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

Shell uses an on-demand video interview in its graduate and internship process, after the online assessment and before the final assessment. Candidates report 3 to 5 questions with 30 seconds to think and up to 2 minutes to answer. No retakes on the scored questions.

Shell assesses against capacity, achievement, and relationships, and its published values are honesty, integrity, and respect for people. The questions follow that frame. This page has the reported questions, what each 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.

Shell describes what it looks for as capacity, achievement, and relationships, and its core values are honesty, integrity, and respect for people. The reported questions test each of the three capacities in turn.

• Capacity. Learning and analyzing something hard, fast.
• Achievement. A goal you set and hit, with what it took.
• Relationships. Working with people across backgrounds and roles.
• Safety and integrity. Doing the careful, honest thing under pressure.
• Motivation for Shell. A reason tied to the energy transition and the specific track.

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

These are the questions candidates report from recent Shell 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 had to work with people from very different backgrounds to reach a goal. (Relationships)
2. Why Shell, and why this program? (Motivation)
3. Describe a time you had to analyze a complex problem and decide what to do. (Capacity)
4. Tell me about a goal you achieved that took sustained effort. (Achievement)
5. Describe a time you had to put safety or doing the right thing ahead of speed. (Safety, integrity)
6. Tell me about a time you changed your view after hearing someone else's. (Respect, openness)

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 had to work with people from very different backgrounds to reach a goal."

"In a university engineering competition our team of six had students from four countries and three departments. The first two weeks we argued about the design because two of us wanted to optimize for cost and two for performance, and the other two had checked out. I suggested we write down what the judges actually scored and weight our decisions by that. Cost was 40 percent of the score. That ended the argument in one meeting. I also set up a shared document in plain English because two teammates were more comfortable reading than following fast spoken debate. We placed second of 18 teams. What made it work was replacing the argument about preferences with a shared measure and making the discussion accessible to everyone on the team."

Why it scores: A real difference in backgrounds, a specific tool to get past it, respect shown in action, and a result. About 65 seconds spoken.

Specific to Shell:

• Prepare a story for each of capacity, achievement, and relationships. Shell tells you the frame; use it.
• Have a safety story. Energy companies ask it, and the answer should show the careful choice winning.
• For "why Shell," know the track you applied to and one thing the company is doing in the energy transition that you can describe.

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)
• 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)