PwC HireVue Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
PwC uses HireVue for recorded video interviews in several countries, including entry-level hiring in the US. These are the questions candidates report, with how to answer them.
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How the PwC HireVue works
PwC HireVue questions candidates report
10 questions from PwC HireVue interviews. Prepare a story for each type rather than a script for each question.
Motivation and fit
Why PwC rather than another Big Four firm?
Why this service line or practice area?
What are your key strengths, and how are they relevant to this role at PwC?
Where do you see your career in five years, and why does PwC fit those ambitions?
Behavioural
Describe a time you showed leadership.
Tell me about a time you had to influence someone without formal authority.
Tell me about a time you worked as part of a team to achieve a goal. What was your specific contribution?
Describe a situation where you had to manage competing priorities or work to a tight deadline.
Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult situation or a mistake you made. What did you learn?
Commercial awareness
What is a current business challenge facing our clients in your target sector?
How to answer PwC HireVue questions
Make “Why PwC” about the purpose, not the size
PwC’s purpose is “to build trust in society and solve important problems.” The reported question asks why PwC rather than another Big Four firm, so a generic answer that fits any of them fails. Link the purpose to the service line you applied to (for audit, trust in financial reporting; for consulting, a client problem) and to one thing you have done.
Use the values as your story checklist
PwC’s five values are act with integrity, make a difference, care, work together, and reimagine the possible. Before recording, match one prepared story to each. The leadership, team and influence questions map closely to “work together”, which PwC describes as feedback, collaboration and diverse perspectives making the work stronger.
Influence without authority: show how you listened
For the influence question, say who you needed to persuade, what they cared about, and how you changed your case after hearing them out. PwC says it values feedback and diverse perspectives, so an answer where you only pushed harder misses the point.
Mistakes: speak up early
PwC describes integrity as “We speak up for what’s right, even when that’s the harder option.” For the mistake question, say when you raised it, who you told, how you fixed it, and what you now do differently.
Know one challenge in your target sector
One reported question asks for a current business challenge facing PwC’s clients in your sector. Pick one sector and one challenge, say what it costs or risks for clients, and how your chosen service line would help.
Five-year answers: show you want to keep learning
PwC says of “reimagine the possible”: “we innovate, we test, we iterate, and we learn along the way.” In the career question, name the qualification or skills you plan to build at PwC and the kind of work you want to be trusted with, rather than a job title.
Tips for recording your answers
- Use the practice questions to check camera, sound and framing.
- Treat every answer as your only take.
- Use the thinking time to note three words: the situation, what you did and the result.
- With up to three minutes, aim for about two. A tight answer with a clear result beats a long one.
- Look at the lens, not your own picture, with the camera at eye level.
- Record somewhere quiet with the light in front of you, not behind.
Frequently asked questions
Does PwC use HireVue?
In several countries, yes. PwC in Central and Eastern Europe names HireVue for its video interviews, and US entry-level candidates report a HireVue stage. PwC UK graduate video interviews use a different platform.
How many questions are in the PwC HireVue?
PwC does not publish a number. US candidates report four or five questions.
How long do you get to answer PwC HireVue questions?
Candidates report between 30 and 90 seconds to think and up to three minutes to answer each question in the US.
Can you retake PwC HireVue answers?
Candidates report no retakes on the real questions. Practice questions come first.
What happens after the PwC HireVue?
If you move forward, the next stage is one-to-one interviews, a panel or an assessment centre, depending on the role, followed by an offer.
Practise for the PwC HireVue
Our AI interview practice uses the same one-way format: five questions on screen, 60 seconds to prepare, then up to a minute to answer on camera. Choose the finance focus and the questions lean towards finance, with feedback on relevance, clarity and structure and on what finance assessors look for, such as commercial awareness and integrity. You also get a model answer to your weakest question.
The questions are ours, not PwC’s. Start answering before the 60 seconds are up to match a shorter thinking time, and since practice lets you re-record, do one session in a single take.
Your first session is free with a free account. After that, Interview Access is £5 once for up to 20 sessions, with no subscription.