Exit surveys are an opportunity for recruiters to gain a better understanding of their own process and how their clients and customers experienced it. An effectively written survey gives you valuable information on what you do well and how you could improve. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses means you can react and refine your process with each and every person you work with. In addition, an exit survey demonstrates professionalism. Professionalism shows that you care about you clients’ and candidates’ experience as well as improving your own, which will hopefully garner referrals and repeat business. Exit surveys should always be the last part of your recruitment process. As such, they should be seamlessly incorporated into your final means of communication is.

Below are a variety of sample questions you can use in your own surveys. Some may be more pertinent to your process than others, so feel free to adopt them in any way you see fit. Also, it’s important to note that there are free response questions, multiple choice, and rating questions Each type of question has its own purpose. Free response questions are for gathering opinions, multiple choice gives you more concrete and sortable responses, and rating questions fall on a 1-10 scale, making it easier for responders to answer tough questions.

Candidate Exit Survey Questions

How did you learn about us?

What position did you apply for?

Who was the primary recruiter you worked with?

How many interviews did you participate in?

On a scale of 1-10, how prepared did you feel for your interviews?

On a scale of 1-10, how well did your recruiter prep you for your interviews?

What could we do to better prepare you for interviews?

How long did the recruitment process last?

  • 1-2 weeks
  • 3-4 weeks
  • Over a month

What did you like about the recruitment process?

How could we improve the recruitment process?

How satisfied were you with our level of communication?

  • Extremely satisfied
  • Fairly satisfied
  • Not very satisfied
  • Not at all satisfied

How prompt was our email response time?

  • Extremely prompt
  • Very prompt
  • Not very prompt
  • Not at all prompt

How prompt was our phone response time?

  • Extremely prompt
  • Fairly prompt
  • Not very prompt
  • Not at all prompt

How could we improve our communication?

How likely are you to work with us again?

  • Extremely likely
  • Fairly likely
  • Not very likely
  • Not at all likely

How likely are you to recommend us to other job seekers?

  • Extremely likely
  • Fairly likely
  • Not very likely
  • Not at all likely

Any final thoughts you’d like to add?

Client Exit Survey Questions

How did you learn about us?

In which industry do you work?

What position did you contract us to fill?

Who was the recruiter you primarily worked with?

How well did we set your expectations for the process?

  • Extremely well
  • Fairly well
  • Not very well
  • Not at all well

How well were those expectations met?

  • Extremely well
  • Fairly well
  • Not very well
  • Not at all well

How could we improve setting expectations?

How satisfied were you with our level of understanding of your company and industry?

  • Extremely satisfied
  • Fairly satisfied
  • Not very satisfied
  • Not at all satisfied

How could we improve our level of understanding?

Were you satisfied with the quantity of candidates submitted? If not, why?

Were you satisfied with the quality of candidates submitted? If not, why?

On a scale of 1-10, how easy was the candidate approval process?

How could we improve the candidate approval process?

How many interviews did you participate in?

On a scale of 1-10, how prepared were the candidates in their interviews?

On a scale of 1-10, how prepared did you feel for interviews?

From intake meeting to point of hire, how long was the process?

  • 1-2 weeks
  • 3-4 weeks
  • Over a month

On a scale of 1-10, how easy was the recruitment process?

What did you like about our process?

How could we improve our process?

On a scale of 1-10, how prompt was our communication?

How prompt was our email response time?

  • Extremely prompt
  • Fairly prompt
  • Not very prompt
  • Not at all prompt

How prompt was our phone response time?

  • Extremely prompt
  • Fairly prompt
  • Not very prompt
  • Not at all prompt

How could we improve communication?

How likely are you to work with us again?

  • Extremely likely
  • Fairly likely
  • Not very likely
  • Not at all likely

How likely are you to recommend us to other companies?

  • Extremely likely
  • Fairly likely
  • Not very likely
  • Not at all likely

Any final thoughts you’d like to add?

Administering the Survey

Online survey creation is preferable due to customization capabilities. There are a variety of online survey services, but SurveyMonkey and Google Forms are two of the best. They are simple, easy ways to create straightforward, elegant surveys. To maximize the amount of survey responses, it’s important to know that the best times to send an email are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10am or 2pm.

After the Survey

Once you’ve collected exit surveys, see what you can glean from the responses and adjust your process accordingly. See if you can find any patterns, or if there are certain things that jump out. Read the free answer questions carefully, and pay attention to word choices. If someone thinks your recruiting process takes too long, find a way to accelerate it. If your client felt you weren’t as transparent as you could have been, find a way to be more open. Exit surveys are the very best way for you to boost candidate and client experience, but they are useless without reaction.