0. Opening
- Explain purpose: organizational learning + knowledge transfer (not evaluation)
- Confirm confidentiality / how insights will be used
1. Projects & Offboarding
Projects
- Which projects are currently open?
- What needs to be handed over?
- Who should take over what?
- Any hidden dependencies?
Expectations on open projects
- What is โgood enoughโ completion?
- What should explicitly not be continued?
- Any contributions needed in the future?
Knowledge transfer
- Undocumented workflows?
- What knowledge currently lives only โin your headโ?
- What would someone new need to know on day one?
- Anything you would have liked to know earlier when starting?
2. Infrastructure & Coordination
Digital infrastructure
- What worked well?
- Where did tools or workflows create friction?
- Any recurring technical or coordination issues?
Project management
- How effective was project management overall?
- Where did projects stall?
- Anything you would change?
3. Work Design & Learning
Skills
- Which skills did you acquire as part of your work here (most significant)?
- Which skills are most relevant for your next step?
- What do you wish you had learned earlier?
Autonomy vs. structure
- Where was autonomy helpful?
- Where would more structure have helped?
- Were expectations generally clear?
4. Synthesis: Keep / Stop / Start
- What should the lab keep doing?
- What should we stop doing?
- What should we start doing?
5. Forward-Looking Closure
Next step preparation
- What helped you prepare for your next stage (industry / PhD)?
- What could the lab do better to support future transitions?
Recommendation letter / academic support
- What would you like emphasized?
- Which projects or skills best represent your work?
Network
- Alumni page?
- Staying connected?
- Agenda or repository access?
Celebrate success
- What are you most proud of from your time here?
Notes for Interviewer
- Treat this partly as offboarding + organizational learning
- Listen for:
- undocumented workflows
- project state
- dependencies
- tacit practices
- Capture concrete examples where possible
- Feed back aggregated themes into lab practices