1. Why did you come to work here?
Almost every interview is fundamentally asking the same question — Why are you leaving — but Dean Carter, the head of HR at Patagonia, the outdoor gear company with famously low turnover, suggests bosses turn this question on its head.
2. What were your greatest accomplishments and greatest challenges?
This more positive spin isn’t just to spare people’s feelings. It’s a way around our natural reluctance to deliver negative feedback and can spur “a tremendous amount of feedback to the manager,” according to Oakes.
3. Do you have a suggestion for how to fix that?
In a classic HBR article on how to conduct an exit interview, a West Point colonel and Harvard Business School professor recommend interviewers avoid defensiveness and refrain from offering possible fixes for any issues raised by the employee. Instead, let the interviewee vent, but push them gently to suggest possible solutions.
4. How do you colleagues feel about working here?
If a child is hurt or upset and reluctant to talk about it, you can sometimes make progress by asking how his or her doll or stuffed animal feels. The child might not want to admit she’s frightened, but she’s happy to tell you Dolly is absolutely terrified about that trip to the dentist tomorrow. It’s easier to talk about other people’s feelings than our own.
5. What skills and qualifications do you think we need to look for in your replacement?
Here are two truths: one, no one understands what it takes to do a job well better than the person who is currently doing it well. And two, research shows companies are pretty terrible at writing accurate, useful job descriptions.