I gave my resignation to the current company. HR told me that I must conduct an exit interview. But I don't want to do it since I believe it is pointless and I don't want to spend my time.
I checked my contract, but I couldn't find anything. There is only mention about to help my substitute to take up my duties.
Can they do anything if I refuse to conduct the exit interview?
What are they going to do, fire you?
But in seriousness - if it is during the time you are still serving your notice, I would advise just going to the interview and keeping it brief. Your contract probably mentions something to the effect that you are required to perform tasks according to what your manager says, and this would likely be one of those tasks. Not much will happen, but if you don't want to burn bridges and be a bad leaver, just go along with it. It's probably less then an hour of your time.
If the interview would take place after you had your last day, they of course cannot force you.
But I don't want to do it since I believe it is pointless and I don't want to spend my time.
It's not your time that you're spending - you are still employed by them and on the clock. If they want to waste an hour of that time with an exit interview (rather than you doing documentation or more useful handover stuff) then that's fine.
Can they do anything if I refuse to conduct the exit interview?
They could refuse to give you a reference (or give you a negative one). Depending on how your industry works, the could also chat with their peers at other companies, and add you to the list of people who shouldn't be hired (blacklists are usually illegal, but still happen).
The best thing you can do is to go to the interview, and give non-committal answers to their questions. Focus on the positives of your new job, rather than the negatives of this one.
Do not use this as an opportunity to vent or complain about the company or individual staff. You have nothing to gain from doing so, and it could potentially backfire and result in negative consequences for you (as per the above).
You said:
since I believe it is pointless
You may be incorrect.
An exit interview is often the time when the Human Resources department will cover important legal and practical issues.
So attending the exit interview is quite beneficial to you. This is the opportunity to wrap up all these legal and practical matters as quickly and simply as possible.
Take all the time you need to read through any documents that they ask you to sign. Do not feel rushed. If you are at all uncomfortable with any document, or do not understand it, explain that you cannot sign at the moment, and ask for a copy to take with you. Then you can study further, or consult an attorney or such.
As others have said, you may be invited to give feedback about your experience with the job and company. And as others cautioned, this is a fruitless formality that should be kept short with a polite simple statement. This part may take less than one minute.
The HR person does not really care about the motivations for your departure, so there is no grilling or interrogation. They just need to tick some box in their HR software form. Generally, you are under no obligation to provide them any feedback or commentary. So one of those boxes on that form will be “No comment”, and you may choose that option.
If you have any pending or potential legal issues with the company, check with your attorney as to what to say or not say during the exit interview meeting.
I would think that your contract would state something along the lines of performing tasks or about being professional but either way I don't see any harm in going there. If you today have a good reference why waste it?
The only con I see of going on it is that you feel that you wasted a little bit of time.
The cons of not going I see first and mostly a red flag on you being unprofessional and if you are not moving far away it may happen that one of those people will end up your boss and then you want them to have a good memory of you
I would say one thing,
DO NOT Sign Anything that may limit your ability to earn income without a comparable consideration
I would go and listen to them talk and give them whatever rubbish answers they want to make the whole thing end as quickly as possible. They may very well waste your time but you are on the way out so they won't be wasting it for much longer. You answer there question in a non confrontational way. Don't be sarcastic or snide, let the tone of your voice be as neutral as possible. I would give them what they want because after all they did employ you for however long you worked there.
You were probably able to feed and clothe yourself while you were working there, this should at least have earned a little bit of respect from you. You may have been unhappy and they may have treated you poorly but even bad jobs can be a means to some sort of career end.
If you flatter them it does not matter that your flattery is not sincere. I would even go and thank them for working there. This may be the most insincere thing you ever say, but if there is just a possibility of some future benefit arisesing from it why not do it?
What you have to realise is that manipulation that does not negatively affect other people is not a bad thing. If you can gain some benefit in life by saying something then you do it. If you gain some benefit from remaining silent then that is what you do it. You work with the personalities you come in contact with as to best benefit yourself. This is selfish, but as long as it does not negatively affect others then it is not bad.
