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Srijita, an IT analyst at a multinational firm, was ready to move on from her existing role to a new challenge in another organization. During her notice period, human resources asked her to come in for an exit interview. Srijita was alarmed—though she didn’t get along with her boss, she didn’t want to leave on an unpleasant note either.
Srijita need not have worried. An exit interview is a part of the process at many organizations nowadays and there are ways of navigating them with ease. Let’s find out more about the exit interview.
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Meaning Of An Exit Interview
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Types Of Exit Interviews
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How To Approach The Exit Interview
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Questions To Expect At The Exit Interview
Meaning Of An Exit Interview
The human resources team often conducts an exit interview, with the goal of learning about any issues or problems that may have arisen during your tenure. An exit interview allows employees who are leaving to provide honest feedback about their time on the job. Businesses can use this feedback to train their employees and conduct other interventions that’ll help retain quality staff.
Types Of Exit Interviews
There are several types of exit interviews, but most organizations use a minimalistic approach. It might be a meeting, phone call or an email to discuss the reasons you’re leaving an organization.
Exit interviews aren’t used to evaluate individual employees. Its purpose is to learn about your experience at the organization, not to delve into personal details or criticism about management. The exit interview gathers information for the organization’s benefit. It’s an opportunity for the manager to clear up any lingering questions and understand if there was anything else they could have done to keep the employee.
Sometimes, however, it’s also a way to check in on if there are any internal issues. If you’ve had a rocky time in the organization, you should be prepared for a few more detailed questions on your experience.
How To Approach The Exit Interview
An exit interview might be known by other names such as “exit counseling” or “retention counseling”. You should answer as many questions as possible, as honestly as possible. Keep in mind that most often the interviewer isn’t there to dig into specific details.
Here are a few points to note:
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Ensure Confidentiality
Exit interviews are supposed to be confidential, so you can ask ahead of time if they’ll be recorded or written down in any way.
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Be Prepared
The interviewer will want to hear about your positive experiences on the job, and they may even ask you what you liked most or least about it. Be ready to show appreciation where relevant and be critical—with diplomacy.
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Don’t Burn Bridges
This isn’t the place to raise major issues. If you’ve had trouble, you have probably raised it already. So at the exit interview, don’t bring up personal grievances with other employees or supervisors again. Just stick to the facts and provide minimal personal information.
It’s important to know the meaning of an exit interview and its intended use. Keep it short, sweet and professional and you’ll leave your job with a door open for if you’d ever like to return. It happens more often than you might think!
Questions To Expect At The Exit Interview
There are many questions you might face during an employee exit interview. Here are some examples of an exit interview questions that an interviewer may ask:
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Why are you leaving?
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How would you rate your experience at the organization?
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What is it about the work environment that caused you to leave?
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What were your strengths and weaknesses as an employee?
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Why did you choose to work here?
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What did you like most about working here?
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What did you like least about working here?
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Could the team have done anything that would have kept you from leaving?
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How do you feel about your co-workers and supervisors?
Exit interviews come with most corporate jobs nowadays, as organizations strive to reduce turnover and improve employee experience. The same skills you learned while preparing for a job interview will hold you in good stead. Harappa’s Ace The Interview course prepares you for all kinds of interactions with management, by giving you the skills to present yourself in the best light always. Speaking clearly, the right body language and the confidence you need to discuss your strengths and weaknesses can be yours—join the course today!
Explore topics such as General HR Interview Questions, How To Improve Interviewing Skills, Pre-Interview Preparation, Interview Tips For Freshers & Successful Interview Techniques from Harappa Diaries and crack your next interview.
