PepsiCo HireVue Interview: Questions, Format, and a Worked Answer

PepsiCo uses HireVue for many campus programs and some operations roles. Candidates report 5 to 7 questions, with 30 seconds to think and up to 3 minutes to answer. No retakes on the scored questions.

PepsiCo publishes "The PepsiCo Way," a short list of behaviors, and the reported questions follow it: act as an owner, get things done fast, voice opinions, and act with integrity. This page has the questions, the behavior behind each, and a worked answer.

Want a run-through first? HireVue practice gives you the same timed format with your answers scored, free.

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.

The PepsiCo Way lists seven behaviors, including be consumer centric, act as owners, focus and get things done fast, voice opinions fearlessly, and act with integrity. The reported questions test those five most often.

• Ownership. Treating a result as yours even when the task was shared.
• Speed. Getting something done faster than expected, without cutting corners.
• Voice. Saying a hard thing to the right person at the right time.
• Consumer focus. Understanding what a customer or shopper actually wanted.
• Integrity. The honest call under pressure.

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

These are the questions candidates report from recent PepsiCo 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 time you acted like an owner on something that was not officially yours. (Ownership)
2. Why PepsiCo, and why this function? (Motivation)
3. Describe a time you got something done faster than people expected. How? (Speed)
4. Tell me about a time you spoke up when you disagreed with someone senior. (Voice)
5. Describe a time you used what a customer or consumer said to change what you did. (Consumer focus)
6. Tell me about a time you had to work in a fast-changing situation. (Adaptability)
7. Describe a time you had to act with integrity when it was not convenient. (Integrity)

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: "Tell me about a time you spoke up when you disagreed with someone senior."

"At my summer job in a distribution warehouse, the shift lead wanted to move the fast-moving drinks to the back of the pick path because the front was crowded. I had been picking for six weeks and I knew that would add about a minute to every order. I asked for two minutes at the start of the shift and showed him my pick times on a phone note. I said the front is crowded because those items are the ones we touch most, and moving them moves the crowd with them. He did not love hearing it from a summer hire. But he tried a different fix, a second pick lane, and pick times went down instead of up. Speaking up worked because I brought a number, not an opinion."

Why it scores: Respectful, specific, backed by data the person collected, and honest about the reaction. About 60 seconds spoken.

Specific to PepsiCo:

• Prepare a "spoke up" story. PepsiCo asks it directly and most candidates have not rehearsed one.
• Pace for a longer screen. Seven questions at up to 3 minutes each is a lot of talking. End each answer when the result is stated.
• Bring a consumer story. Anything where you listened to a customer and changed something counts.

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.

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

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)
• Boston Consulting Group HireVue (consulting)
• Deloitte HireVue (consulting and professional services)
• EY HireVue (professional services)
• Unilever 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)