I originally posted this on my blog about two years ago. If it's interesting to you, I post new content on daedtech.com roughly weekly.
Ah, the ex...
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What about "It was great working here and I enjoyed the culture and people and if you are interested in my thoughts on how to make it better I would be happy to discuss being a part time consultant at thrice my prior hourly rate"?
:D
I wish there were a unicorn reaction for comments :D
I've always felt burning your bridges was best thing to do. Who wants to return to the very place you're leaving?
Don't hold back, tell them what's really happening, chances are high they don't have a clue.
It isn't about going back to the company, although I have seen people do that, usually with a better position. It is about stuff like having good references and leads for new jobs. All the people you worked with at the last job are going to leave the company eventually.
The time for honesty is probably in the 360 review. If they weren't going to fix themselves after a 360 review then they probably aren't going to do it after an exit interview.
Definitely, don't burn your reference bridges.... Just tell those in the exit interview all the reasons you are leaving (in a nice way) but don't hold back. Do not be politically correct.
Or to rephrase "don't burn bridges in your exit interview". I have mixed feelings on this. Its a very pessimistic view. If you are leaving because they truly treated you poorly, you may think you owe them nothing and they owe you nothing. And any feedback you give them they will file right under the "who gives a shit folder". Especially if the company culture is broken from the highest levels, change will likely never happen until enough people quit the company feels it in their pocket book.
But not every company is like that. Some companies DO want to retain talent. They do take complaints and feedback and constructive criticism seriously. A lot of this advice really depends on your position with the company, the company itself, and the reason for leaving.
YMMV, but I would give this advice to people with any position at any company with any reason for leaving.
And I don't really view it as "pessimistic," nor do I think "don't burn bridges" is an accurate summary of the point. Instead, I'd call it rationally self-interested and summarize the point as "offering honest negative feedback during an exit interview is a favor (of unclear value) that you're doing your former employer in exchange for nothing, which is fine as long as you understand that's what you're doing."
But I'll certainly concede that the style of career advice that I generally offer is cynical and often mercenary, and certainly not for everyone.
Wow... I skipped my last company with the exact idealist approach.
The post gave me a lot of insight regarding the matter - wish the post had been created a few months earlier :)
Thank you for the post!
"If you go to the other world, your position will be issued before your obituary"
I live by this.
Dam I guess I'm lucky that my mentor advise me to be a opportunists.
When I leave my previous company on a positive note and being vague in advise on things to improve on.
Sounds like good advice :)
This makes me feel a little better about the one exit interview I had, which was a anonymous survey, btw.
I had lots to say. Not much positive but I kept it relatively neutral.
If 10 people leave and all complain about the exact same thing then those criticisms become way more valid.