Booz Allen interview questions, and how it hires
Booz Allen hires in five steps: application, review and screening, a technical assessment for some roles, interviews tailored to the role, then a decision. Its questions ask you to tell stories about your problem solving, such as a time you used technology to improve a process.
Updated
- Five steps. Application, screening, a technical assessment for some roles, interviews, decision.
- Story questions. Booz Allen publishes three examples, all about challenges and technology.
- Camera on. Required in virtual interviews. It may take a screenshot to confirm your identity.
- Know the mission. Understand who its customers and partners are and the technology it builds.
- Five values. Unflinching courage, ferocious integrity, passionate service, collective ingenuity, champion's heart.
What Booz Allen says it looks for
Its purpose is empowering people to change the world, expressed through five values:
Unflinching courage and ferocious integrity
Bring bold thinking and speak truth to power. Do right, and hold yourself and each other accountable.
Passionate service
Listen and act with empathy, build community through generosity and, above all, embrace the mission.
Collective ingenuity
Be resourceful and creative, make the biggest difference in every problem, and be devoted to the team.
Champion's heart
Bring joy to the pursuit, learn from failure, and compete with passion.
From Booz Allen's purpose and values and its candidate resources.
Booz Allen's five-step hiring process
In Booz Allen's own words, shortened.
From application to decision
Step 1
Application
Find a role that fits your skills, tailor your resume and tell your story. Applications go through Workday.
Step 2
Review and screening
Booz Allen matches skills to the role's requirements, and a recruiter may call to learn about your experience and goals.
Step 3
Technical assessment
Some roles include a skills-based technical assessment to check the basic qualifications.
Step 4
Interviewing
Tailored to the role, typically a mix of technical screens and individual or panel interviews, virtual or in person.
Step 5
Decision and offer
An offer or feedback, communicated in a timely and professional way.
Booz Allen does not publish how many interviews a role has or how it scores them. Each posting lists its own requirements.
13 Booz Allen interview questions
The first three are Booz Allen's own examples. The rest are our own wording, built on its values and its mission-focused work.
Booz Allen's own examples3 questions
It says its questions encourage stories about you and how you solve problems.
Describe how you addressed the greatest challenge you faced in your last role.
Booz Allen's candidate resources
What a strong answer does
One challenge, your part in it, what you tried first and the result. A class project counts if it's your last role. Example answer
- “What would you do differently now?”
- “Who else was involved, and what did they do?”
Share a time you used technology to improve a process, product or outcome.
Booz Allen's candidate resources
What a strong answer does
Name the tool, the before and after, and how you measured the change.
Walk us through how you evaluated or selected a tool or technology and what result it drove.
Booz Allen's candidate resources
What a strong answer does
Show the options you compared, the criteria and why you picked one, then the result. Example answer
Its values5 questions
Our own wording, one per value on Booz Allen's page.
Tell me about a time you told someone senior something they didn't want to hear.
What a strong answer does
Unflinching courage: speak truth to power. Show how you made the case with evidence and respect. Example answer
Tell me about a time you held yourself or a teammate accountable.
What a strong answer does
Ferocious integrity. Be fair to the teammate and specific about what changed. Example answer
Tell me about a time you put a mission or a client's need ahead of your own plans.
What a strong answer does
Passionate service: embrace the mission. Say what you gave up and why it mattered.
Tell me about a creative solution you built with a team.
What a strong answer does
Collective ingenuity. Your idea, how the team shaped it and the difference it made. Example answer
Tell me about a failure and what you learned from it.
What a strong answer does
Champion's heart: learn from failure. Own it and show what you do differently now. Example answer
The role and the mission5 questions
Why Booz Allen?
What a strong answer does
Booz Allen asks you to understand its customers, partners and technology. Tie one of them to your own work. Example answer
How would you explain a technical idea to a client who isn't technical?
What a strong answer does
Start from what they need to decide, use one plain example and check they followed.
Tell me about a time you had to learn a new technology quickly.
What a strong answer does
What you learned, how fast and how you used it on real work. Example answer
What questions do you have for us?
What a strong answer does
Booz Allen calls the interview a two-way street. Ask about the team, the work or how people grow. Example answer
Tell me about a time you worked under strict rules or constraints.
What a strong answer does
Much of its work is mission-critical. Show you followed the rules and still got the work done. Example answer
More to prepare with
Mistakes that cost Booz Allen candidates
Turning your camera off
Booz Allen requires it on in virtual interviews and assessments, and may take a screenshot to verify identity.
Not knowing who its customers are
It doesn't expect you to know everything, but asks you to know its customers, partners and technology.
Trusting a recruiter on a free email address
Booz Allen recruiters write only from @bah.com, @ne.bah.com or @recruiting.bah.com addresses.
Skipping the posting's requirements
Requirements differ by role and are listed on each posting. Read them before you apply.
How to prepare for Booz Allen
Built on Booz Allen's own interview tips.
Before applying
Tailor your resume
Match it to the role, as Booz Allen's first step asks, and know every line.
This week
Answer its three questions
Prepare stories for Booz Allen's own three examples, out loud and timed.
Before the interview
Find a quiet room
Ideally behind a closed door. Charge your devices and test the camera and microphone.
In person
Bring a photo ID
Booz Allen asks for a valid photo ID at in-person interviews.
Booz Allen's student programs
From its own interview preparation page.
Summer Games10-week accelerator
Rising juniors and seniors in STEM build technology in teams and pitch it to senior leaders. Applications open in the fall.
Booz Allen: Summer GamesAccount internshipsAll disciplines
Undergraduate and master's students support a specific team, with work set by that team.
Booz Allen: internshipsTimingLate August through fall
Booz Allen starts considering students for internships in late August. Internships are full time and paid unless stated.
Booz Allen: internship FAQTell your stories out loud, then tighten them
Soreno's AI interviewer asks behavioral questions one at a time, follows up on your role and your results, and scores every answer. Free for 7 days.
Questions people ask
What is the Booz Allen interview process?
Five steps: application, review and screening (a recruiter may call), a technical assessment for some roles, interviews tailored to the role, then a decision and offer.
What questions does Booz Allen ask?
It publishes three examples: the greatest challenge in your last role, a time you used technology to improve something, and how you chose a tool and what result it drove.
Do I need my camera on for a Booz Allen interview?
Yes. Booz Allen requires the camera on during virtual interviews and assessments, and may take a picture to verify your identity.
Does Booz Allen require a security clearance?
It depends on the role. Each job posting lists its own requirements, so read the posting before you apply.
When does Booz Allen hire interns?
It starts considering students for internships in late August and through the fall. Internships are open to students enrolled in bachelor's or master's programs.
How do I know a Booz Allen recruiter is real?
Booz Allen recruiters only write from @bah.com, @ne.bah.com or @recruiting.bah.com addresses. Anything from a free email service isn't official.