the firm will likely realize this serious problem and take the necessary steps to prevent the resignation of other successful marketers. This interview could also be made by the exit survey.

On the contrary, if we assume that there is no exit meeting or exit survey in similar events, the company will soon be shaken by the resignation of other successful marketing experts or salespersons. Moreover, in this situation, the company may encounter drastic situations such as a sudden and serious decrease in sales. Apart from these, survey results in corporate companies are periodically collected as data and reported to the senior management and board. In this way, companies will realize the average working seniority among their employees, what age range, gender or characteristics employees they are losing and take the necessary measures accordingly.

Reasons for Exit Surveys

The exit interview has benefits for the employee as well as for the employers or companies. In some cases, an employee in the resignation process could be turned away from his decision. In another cases, departing employee could tell all the truths about the company to managers by showing the courage in the exit meeting that current employees cannot show and explaining the problems. Even if he does not renege on his decision, the relevant employee will at least ensure that the conditions of his colleagues at the workplace are improved. However, we cannot say that many employees express their opinions comfortably and openly in the exit meeting or surveys in order to avoid negative references by thinking about their next job.

Especially for corporate companies, it is very costly for a senior and experienced employee to resign and a new employee to replace him. This cost increases even more if the employee who leaves the job has a technical knowledge and if this technical knowledge will be transferred to the new employee by training. According to the researches, in the process of training a new employee instead of a senior and experienced employee, the cost of that process to company is about 3 times the annual salary of the former employee. Consequently, this amount means a serious cost for corporate companies with a large number of employees. In order not to bear this cost, companies want to avoid these serious costs by preventing the resignations of their senior or former employees by conducting exit interviews.

Problem Solving

In some cases, thanks to these interviews, it was seen that some employees’ problems were resolved and they even gave up their decision to resign.

Apart from the cost of recruiting and training a new employee to replace the employee who left the job, exit interviews are also very important for companies in terms of improving their business conduct and internal processes. Some companies positively change their way of doing business or processes, thanks to the feedback they receive from their employees with whom they have interviewed.

Which Companies Need?

As we mentioned before, exit survey is generally done just by large corporate companies. Contrarily, SMEs around the world do not make such human resources assessments due to it is not free and widely-accepted all over the world. Along with this, there are not many companies that specialize in exit interviews or exit surveys globally. The names and web addresses of some human resources companies which have mastered these processes and assisted companies in making exit meeting surveys are presented below.

• Employer Line
• HR Works
• People Element
• SHRM Human Resources

You can also find other Human Resources Company which implement exit surveys and meeting on the search engines. By the way In order to read Interview Types or Tips for Job Interviews or Interview Questions and Answers please click them:)

Example Questions

The forms and questions of the exit interview vary from sector to sector and even on a company basis. For example, its form or questions of a company working in a textile company may change the questions of a company working in the pharmaceutical industry. This is very normal since each sector has its own dynamics.

On the other hand, some same questions could still be encountered in exit interviews from every sector. We present some of the questions in the exit survey below for your information.

• Why do you want to quit your job?
• Have you talked to your supervisors about the problems you are experiencing?
• Do you think your supervisors take action in solving problems?
• Would you recommend this company to someone you know?
• What would you like to change in the company to get your resignation back?
• Do you think that your salary is sufficient?
• If you could turn back time, what would you do differently?
• What would you do differently if you were managing this company?
• Were the trainings you received or planned to be sufficient for you?
• Have you had any colleagues who had similar problems with you?
• Have your other friends solved these problems?
• Would you review your decision to quit your job in case of a salary increase?
• Under what circumstances would you review your decision to resign?

Ultimately, it should be noted that it is very important to be informed about such popular topics. Whether you’re at the beginning or midway through your career, you’ll make a good impression when you mention these topics during any conversation. In this context, we would like to remind you that in order to compete with your competitors in the digital age, you need to constantly renew yourself and be in a continuous learning process.