It was during covid-19 pandemics that many US corporations started to use video interviewing in bulk. Back then it was their only option, and most of us thought things would return back to normal once the pandemic gets under control, and governments ease on safety regulations. It didn’t happen… Many corporations understood the benefits of video interviews, especially in the first stages of the hiring process. What’s more, Hirevue took video interviewing to another level, with their games, real time coding-skills tests, and with their AI-driven assessment of job applicants and their abilities.
Nowadays quite a few Fortune 500 companies use Hirevue to streamline their recruitment, and Boeing is one of them. In contrary to some other tech giants though, it isn’t easy getting accurate information on the questions you will face in this interview. But we still managed to get some information, from both our connections who actually took the Hirevue interview with Boeing, and also with the extensive online research we did. So here’s how it works:
Regardless of the position you apply for with Boeing, you will typically face 5 questions. First will relate to your experience and education, the other four are behavioral questions (more on them later on). On the top of that, you will have to deal with 2-3 games, which can range from simple puzzles to test your IQ, to coding-tests. While the questions are typically the same (or very similar) for every position, the games may differ, depending on the role you try to get with Boeing. Let’s have a look at the questions now.
Table of Contents
Tell us about your skills and experience.
Typically the first question in a Hirevue interview with Boeing. Most people think that the goal is to hear you elaborate on your resume, but it isn’t exactly true. The AI is put to work with the first question, watching your eye movements, gesticulation, the way you formulate your thoughts. And a real person from Boeing watching the interview later on (if they decide to watch it, and won’t just screen you out based on the AI scores), simply tries to get a basic grasp of who you are, your communication skills, and the level of your motivation.
In my opinion, the key here is to talk clearly, to the point, have some enthusiasm in your voice (the AI can recognize that), and focus on skills and experience relevant for the role. If you are just starting your professional career or apply for an internship with Boeing, then you should obviously focus more on your education, skills, and personality. One more thing to remember: do not force it here. If you are done with this introduction in 30 seconds, that’s fine. You do need to use the entire time allotted to you.
Tell us about a time when you faced adversity (or had to overcome an obstacle).
Based on the information we got, you will virtually always face one of the two variations of this question. Either obstacle, or adversity. Again, it makes no sense to try to reinvent the wheel here. You also do not need to stubbornly stick to the “STAR” method. Regardless of the situation you pick (and it can be also a situation from school, or your personal life), the key is to show that you didn’t give up, that you did not mind getting out of your comfort zone, and tried your best to overcome adversity (or some obstacle you faced).
We have an article online with 7 sample answers to this question (including answers for people with no previous working experience), and you can check it out here: Tell me about an obstacle you overcome. One important thing to mention: Remember that humility is a highly sought-after quality on the employment market.
95% of people think that the only good answer to this question is one in which you managed to overcome the problem you faced. And just as it is often the case, the majority is wrong. The most powerful answer can be actually the one when you describe a situation when you failed. It is the effort that counts, and not the eventual outcome. As long as they see that you tried your best, didn’t give up easily, and at the same time can admit that you made a mistake, or failed to overcome the adversity (and you learned your lesson along the way), they will be extremely satisfied with your answer.
Describe a time when you had to meet a tight deadline.
Again, if this an internship application, you can talk about a deadline you faced at school. The key is to include details, such as what exactly the issue was, why the deadline was tight, what exactly you did to meet it, if any of your colleagues has helped you, etc. Details add credibility to your answer, and numbers are even better than words here. We have an article with 7 sample answers online also for this question, and here is one of them:
In my last job I was responsible for a project of a mobile game development. We knew that our competitors were working on a similar game, and my goal was to ensure that we release the game before they do. It was a tricky situation, because we had a small team of programmers, much smaller than they had, and we were behind them at the start of the development. But I applied agile project management, and motivated people to work 60+ hours each week. We were a small team, but I made people enthusiastic for the project, and for the proposition of beating a bigger company in both speed and quality. I was balancing on a thin ice though, because I did not want my people to experience burnout, and we were working under pressure to meet this deadline. But eventually we managed to get the job done, and released the game before our competitor.
* Check the full article for more sample answers to this question.
Tell us about a time you had to work with someone it was difficult to get along with.
Boeing uses various variations of this behavioral question in their Hirevue interview, but the core remains the same: To talk about a time when you had to work with someone you didn’t like, didn’t agree with, find it difficult to get along. The key is to demonstrate a few things with your answer:
- That you can actually look at things from a perspective of other person, and understand it (even if it differs strongly from your own perspective).
- Regardless of the person you have to deal with, or the problem, you try your best to focus on the solutions, and stay work-related. You do not make things personal, and try to avoid pointless emotional conflicts.
- That the goals of the company (or your personal goals) are most important to you, and if you have to co-operate with something you dislike to meet them, you will do it.
Describe a situation when you had to use logic to solve a problem.
Boeing looks to hire intelligent people who can think outside of the box, people who solve problems instead of creating them. In an ideal case, you should pick a problem related to your specialization (be it some coding task, accounting issue, engineering problem, etc, depending on your specialization). This is the one question where you can get technical, but remember that while more people at Boeing may watch your video responses, the first one will likely be some HR generalist, or that type of an employee, simply someone who lacks technical skills. That’s why in an ideal case you should explain a technical problem you managed to solve, but do it in a way that a person with little tech skills will understand you…
We have article online with 7 sample answers to this question too (since it is a popular one in many corporations), and you can check it out here: Tell us about a time you used logic to solve a problem.
Games and cognitive tests in Hirevue interview with Boeing
When it comes to games you may face as a part of your interview, I do not think you can prepare for them in advance really… Their goal is to test your IQ or your coding skills. And either you have them, or you don’t. Also a person with an IQ of 90 will hardly solve a hard puzzle someone with IQ of 120 will struggle with… Of course, you can find some free online IQ tests and match riddles and puzzles, and try them out in advance, just to get some feel of this type of tasks. It likely won’t change much on your eventual result though…
Having said that, IQ is not everything, and the threshold Boeing and other big corporations have for their hiring isn’t that high. The puzzles you’ll have to deal with in Hirevue aren’t particularly difficult. It just helps the hiring mangers to screen out people who fall to meet even some basic IQ threshold for these kind of jobs, such as 95 IQ score for example.
Hope this helps, and I wish you best of luck in your Hirevue assessment with Boeing!
Matthew
May also interest you:
- Guide on how to overcome interview nerves.
- Behavioral interview questions and answers, the complete guide.
