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

PNC sends a recorded video interview to most early-career applicants, and candidates report it runs on HireVue. Candidates report 5 to 6 behavioral questions, about 30 seconds to think, and up to 2 minutes to answer. Most report 2 attempts per question. Some tracks add short games after the questions, such as a math game, a pattern game, and a personality quiz.

PNC publishes seven values, and the questions lean on customer focus, teamwork, and integrity most of all. Candidates report "Why PNC?", questions about the line of business and the city, and on finance tracks a basic question about how banks make money. This page lists those questions, what each one tests, 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.

PNC publishes seven values: customer focus, diversity and inclusion, integrity, performance, quality of life, respect, and teamwork. Its definition of integrity includes making it possible for colleagues to raise concerns, so a story about speaking up fits well.

• Motivation for PNC. A reason for PNC, the line of business, and the city, tied to the work.
• Customer focus. A time you met someone's need clearly and kept your promise.
• Teamwork. Your part in a group result, and how you handled a disagreement.
• Integrity. A time you did the right thing or raised a concern.
• Business sense. A plain explanation of how a bank earns money.

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

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

1. Why PNC? (Motivation, research)
2. Why this line of business, and why this location? (Motivation, fit)
3. Tell me about yourself. (Communication)
4. Tell me about a project you worked on and a challenge you ran into. (Problem solving)
5. Tell me about a time you worked on a team and there was a conflict. (Teamwork)
6. Tell me about a time you handled a difficult situation. (Composure, judgment)
7. How do banks make money? (Business sense)

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 project you worked on and a challenge you ran into."

"Last spring I led a four-person team in my corporate finance class. We had to value a regional manufacturer and give a lending recommendation to a panel of local bankers. Two weeks before the deadline, our biggest problem showed up. Two teammates had built the cash flow model with different growth rates, and the results were 30 percent apart. I set up a one-hour meeting and asked each of them to walk through their numbers. One had used a single strong year as the base. We agreed on a three-year average and put every assumption in one tab so nobody could change it quietly. I rebuilt the summary page that weekend. We presented on time, and the panel scored us 92 out of 100, the top score in the section. One banker said the assumption tab was why he trusted our numbers. The lesson I took is to put assumptions in writing early, because that is where most team disagreements start."

Why it scores: It names the conflict, shows a clear fix, and ends with a score and a lesson. That fits PNC's teamwork and performance values. About 60 seconds spoken.

Specific to PNC:

• Plan for 2 attempts at most. Make your first take a full, finished answer.
• Know why the city as well as why PNC. Candidates report a question about the location they applied to.
• On a finance track, have a two-sentence answer to how banks make money: they earn more interest on loans than they pay on deposits, and they charge fees for services.

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)
• 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)
• 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)