Ask Your Fairygodmentor®: To Exit interview Or To Not Exit Interview?

Reader’s Question:

Dear Fairygodmentor,

Is it wrong to decline an exit interview? I recently left a job and I don’t have anything nice to say, but it seems rude to not take the appointment.

Best wishes,

Don’t Want to Be Rude

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Don’t Want to Be Rude,

I’m going to give you an answer that you may not like.

It depends.

You always have a choice. Just as you made the choice to leave the place where you were working and work someplace new.

Choice One: Participate in the exit interview. By participating, you provide the workplace that you’re leaving with some specific, detailed feedback on your experiences there with the intention that they will make improvements, gain knowledge on how retain their existing employees, and give insights on how the organization works well (or doesn’t work well).

An exit interview is a pretty harmless process. The Human Resources department will most likely ask you a set of standard questions that revolve around why you’re leaving and give you an opportunity to share feedback before you leave the organization.

The key is to be completely honest and specific. Keeping things generic or high-level serves no one.

Ultimately, the exit interview can provide closure for you and the organization that you’re leaving.

Choice Two: Do not participate in the exit interview. I don’t know your reason for leaving, but perhaps it’s because you’d rather close that chapter of your life and leave well enough alone.

Exit interviews are not mandatory.

The key to remember is that it’s ultimately your choice. You’re not obligated to participate. Your boundaries are yours and yours alone. “No” is a complete sentence.

It’s not rude to decline.

You got this!

Sincerely,

Your Fairygodmentor®

Joyel Crawford is an award-winning career and leadership development professional and the founder of Crawford Leadership Strategies, a consultancy that develops empowered, results-driven leaders through engaging leadership development coaching, training, and facilitation.

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