Departing employees hold the most honest feedback your company will ever receive — and most of it is never collected. This exit interview form captures reasons for leaving, what they valued, what they'd change, and whether they'd recommend you as an employer. Insights that prevent the next resignation often come from the last one.
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Exit interview data is some of the most valuable and underused information in HR. When employees leave, the social pressure to be diplomatic fades — people who wouldn't say a negative word in a performance review will be candid in an exit interview, especially if it's written and confidential. That candor is exactly what organizations need to understand why people leave and what would have made them stay.
This template is designed around the questions that produce actionable insights. The primary reason for leaving dropdown identifies trend data — if 'better compensation at another company' appears in 60% of exit interviews, that's a compensation strategy conversation. The 'what would you change' free-text field is where the most specific and surprising feedback surfaces, which is why its placeholder explicitly encourages specificity. The employer recommendation and likelihood to return questions give you leading indicators of your employer brand health.
Making the name field optional is a deliberate design choice. Anonymous exit interviews get more honest responses. Some HR teams prefer identified responses so they can follow up — in that case, simply make it required. formformform gives you all submissions in one place, exportable for trend analysis across cohorts and over time.
Use your own copy to change labels, remove questions and add the details you need. Try the preview alongside this guide to see what respondents will be asked.
Review the starting questions and choices. You can change them in your own copy.
Jane Smith
Marketing Manager
Marketing
e.g., 3 years, 8 months
You can share as much or as little as you're comfortable with.
People, culture, flexibility, projects, growth opportunities, etc.
Be as specific as you're comfortable with. This is the feedback most likely to drive real change.
Anything else you'd like to share.
Suggested uses, and why this starting point can help. Adapt the questions to your own process.
Turn initial interest into information you can review. Use the answers to prepare a relevant follow-up and decide whether the opportunity fits your work. Review “Job Title” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Turn initial interest into information you can review. Use the answers to prepare a relevant follow-up and decide whether the opportunity fits your work. Review “Department” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Last Day of Employment” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Length of Employment” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Turn initial interest into information you can review. Use the answers to prepare a relevant follow-up and decide whether the opportunity fits your work. Review “Primary Reason for Leaving” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Please elaborate on your reason for leaving” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Replace scattered requests with a consistent starting point. The answers help you understand the work, identify gaps and prepare a follow-up. Review “Overall, how satisfied were you in your role?” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Click 'Use this template' to open the exit interview form in formformform.
Decide whether to make the name field required or optional — optional produces more candid responses, required allows follow-up conversations.
Customize the 'Reason for Leaving' dropdown to reflect patterns you're already seeing in your org, or add company-specific options like 'Acquired by another company' or 'Contract end'.
Update the intro paragraph to reinforce confidentiality and explain how the feedback will be used.
Set your HR team's email as the notification recipient.
Share the form link with departing employees at or before their last week — ideally framed as a 15-minute investment that genuinely helps the colleagues they're leaving behind.
employees are distracted and rushed on their final day. Send the exit interview link during their notice period when they still have headspace to give thoughtful responses.
employees are more candid when they trust their feedback won't be shared with their manager or used against a reference check. State your confidentiality policy explicitly in the form intro.
a single exit interview is interesting; 20 exit interviews from the same department are actionable. Aggregate and review quarterly.
if multiple departing employees cite the same issue and you fix it, tell remaining employees. 'Based on feedback from exit interviews, we changed X' builds trust in the process.
a company-wide attrition reason might mask a department-level problem. Export your data and filter by department to identify hotspots.
the best retention tool is a stay interview: asking current employees what would make them leave. Exit interview themes make excellent stay interview prompts.
Yes, completely free. You can collect unlimited exit interview submissions with no subscription required.
It depends on your culture and goals. Anonymous exit interviews produce more candid responses, especially about management issues. Identified ones allow follow-up conversations. This template makes the name field optional — you can make it required if your process calls for identified responses.
Send it during the employee's notice period — ideally within the first week after they give notice, while they still have time to reflect thoughtfully. Avoid sending it on their last day when they're distracted and eager to move on.
Typically HR leadership and senior management — not the departing employee's direct manager, especially if management issues are a common reason for leaving. Configure dashboard access and notification email accordingly.
Export all submissions from your formformform dashboard as a CSV. Filter by the 'Primary Reason for Leaving' column to identify the most common reasons, and compare quarterly to see whether retention initiatives are having an effect.
Yes. The form works for any departure — adjust the wording of the intro and any fields to fit the context, and rename 'Last Day of Employment' to 'Last Day of Engagement' if appropriate.
Run pulse surveys to gauge employee satisfaction and gather suggestions.
Run consistent, structured performance reviews for your entire team.
Track PTO and leave requests with type, dates, and coverage plans.
Collect professional reference details in one organized, professional form.
Ensure every employee separation is complete, compliant, and documented.
Gather multi-rater feedback on communication, leadership, and performance.
Ask why someone stays and what would make them leave — while they're still here.
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Free for non-commercial projects, with unlimited forms and responses.
Use this template