Build a manager exit interview outline

Exit Interviews Compound Long After You Leave

Exit interviews shape the reference conversation your future hiring managers will have in 5 years. First Round Review on leaving well and HBR on career capital both argue that the long-run value of a good exit interview — measured in future references, rehires, and network deposits — far exceeds the short-run catharsis of a blunt one.

How the Build a manager exit interview outline Prompt Works

The prompt structures the exit into six sections, emphasizes structural rather than personal feedback, and includes a handoff document for the incoming PM. The "feedback I'd hold back" output is the judgment: some feedback is right but unactionable, and holding it back preserves the relationship without losing signal.

When to Use It

• You are leaving a company in the next 30 days.
• A role exit is contemplated and you want to plan the conversation.
• A peer is leaving and needs a thoughtful framework.
• A manager relationship is ending and you want to preserve the network.
• An exit interview is scheduled and the usual instinct is to vent.

Common Pitfalls

• Personal blame. Personal criticism reads as vengeance. Structural framing reads as insight.
• No handoff doc. Leaving with no handoff burns goodwill. A written handoff buys years of reputation.
• Volunteering everything. Some feedback is not yours to share (e.g., peer issues not asked about).

Sources

• First Round Review — First Round
• Begin with Trust — Harvard Business Review
• Kim Scott — Kim Malone Scott
• Radical Candor — Kim Scott