Exit Interview Questions Template
Free exit interview questions template with 20 organized questions for small businesses. Covers job satisfaction, management, culture, and honest feedback.
Last updated: 2026-02-09
Exit Interview Questions Template
When someone leaves your small team, you lose more than a pair of hands. You lose insight into what it is like to work at your company from the inside. A thoughtful set of exit interview questions helps you capture that insight before they walk out the door, so you can learn from it and make your workplace better for the people who stay.
This template includes 20 questions organized by category, ready to use as-is or adapt to your business.
When to Use This Template
- An employee has submitted their resignation and their last day is approaching
- An employee is being laid off and you want to gather feedback on their experience
- You want to identify patterns in why people leave (use this consistently with every departure)
- You are building an offboarding process and need a structured interview format
Exit Interview Form
Interview Details
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Employee Name | _______________________________________ |
| Job Title | _______________________________________ |
| Department | _______________________________________ |
| Hire Date | ________ / ________ / ________ |
| Last Day of Employment | ________ / ________ / ________ |
| Interviewer Name | _______________________________________ |
| Interview Date | ________ / ________ / ________ |
| Reason for Leaving | [ ] Resignation [ ] Layoff [ ] Retirement [ ] Other: _____________ |
Category 1: Overall Experience
1. How would you describe your overall experience working here?
2. What did you enjoy most about working at this company?
3. What did you enjoy least about working here?
4. Would you recommend this company as a good place to work? Why or why not?
Category 2: The Role
5. Did your job match the description you were given when you were hired? If not, how did it differ?
6. Did you feel you had the tools, training, and resources you needed to do your job well?
7. Was your workload manageable? Were there times when you felt overwhelmed or underutilized?
8. Did you feel your skills and talents were being used effectively?
Category 3: Management and Leadership
9. How would you describe your relationship with your direct manager?
10. Did you receive regular, useful feedback on your performance?
11. Did you feel comfortable bringing concerns or ideas to your manager?
12. Is there anything your manager could have done differently to improve your experience?
Category 4: Culture and Work Environment
13. How would you describe the company culture?
14. Did you feel valued and recognized for your contributions?
15. Did you feel the company treated employees fairly and consistently?
Category 5: Growth and Development
16. Did you have opportunities for professional growth or advancement?
17. If growth opportunities were limited, did that factor into your decision to leave?
Category 6: Compensation and Benefits
18. Did you feel your compensation was fair for the work you performed?
19. Were there specific benefits or perks that mattered most to you? Were any missing?
Category 7: Final Thoughts
20. If you could change one thing about this company, what would it be?
Bonus: Is there anything else you would like to share that we did not cover?
Interviewer Notes
Key themes from this conversation:
Actionable takeaways:
| Takeaway | Area | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| _______________________________________ | _________________ | _________________ |
| _______________________________________ | _________________ | _________________ |
| _______________________________________ | _________________ | _________________ |
Interviewer Signature: _______________________________________ Date: ________ / ________ / ________
How to Use This Template
- Schedule the interview. Set up a 30 to 45-minute meeting during the employee's last week. Choose a private, comfortable setting.
- Choose your interviewer. Ideally, the exit interview is conducted by someone other than the employee's direct manager. In a small business, this might be the owner, a senior team member, or whoever handles HR responsibilities. The goal is to make the employee feel safe to speak honestly.
- Share questions in advance (optional). Some employees give more thoughtful answers when they have time to prepare. Consider sending the exit interview questions a day or two early.
- Listen more than you talk. This is not the time to defend decisions or explain policies. Thank the employee for their candor and take notes.
- Record the answers. Fill in the form during or immediately after the conversation while details are fresh.
- Look for patterns. One person's feedback is an opinion. The same feedback from three departing employees is a trend. Review exit interview data periodically to identify recurring issues.
- Take action. The value of exit interview questions is in what you do with the answers. Share relevant (anonymized) feedback with leadership and make changes where warranted.
Tips for Small Businesses
- Make it voluntary. Exit interviews should never feel mandatory or coercive. Frame it as an opportunity, not a requirement.
- Promise confidentiality. Let the employee know their specific answers will not be shared with their manager or held against them in any reference check.
- Do not skip it for short-tenure employees. Someone who leaves after three months may have the most useful feedback about your hiring and onboarding process.
- Keep the tone positive. Thank the employee for their time at the company. A respectful exit increases the chance they will say good things about your business after they leave.
- Track the data over time. Even with a team of five, conducting exit interviews consistently builds a dataset that can reveal real problems and opportunities.
Keeping offboarding organized, from exit interviews to final paperwork, is easier when you have a system in place. Boring HR's Team Tracker helps you manage employee records from hire to departure so nothing gets missed.