Recruiting and training new people is an expensive process in terms of both time and money, so most organizations want to keep good employees. By conducting exit interviews with employees who opt to leave the organization, employers can identify organizational problems—such as poor management style, noncompetitive salary, or weak employee benefits—that might affect employee retention. Your college might conduct an exit interview with you as you graduate to identify the highs and lows of your college experience (and perhaps recruit you for the alumni association).

Exit interviews should be carefully evaluated, as people leaving an organization may hide their true reasons for departing in an effort to put a “positive face” on the situation. Also, interviewers may take that information at face value, reporting more confidence back to the organization than is warranted (Gordon, 2011). In fact, leaving an organization requires people not only to physically disengage but also to deal with feelings of ambivalence and an adjustment in identity as they start to focus on their future (Davis & Myers, 2012). These complexities may not be revealed by a standard exit interview.