How long should an exit interview take?

Thirty to forty-five minutes covers ten to twelve questions with time for follow-ups. Shorter than that and you only get the polite answer. Longer and both sides tire before the closing questions, which matter most.

Is an exit interview form the same as an exit survey?

No. The form is filled in by the interviewer during a live conversation. An exit survey is filled in by the leaver alone, in writing. Use the survey for answers you can count across many leavers, and the interview to understand them.

What do you do if the employee declines the exit interview?

Accept it and offer the written survey instead, or a shorter call after they have left. Record that it was declined, because a team where most leavers decline is telling you something about trust.

Should the manager see the exit interview notes?

Share themes with the manager, not the raw notes, and wait until you have more than one leaver from the team if you can. Feedback about a specific manager goes to that manager's own manager first.

Exit Interview Form: Free Template to Fill In

Last updated October 14, 2026

An exit interview form keeps every exit conversation comparable.

An exit interview is a conversation with someone who has resigned about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind. The form is for the interviewer. It holds the same questions in the same order for every leaver, so the notes from one conversation can sit next to the notes from the last ten.

This form opens with words to read out, moves through the decision, the role, the manager and the team, and closes with one primary reason picked from a fixed list. That last field is the one you will count later.

Here is how to use the exit interview form in five steps.

How to use it

1Pick a neutral interviewer
2Hold it in the final week
3Read the opening words
4Listen more than you write
5Pick one primary reason

Pick a neutral interviewer. Someone from the people team, or a manager from another team, should run it. A leaver rarely tells their own manager the full reason.
Hold it in the final week. Book 30 to 45 minutes in private, a few days before the last day. Send the questions the day before so the answers are considered.
Read the opening words. Say what the conversation is for and how the notes will be used before the first question. It sets how open the rest will be.
Listen more than you write. Ask the question, then ask what they mean by the answer. Write short notes in their words and do not defend the company.
Pick one primary reason. Straight after the conversation, choose one reason from the list and write the follow-up actions with an owner.

Here is a worked example with invented names.

Take an invented company, Brambleworth Logistics, with 300 employees. Dana Okoye, a dispatch team lead, resigns after three years, and Marcus Bell from the people team runs the interview.

Dana says the new job pays about the same. What moved her was that she had asked twice about a path to operations manager and never got an answer. Asked what would have changed her mind, she says a plan with a date.

Worked example

Brambleworth Logistics, an invented company: one exit interview

EmployeeDana Okoye, dispatch team lead, 3 years
InterviewerMarcus Bell, people team
What made you start looking?Asked twice about a path to operations manager, no answer
Would a change have kept you?A plan with a date
Primary reasonGrowth and career path
Would consider returningYes

Follow-up action

Operations director explains the route to operations manager to each team lead by month end

Marcus picks growth and career path as the primary reason, notes that Dana would consider returning, and writes one action: the operations director will explain the route to operations manager to each team lead by the end of the month.

These mistakes spoil an exit interview.

Having the direct manager run the interview, which hides any reason that involves the manager.
Arguing with an answer or explaining why the company did what it did. The leaver stops talking.
Writing a summary in your own words. Keep their words, because the phrasing is the evidence.
Leaving the primary reason blank or picking several, so the interview cannot be counted.
Treating the form as the end. If nobody owns a follow-up action, the next leaver will say the same thing.

People ask these questions about exit interview forms.

Someone the leaver does not report to: a member of the people team, or in a small company a manager from a different team. The point is that the leaver can speak about their own manager without that manager in the room.

These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it.

Exit interview
An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind.
Exit survey
An exit survey is the written, usually anonymous form version of the exit interview, built from consistent questions so answers can be counted across many leavers.
Regretted attrition
Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep.
Boomerang employee
A boomerang employee is a former employee who is rehired by the same company after working somewhere else.

These pages on this site go deeper.

These templates pair well with this one.

Exit survey template
Twelve questions a leaver answers in writing, in about ten minutes.
Exit interview tracking spreadsheet
One row per leaver, eight columns, and a short review for the quarter.
Employee offboarding checklist
Four stages and 21 items, from notice to the week after the last day.

Find out who is showing exit signals.

Score one person against ten factors in five areas, in a few minutes, and see which signals are contributing most.

Run a flight risk assessment

Free, no signup required.

Back to the HR templates, where all 22 are listed.