The Exit Interview EBN's column for honest practitioner takes on employer branding, talent, and recruitment. Anonymous by design. No names, no employers, no PR filter. If you have something true to say that rarely survives the official version, this is where it goes.
What senior practitioners actually think. Published anonymously.
Most employer branding content is written for the audience employers want, not the one they have. It describes the field as it should work, for companies that have budget, brand equity, and leaders who understand what they are buying.
The Exit Interview is for everything else.
Have something to say that you can't say on the record? It belongs in The Exit Interview.
This is EBN's column for practitioners who have something true to say about employer branding, talent, and recruitment, and a legitimate reason not to say it under their own name. Every piece is submitted anonymously, edited by EBN, and published under the pseudonym Unnamed Chro.
We do not know who our contributors are. We do not ask. What we do ask is that what you share is true, based on your real experience, and not designed to harm an individual person or company.
What makes a publishable take
The Exit Interview is not a complaints box. It is a column for practitioners who have seen something, learned something, or figured something out that the field needs to hear but rarely does.
The difference between a vent and a publishable take is transferable insight. A vent describes what happened to you. A publishable take explains what that reveals about how the industry works, and why it matters to someone who has never worked at your company.
Before you write, ask yourself:
- Would a senior HR, TA, or EB leader at a different company learn something concrete from this?
- Am I describing a pattern or a structural problem, not just an incident?
- Do I have a specific observation, a number, a before-and-after, or a decision that illustrates the point?
- Could I defend this argument to a peer who disagrees?
If the answer is yes, you have something worth submitting.
Takes that tend to work:
- What your data shows that contradicts standard EB advice
- Where the accepted playbook fails and what you do instead
- What leaders consistently misunderstand about employer branding, talent, or recruitment
- The gap between what your company promises candidates and what the internal numbers show
- What you would do differently, and why you could not at the time
- What a restructure, a bad hire, or a failed campaign actually taught you
What we do not publish:
- Personal grievances without transferable insight
- Attacks on named individuals or identifiable companies
- Claims about illegal conduct without evidence
- Content that could identify the contributor through specific detail combinations
Not sure if your take qualifies? Submit it anyway and we will tell you honestly. For a fuller sense of EBN's editorial standards and what good looks like, read our contributor guidelines →
How it works
You submit using the form below. No name, no employer, no contact details required. Write in your own voice and as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing. We handle the editing, structure, and anonymisation.
If you want to review the draft before we publish, leave a disposable email and we will be in touch. If you do not, we will edit lightly and publish at our discretion.
We strip anything that could identify you. We do not strip the uncomfortable parts.
Submissions are published at EBN's discretion and on our own timetable. We do not confirm receipt or respond to submissions where no contact details are provided.
Submission Form
Submissions are published at EBN's discretion and on our own timetable. We do not confirm receipt or respond to submissions where no contact details are provided.
By submitting, you confirm that your contribution is based on your own genuine experience, does not contain false statements about identifiable individuals or organisations, and does not knowingly infringe third-party rights. EBN reserves the right to edit, decline, or hold submissions without explanation. We do not retain identifying information about contributors.
Prefer to go on the record? If you are happy to publish under your own name, EBN welcomes attributed contributions from senior practitioners. Find out how to write for EBN →
EBN