[btilly]

The author also assumes too much of the interviewer's honesty. A vague question can easily get a misleading response.

    Tell me about the last 3 people to leave the company.

That will reveal volumes about the company culture. And often they are volumes that the interviewer didn't want to reveal.

[soared]

I can’t imagine anyone would actually answer that question, seems inappropriate to even ask

[joezydeco]

If I'm interviewing someone and I call their old HR for a reference, they will never say anything other than employment dates to avoid lawsuits. This tracks along the same lines. I can't imagine actually getting a response to this.

[sib]

I imagine most hiring managers don't have a close enough working relationship with the last 3 people to leave the company to give good, clear, insightful, unbiased information.

Putting aside whether the company's policies would allow them to do so.

[hiatus]

Has this worked for you? Employee separation is a personnel issue so I would be surprised if any company would elaborate on that.

[btilly]

It definitely has. Just general statements with no way to track back to the people. But the color of how they felt was invaluable.