As someone who has completed multiple hirevues this recruiting season, I figured I'd type up a guide to help future prospects. Frankly I'm getting tired of everyone asking for the hirevue questions. Think about this: maybe the person who posts the questions is willing to help, but they are most likely trying to screw you over. So instead of endlessly trying to beg for your questions (or possibly even paying some guy $300/question for FAKE QUESTIONS like the one GS fan did), try to prepare well for any question you can receive.
Getting the Hirevue
For some opportunities hirevues are selective (GS, BofA, etc.) and you need to network to get one. For other opportunities (Blackrock, MS, etc.) you only need to apply to get them. Either way, you need to network for one reason - getting someone to actually consider your hirevue. If you aren't networking then it's a crapshoot in my experience; some banks will actually view your hirevue without networking but a majority of them will only view the hirevues of kids that are recommended internally.
Hirevue Structure
Earlier I mentioned that most questions you see on here are lies. I stand by that - I've done around 10-15 this season and I've only seen real hirevue questions posted on here twice. Of those two times, once was too vague to be helpful and the other was word-for-word. Most hirevues are structured as follows: walk me through your resume + why IB/PE/etc. (usually they ask you to include it in your story), "why this firm?", 2-3 situational questions, and maybe 1-2 role-specific questions.
What They Look For
Bankers/recruiters who watch the hirevue are looking for confidence, brevity, and clarity of thought. They want to see that you answer questions well and that you seem well-polished. Sit in a well-lit room and let your preparation shine through by answering clearly, concisely, and in a confident manner. You don't have to be perfect - you just have to come off as prepared. So if you stutter or take a quick 3-5 second pause but you nail the rest you should be fine. In fact, if you're given 3 minutes to answer a question but you answer it well in 50 seconds with a 3-5 second pause in between thoughts, you'll be much better off than the guy who mumbles through the full 3 minutes and sounds like he hasn't had a conversation with a real human before.
How to Prepare
If the first time you answer a question on camera is during the hirevue then you're screwed - same if you do a virtual interview/superday. My biggest tip (and what's helped me the most through this) is to open a list of behavioral questions and practice on camera MANY TIMES until you feel ready for anything. Find a well-lit spot in your house with good acoustics (i.e. not echoey) that's quiet/where you won't get distracted.
What to Prepare
Just like any interview, you can't anticipate everything they're going to ask you. If you want to be extremely well prepared then you really don't need to focus on much. Have 5-7 STAR stories, "why IB/PE/VC/etc.", 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses, "why this firm?", 2 market trends/news stories, and 2 recent deals memorized. This sounds like a lot at first but by the time you get hirevues you really should be prepared for anything. If you have these things NAILED DOWN then you'll be able to walk into any interview and shine, so long as you know your technicals. NOTE: most hirevues are NOT technical. I have yet to receive a very technical hirevue.
How to Answer Questions
Listen to the question, take the full 30 seconds to prepare, then as you answer, focus on BIG PICTURE first and answer with a STAR story after. So for example if they ask you to "Tell us about a time that you integrated a new team mate." Then respond with something like, "I've learned that when a new person joins a team that it's easy for them to feel excluded, which can hurt team morale and lead to less productivity. So in the past, I've focused on integrating new members as quickly as possible by having a personal conversation with them to make sure they feel like they can be themselves at work.
One example of a time I did this was when I was a grocery bagger at Kroger. I noticed a new member of my team when I had been there for around 6 months, so I went up to him and asked him where he was from. We sparked up a great conversation and I told him that if he needs anything that he could come to me. After that, he asked me multiple questions during his training period and now he's a bagging team lead at Kroger. I'm really grateful for that experience because it taught me the importance of being a supportive team mate." Short, simple, to-the-point and it answers the question from all angles. If you read it back then you'll take roughly 40 seconds to answer. Remember that nobody wants a 3 minute answer - they'll progressively get more bored and think you're annoying to be around, which is not a good look for a first impression.
Conclusion
Interviews are less about "nailing the answers" and more about "showing your true self." Are you a confident prospect who has worked hard and will shine? Or are you some know-it-all kid who didn't care to prepare? Cocky kids are almost certainly the ones who prepared the least - take it from me because I used to be that kid and it screwed me out of some opportunities. It's actually counterintuitive if you think about it because many kids who know the questions beforehand will answer like this. Hope this helps!
Formal Prep
If you guys are looking for a more formal approach to the hirevue and behaviorals in general, I'd highly recommend checking out the WSO behavioral interview guide (part of the IB interview course). I'd do the same thing I mentioned earlier - open up the list of questions and practice on camera. The guide offered by WSO is very structured and has a ton of banking-specific questions. It's helped me gain the ability to think on my feet in interviews + hirevues, which is what you need at the end of the day, so it's well worth it.
Very helpful, thank you.
Great write up, bumping it so it doesn't get lost. Never used Hirevue (either as a candidate or employer), but this provides a great overview.
This Is Really Great Advice. thank You!!! Just Like You Said, Practice Makes Perfect!!
I'm honestly really happy to hear that not using the full 2 minutes is a good thing. I prepared a shit ton for behaviorals and noticed I was cleaning up the questions in under a minute in a clear fashion but thought that they'd want to see you use the whole 2 minutes. That being said, is someone really going through each HireVue? I use a service through my school that is exactly like HireVue but is a practice AI. It tracks things such as how fast you're talking, how much your eyes wonder, negative tonality/words, lighting, sound, vocabulary, etc. I'd imagine there is a bot that just dumps a good portion of the hirevue videos before it really hits a real persons desk.
Thanks for this post!
It heavily depends on the bank. At one point or another, a real person will watch it though, even if AI screens you first.
I'm inclined to think that most of the bulge bracket banks have the resources (HR numbers) to go through each hirevue individually. For example I have a BofA superday coming up and I totally bombed that hirevue because I didn't sleep well the night before (extremely important to sleep before an interview). That being said, I've crushed hirevues and not gotten in, but I've also bombed hirevues and still gotten in, so it's more important to be good at it overall than it is to be perfect according to AI.
That's great to hear, best of luck to you!
Great advice
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