How to Behave on Your Way Out the Door

Your company s exit interview, if there is one, is another test of your ability to maintain your calm and perspective. A company may utilize the formal Human Resources exit interview to obtain helpful information and to gauge your state of mind as you leave. Human Resources will most probably focus on management and compensation issues. You should be guardedly candid if pressed, but not cruel to your manager. HR uses compensation feedback to keep the company s hiring and compensation packages competitive so that the company will not lose more good employees like you.

Any way you leave ”voluntarily, terminated , or retired ”you are going through a transition period that taxes your perspective and perhaps your fairness.

You can turn an exit interview to everyone s advantage if you just try to be as fair and as objective as you can be. This is not the time for trashing former managers and co-workers . It is the time for objectivity and professionalism .

$$ The Bottom Line $$

Sometimes, whether you like it or not, the winds of your career will shift and you will find yourself subtly or not-so-subtly pushed out the door, either by circumstances or by your lack of current skills. If you find yourself in the checklist in this chapter, watch out. You re on your way out ”in a hurry.

Whether you leave voluntarily or involuntarily, be civil; leave with grace. At some point, someone will surely be inquiring about your job history to the Human Resources Department or to a previous manager of yours, even if you don t ask them for job references.