# Exit interview questions prompt: free ChatGPT template > Build a short, neutral exit interview: an honest opening script, open questions about the job and support, and what to do if a serious concern comes up. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/exit-interview-questions-prompt · Updated 2026-10-01 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Hiring and HR](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-hiring-and-hr) · [Accounting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-accounting) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 1, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) Use this when a good employee is leaving and you want to learn something from it. Exit interviews fail when the questions are leading ("You were happy here, right?"), when the person doesn't know how their answers will be used, or when nobody knows what to do if they raise something serious. This prompt writes a 20-minute conversation: a short opening that tells the truth about how answers are used, neutral open questions about the work, and a clear step for handing off a serious concern instead of handling it on the spot. **Have a professional review it.** This prompt helps you draft, not decide. Employment rules vary by state and country, so have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it. ## The prompt Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every `[BLANK]` with your own details. It uses the four parts from [Prompt Writing 101](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text Role: You are an HR assistant at [BUSINESS], preparing an exit interview for a departing employee. Context: The employee is [EMPLOYEE AND ROLE]. What we want to learn: [WHAT WE WANT TO LEARN]. How we'll use the answers: [HOW WE USE ANSWERS]. If they raise harassment, discrimination, safety or another serious concern, the interviewer thanks them, doesn't investigate or judge on the spot, and passes it to [WHO HANDLES CONCERNS]. Questions must be open and neutral, about the job, the workload, tools, training and support. Don't ask about health, family, age or other personal matters, and don't ask them to criticize named coworkers. Task: Write an opening script that says the interview is voluntary and explains how answers will be used, using only what I've said. Then write 10 open questions in sections, a short script for the serious-concern situation, and a closing. Format: Sections: Opening, The job, Workload and tools, Support and training, Looking back, If a serious concern comes up, Closing. Questions numbered, one sentence each. Fits in 20 minutes. ``` ## Fill in the blanks **`[BUSINESS]`** Your business name. **`[EMPLOYEE AND ROLE]`** First name, role and roughly how long they were with you. **`[WHAT WE WANT TO LEARN]`** The one or two things you most want to understand, such as why people leave after busy season. **`[HOW WE USE ANSWERS]`** The truth: who reads them and whether they're shared with their manager. Don't promise confidentiality you can't keep. **`[WHO HANDLES CONCERNS]`** The person or role who handles serious complaints, such as the owner or your HR provider. ## Example, filled in **A made-up example** from the free lesson [Reply Faster to Clients Chasing Their Refund: ChatGPT for Tax and Bookkeeping Firms](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-client-refund-emails-accounting). Northgate Tax & Bookkeeping is the made-up tax and bookkeeping firm in the refund reply lesson. Nina, a tax preparer, is leaving after the October extension deadline, the second preparer to leave after a busy season. Copy example ```text Role: You are an HR assistant at Northgate Tax & Bookkeeping, preparing an exit interview for a departing employee. Context: The employee is Nina, tax preparer, with us three years. What we want to learn: why preparers leave after busy season, and what would have made the workload manageable. How we'll use the answers: only the owner reads the notes; we look for patterns across exits and don't share individual answers with team leads. If they raise harassment, discrimination, safety or another serious concern, the interviewer thanks them, doesn't investigate or judge on the spot, and passes it to the owner the same day. Questions must be open and neutral, about the job, the workload, tools, training and support. Don't ask about health, family, age or other personal matters, and don't ask them to criticize named coworkers. Task: Write an opening script that says the interview is voluntary and explains how answers will be used, using only what I've said. Then write 10 open questions in sections, a short script for the serious-concern situation, and a closing. Format: Sections: Opening, The job, Workload and tools, Support and training, Looking back, If a serious concern comes up, Closing. Questions numbered, one sentence each. Fits in 20 minutes. ``` ## What a good answer looks like - An opening that says the owner reads the notes and that individual answers aren't shared with team leads, and nothing more. - Neutral questions such as "Walk me through a typical week in March. What took the most time?" instead of "Was it too much work?" - At least one question aimed at what you want to learn, such as "What one change would have made busy season manageable?" - A serious-concern script that thanks, doesn't probe, and names the owner as the handoff. ## How to check it before you use it An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the [Reply Faster lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out. - Check the opening against How we use answers. If it promised "completely confidential" or "anonymous" and that isn't true, fix it. - Read each question for a built-in answer. "Don't you think..." and "Wasn't it..." are leading; rewrite them as open questions. - Make sure no question asks about personal matters or invites criticism of a named coworker. - Agree with the owner, before the interview, how a serious concern will be handled. HR or an employment attorney can help with that process. ## Why this prompt works The Context sets the rules the AI can't guess: what's true about confidentiality and where a serious concern goes. Without them, AI tends to add reassuring promises like "everything you say is anonymous," the kind of confident detail that sounds right and isn't yours to make, a form of [hallucination](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/hallucination). ## Practice it in the free lesson **[Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format)**: Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/prompt-writing-101) Also useful: [Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-interview-debrief-scorecard) ## Terms used here [Hallucination](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/hallucination) · [Prompt constraints](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt-constraints) ## Related prompts - [Survey results summary prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/survey-results-summary-prompt): Summarize survey responses into counted themes with exact quotes, standout comments and follow-up questions, without overstating… - [One-on-one meeting prep prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/one-on-one-meeting-prep-prompt): Prepare a one-on-one from your notes: what you owe them from last time, specific wins, questions that let them talk first, and… - [Employee handbook section prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/employee-handbook-section-prompt): Turn your own rules into one plain-English handbook section, with every gap and anything touching pay, discipline or privacy… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)