Exit Interview Questions For Interns
When internships end, you should conduct an exit interview for all interns. This provides valuable feedback on whether the interns would return for a full-time position and what you can do to continue to improve the internship programs at your company.
Here are some of the best examples weve seen of exit interview questions for interns.
- What are the three most important things you learned from your internship?
- Did you feel like your mentor/manager provided adequate instruction for you to perform your duties?
- What did you like least about your internship?
- What about your internship do you think could have been improved?
- How would you describe our company culture? Is this the type of company you see yourself working at in the future?
- What could we change/improve to make our company more appealing to you?
- Do you feel you were provided all of the resources and instructions needed to succeed?
- Would you want to work for us in the future?
Most Common Exit Interview Questions
An exit interview is an open discussion between an employee and their employer. Organizations conduct exit interviews to get an employee’s view about their company and feedback on what they do well and what they could do better.
There are some common exit questions that your current employer might ask when you resign. Taking part in an exit interview is not mandatory, but it’s an opportunity to outline why you’ve chosen to part ways. Regardless of your reasons, maintain a professional and thoughtful tone when providing feedback. Your comments may lead to some improvements for your colleagues and future hires.
Here, we delve into the top eight exit interview questions and how to answer them:
What Qualities Do You Think We Should Look For In Your Replacement
Question fourteen dealt with skills. Question fifteen deals with qualities. Yes, the job may have changed from one that focused on phone communication to one that focused on written communication . But it also may have changed in regard to some of the softer qualities like patience, people skills, and organization.
Asking the outgoing employee what qualities you should look for in her replacement is an excellent indication of this change.
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Were You Comfortable Talking To Your Manager
The unique thing about this question is that it reveals details about two individualsthe outgoing employee and the manager.
First and foremost, you can use the information you glean from the employees answer to improve the performance and development of the manager who still works for your company. Second, you can use the information to help in finding a new employee for the team.
Who Should Conduct The Exit Interview
The role of the best person to conduct exit interviews depends on the organisation. In a large company, a person from HR will often conduct the interview so the ex-employee can talk frankly about their manager or how their department functions. In a smaller organisation with no HR manager, the staff members manager, the business owner or colleague may conduct the interview.
Conducting an effective exit interview takes skill and practice. Not every manager feels comfortable holding their first few exit interviews and may feel they need training. HR should encourage interviewers to ask for help, if required.
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Top 8 Exit Interview Questions And How To Answer Them
As a standard practice, many employers conduct exit interviews at the end of their employees’ employment tenure. Exit interviews help employees learn about why their employees have chosen to leave. They also provide insight into their overall experience with the company.
An exit interview gives you an opportunity to offer suggestions and feedback to your employer on areas they need to improve. If you resign from your job, your current employer could schedule an exit interview with you. In this article, we discuss the most common exit interview questions and provide example responses to help you prepare.
What Are The Benefits Of Conducting Exit Interviews
Especially considering the relatively small investment , there are plenty of benefits to conducting exit interviews:
- Genuine Feedback: As mentioned above, the most obvious purpose of exit interviews is to gather feedback. Hopefully, employees feel safe providing feedback throughout their employment without it negatively impacting their jobs. But the great thing about a departing employee is they dont have much to lose by speaking their mind. So, ask the tough questions.
- Amicable Parting: Whether your employee is leaving because of their choice or yours, theyre still people who deserve respect. An exit interview might not be able to correct every less-than-satisfactory experience, but it can certainly help.
- Employment Wrap Up: An exit interview is a perfect place to ensure employees understand any lingering obligations like equipment returns, non-competes, intellectual property agreements, etc.
- Q& A: You might not be the only one with questions, either your employee might have a few things theyd like answered, too. Whether theyre looking for answers on setting up COBRA insurance or why they were passed up for a promotion last year,, an employee exit interview can provide a lot of clarity.
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Based On Your Experience As An Employee How Can Our Organization Better Serve Customers And Clients
Once you gather information on the employeeâs personal experience and long-term career goals, ask this question to learn more about how they view the organizationâs value proposition.
Does the employee believe in the products and services? What has the employee learned from any direct contact with customers and clients, including things that managers and HR specialists may not be aware of?
What Could Have Been Done Differently To Have Made You Stay
Its useful to ask this question at the end of the interview to help the employee summarise their overarching points. You shouldnt ask this question with a view of trying to retain the staff member. Any attempts at retaining the employee should have happened at the time when they gave their resignation.
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Do You Feel Comfortable Talking To Your Manager
This question can reveal information about the manager and the employee, especially when there are lower-level managers in your business.
The answer can suggest changes to how management gets along with employees and make them feel comfortable enough to work with. You can also know what types of employees suit your companys management better.
Exit Interview Questions To Ask
Youre looking for valuable insights, and those only come from focused, relevant questions.
Also consider that an exit interview shouldnt take more than 10 minutes to complete. Even the most patient and generous employee is going to have a limit of how much time theyre willing to commit to reflecting back on their soon-to-be-former employer.
As a general rule of thumb, avoid too many open-ended questions and instead focus on questions that can be rated, which improves data collection.
Matrices can helpful to bunch several questions under one overarching theme. For example, under the banner question Decision To Leave Company X, you could include sub-questions such as salary/benefits, leadership, and the physical working environment as influencers.
Add an additional matrix with questions digging deeper into the employees time at Company X. Was Susan satisfied with the training and development she received? Did she get the support she needed from her manager?
You can use logic to suss out further details from low scores. If Susan scores a question with a 1 , then a logic to a qualifying question could provide the assessor with valuable information. Another option is to include a open-text box to allow the respondent to qualify their scores.
Feel free to cap the interview with a NPS question . Coupled with perhaps an open-text question about what the company could have done to retain the employee.
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What Could We Have Done To Keep You Here
This question will often tease out more reasons why the employee felt dissatisfied with her job and started looking for another. Because you are asking a very direct question, you may get a series of direct answers. But that can be very valuable.
Answers like more pay, more benefits, more advancement, can reveal a lot when you correlate them with the employees term at your company. If she received regular raises but was still dissatisfied with her pay, maybe the raises need to more frequent.
Reasons Why They Left
Yes, it is not a good idea to downright ask people why they are leaving. But that doesnt mean that you cant try to identify the root of the cause. Here are some exit interview questions that help you do so:
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If You Could Change Anything About Your Job Or The Company What Would You Change
Though you’ll likely gain a lot of insight throughout the exit interview, this question will help the employee to focus in on the biggest or most important reason they’re leaving your company. This is also a non-confrontational way to encourage them to reveal the real reason they’re leaving, as it isn’t asking what they didn’t like, but what they would change. It shifts their answer from a complaint to a suggestion, which many people feel more comfortable providing. Often, just the way we ask a question can make all the difference.
How Did This Position Align With Your Expectations
Employees will feel more satisfied with their roles when you create an accurate description of the job. While talking to a departing employee, you can get a sense of how well your job description met their expectations. If you learn that the role didnât meet their expectations, you may want to edit your job description to ensure youâre attracting the right people.
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Questions To Ask In An Exit Interview + Exit Survey Template
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Nemanja Jovancic
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Goodbyes are never easy. Whether you say them to friends, family, partner, co-workers, or employees, it gets even worse if you are left wondering why. That being said, whenever an employee leaves your company, its essential to find out the reasons for doing so.
This is where an employee exit survey kicks in.
To create your own survey or use our ready-made exit survey template, simply log in to your LeadQuizzes account. Or sign up if you dont have one yet. To preview or use the template, scroll down now.
To learn more about exit surveys, why they matter, and which exit survey questions you should ask, keep on reading.
Benefits Of Using The Right Exit Interview Questions
Interacting with your employees even after they have decided to move on is always a good idea. This allows you to know the reasons behind and explore them further to contain future exits. Let us look at the key benefits of conducting exit interviews.
Gives you information to bring about changes
Employees have no reason to hold back during exit interviews their response is honest and candid. This highlights issues that HR or managers may not be aware of. This is data that can help you contain future exits.
Gives you the opportunity to discuss commitments
Several companies have clauses and riders in employee contracts. It is ideal to discuss any commitments, obligations, etc. with outgoing employees to reduce liability for both parties.
Gives you data to convey to supervisors
Employees may put forth information that may help managers address and bridge gap areas. This can help contain further attrition from specific teams or functions.
Lets you collect references
Even if your employees leave, they can always come back or refer their friends and family to the organization. Use exit interviews to get references for future relevant job roles.
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Should Exit Interviews Occur For Voluntary And Involuntary Termination
You should conduct an employee exit interview regardless of whether the employee resigned or was terminated. Even if the employee had no reason to leave, they will likely still be able to come up with some constructive feedback that your team can use.
Dont Forget: If things are ending on bad terms, though, it is best to decide on a case-by-case basis whether an exit interview makes sense. In some cases, it may be smarter to simply let the matter rest. Context is key.
How Would You Describe The Culture Of Our Company
This question isn’t probing for specific examples but instead will help you identify trends. As you keep track of employee exit interviews, watch for trends throughout to help you identify real concerns. Identifying trends can also help you separate legitimate concerns from the personal opinion of employees who are emotional or feel negatively about the company.
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Decide On The Interview Format
âYou have two choices when it comes to exit interviews. The first is asking the exit interview questions through a questionnaire. The benefit here is that departing team members may feel more comfortable about being upfront with their answers and responses if they don’t have to say it directly to their boss.
However, a face-to-face interview is still the most widely recommended. This format allows for a less structured interview with employees that can delve into deeper details and may result in a more complete story. It also shows your employees that you care as much about them during the offboarding process as you did during the onboarding process.
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Dont Talk Too Much About Your New Job
You are leaving the company for a reason, and there is no harm in mentioning some aspects of your new position. However, avoid going overboard by keeping your responses simple. For example, you can mention higher pay, but you do not have to give an exact figure for your new salary or the specific perks that come with the job.
How Could Our Working Conditions Improve
Working conditions cover a broad range of topics, including:
- Hours of work
- Work schedules
- Mental demands
If the leaving employee feels your company doesnt promote healthy working hours, other employees may feel the same. Promoting a work-life balance is essential for employee retention and productivity.
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Would You Recommend This Company To A Friend Why Or Why Not
Even though they ultimately decided to leave your company, former employees can be excellent referral sources. In an ideal world, every exiting employee would answer yes to this question but the reality is there may be some who are so unhappy with their experience that they would feel uncomfortable referring their contacts. In this case, identify the issues and make corrections as quickly as possible.
Do You Feel Your Manager Gave You What You Needed To Succeed
From training and one-on-one meetings to performance reviews and career development opportunities, managers have a responsibility to make sure each of their team members have the tools and feedback they need to excel in their role. This is one of the best exit interview questions, as it can reveal if employees feel abandoned in any of these areas so it can be addressed with their manager.
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When To Conduct Exit Interview Questions
Much like any other departure, there will be a mix of emotions. Companies can greatly benefit from this if they have a structure in place to let the exiting employee speak in a secured, private, and professional platform. The feedback can be positive or negative or usually a mix of both, but what makes exit interview questions and answers so valuable for companies is the honesty.
Why?
They might be forthcoming of things and facts that may not have expressed while being employed with the organization.
Some organizations conduct staff exit interviews immediately after the employee yields their resignation, but it is always a good practice to wait until the last few days of their employment. It is always advisable that the employee has complete knowledge of the entire process, and transparency is maintained in the process.
The organization would indeed expect a candid response from the employee, but if they are not walked through the process before the actual interview, the employee might feel overwhelmed about the entire process and not respond with utmost honesty. Therefore, organizations need to extensively plan such interviews to get maximum insights from the same.
You wont be able to learn much from exiting employees by simply having a one-on-one chat with them. When someone is moving on at any stage in life, it is usually better to hear from them through a different platform, a non-human platform where they can speak their mind and heart out.
