Boston Consulting Group HireVue Interview: Questions, Format, and a Worked Answer

Some BCG offices use a HireVue-style video interview before the first case round. Candidates report 3 to 5 questions with about 30 seconds to think and up to 2 minutes to answer. No retakes on the scored questions.

The questions are behavioral. BCG is looking for the same things it looks for in its live fit interviews: drive, teamwork, and a clear way of telling a story. This page has the reported questions, what each tests, and a worked answer timed to the window.

The clock and the format are the same HireVue product every employer uses. The timing guide covers what happens when the timer runs out, and how HireVue scoring works covers what the recording is scored on.

BCG's published values include clients come first, value delivered, partnership, respect for the individual, and integrity. The reported questions test partnership and value delivered most often.

• Drive. A goal you set and reached without being pushed.
• Teamwork. A group result with your part named honestly.
• Leadership. Getting people to move when you had no authority over them.
• Structured thinking. A story told in order with the point first.
• Motivation for BCG. A reason grounded in the work and the people you met.

Build one story for each line above. Every question below is asking for one of them.

These are the questions candidates report from recent Boston Consulting Group screens, with the competency each one is built to test. Your set will be a mix of these and close variants.

1. Tell me about a goal you set for yourself and how you reached it. (Drive)
2. Why consulting, and why BCG? (Motivation)
3. Describe a time you led people who did not report to you. (Leadership, influence)
4. Tell me about a time you worked on a team where you disagreed with the direction. (Teamwork, judgment)
5. Describe a time you had to deliver a result with less time or fewer resources than you needed. (Resourcefulness)
6. Tell me about a time you failed at something that mattered to you. (Accountability, learning)

For the shape of each answer type, see HireVue interview questions by format. For the answer structure itself, the STAR method guide has worked examples.

Question: "Describe a time you led people who did not report to you."

"I ran the volunteer crew for a campus food drive: 25 students, none of whom had to show up. The first weekend, eight did. I called each of the missing 17 that week, not to scold them, but to ask what shift they could actually do. Most said the Saturday morning slot was the problem. I moved the main collection to Sunday afternoons and gave each person a two-hour block with their name on it. The next weekend 21 showed up, and we collected about twice what the previous year's drive did. I had no authority over any of them. What worked was asking what they could do instead of telling them what I needed."

Why it scores: No authority, a specific diagnostic step, a change that fit the people, and a result. About 60 seconds spoken.

Specific to Boston Consulting Group:

• Lead with the point. Say what you did and what happened in the first sentence, then tell the story.
• Have a story where you led without a title. BCG asks it directly.
• For "why BCG," mention a person you spoke with or a piece of work you read. Generic reasons score low.

For any HireVue:

1. Day 1. Write one story per competency in the list above. Two or three sentences each: the situation, what you decided, what happened.
2. Day 2. Say each story out loud on a two-minute timer. Most people run long the first time. Cut until each one ends on the result with time to spare.
3. Day 3. Run the reported questions cold, in one sitting, no notes. Then set up the room: quiet, camera at eye level, light on your face, wired internet if you have it.

On Day 3, run it as the real thing: a live interviewer on video who asks BCG-style questions and follows up.

The full setup checklist and a five-day version of this plan are in the free HireVue practice guide.

Still need the resume for the application? Build it on your phone, free to preview. After you submit, results often take a week or more. Here is how to follow up after an interview if the window passes, and a salary negotiation email for when the offer comes. Applying for a move up where you already work? See promotion interview questions.

Company guides in this series, each with the reported questions and a worked answer:

• Goldman Sachs HireVue (investment banking)
• JPMorgan Chase HireVue (investment banking)
• Morgan Stanley HireVue (investment banking)
• Citi HireVue (banking)
• Bank of America HireVue (banking)
• Barclays HireVue (banking)
• Deutsche Bank HireVue (banking)
• Bain & Company HireVue (consulting)
• Deloitte HireVue (consulting and professional services)
• EY HireVue (professional services)
• Unilever HireVue (consumer goods)
• PepsiCo HireVue (consumer goods)
• Amazon HireVue (technology and operations)
• IBM HireVue (technology)
• Boeing HireVue (aerospace and engineering)
• Hilton HireVue (hospitality)
• Delta Air Lines HireVue (airlines)
• McDonald's HireVue (restaurants)
• Shell HireVue (energy)
• PwC HireVue (accounting and professional services)
• Accenture HireVue (consulting and technology services)
• Vodafone HireVue (telecommunications)
• Kraft Heinz HireVue (consumer packaged goods)
• Wells Fargo HireVue (banking)
• BlackRock HireVue (asset management)
• UBS HireVue (banking)
• United Airlines HireVue (airlines)
• Emirates HireVue (airlines)
• Marriott HireVue (hospitality)
• Johnson & Johnson HireVue (health care)
• PNC HireVue (banking)
• Kaiser Permanente HireVue (health care)
• KKR HireVue (private equity)
• Keurig Dr Pepper HireVue (consumer goods)
• Target HireVue (retail)
• Walmart HireVue (retail)
• Nike HireVue (sportswear)
• Macy's HireVue (retail)