New Hire Entry Interview: First Impressions & Retention

Welcome aboard, and thanks for taking a few minutes for this! We want to understand what made you join us and how things have felt so far so we can keep improving the experience for new hires. Your responses are completely confidential and anonymized. Honest answers help most — this takes about 6 minutes.

What was the single biggest reason you decided to join us?

• Compensation and benefits
• Career growth opportunities
• The company's mission or product
• The team or manager I met during interviews
• Flexibility or remote-work options
• Company reputation or brand
• Job security or stability

Thinking back to when you were deciding whether to accept the offer, which of these mattered most and least?

• Compensation and benefits
• Career growth opportunities
• Company mission or product
• The team and manager from interviews
• Work-life balance and flexibility
• Job security or stability
• Company reputation or brand
• Location or remote-work options

So far, how does the day-to-day role compare to what was described during hiring?

How has each of these compared to what you expected before you started?

How likely are you to recommend this company to a friend as a great place to work?

Ask the respondent to describe the single moment since starting where the job felt most different from what they expected — better or worse — and get concrete specifics: what happened, who was involved, how it changed their view. Anchor on whichever item they rated lowest in the expectations matrix and dig into what's driving that gap. Then look forward: ask what would need to be true a year from now for them to say joining was the right call, and if they give a vague answer like 'better communication,' push for one specific example of what that would actually look like.

Rank these from what would most to least influence your decision to stay here long-term.

1. Clear path for career growth
2. Meaningful or impactful work
3. Compensation growth over time
4. Relationship with my manager
5. Team culture and belonging
6. Work-life balance
7. Job security or stability

What's one thing that has surprised you — positively or negatively — since you started?

How long have you been with the company so far? (Optional)

• Less than 1 month
• 1-3 months
• 3-6 months
• 6-12 months
• More than 12 months
• Prefer not to say

Which department are you part of? (Optional) (Template note: replace with your own department or team list before launching.)

• Engineering
• Sales
• Marketing
• Customer Success
• Operations
• Product
• Prefer not to say

What's your primary work arrangement? (Optional)

• Remote
• Hybrid
• Onsite
• Prefer not to say

That's everything — thank you! Your answers will be reviewed by HR alongside other new hires' responses to improve onboarding, set expectations more accurately, and shape what we do to help people like you stay and grow here.