Deloitte names HireVue for its first-round video in Canada and runs a branded on-demand portal, while the UK uses a Job Simulation instead. Here is what each format asks and how to prepare for yours.
Deloitte is one of the Big Four professional services firms, with service lines spanning Audit and Assurance, Tax, Consulting, Financial Advisory, and Risk Advisory. That range matters, because the recorded round almost always asks why you chose a specific service line rather than the firm as a whole. A general answer about Deloitte's scale will not survive the reviewer's first question.
This guide covers where the video sits, the question themes, how the US, UK, and Canada routes differ, and a short prep plan you can run in a week. For the written application first, use our Deloitte internship application guide.
Where the Deloitte video sits in the process
Deloitte is a network of member firms, so the exact stage list shifts by country and programme. The shape is consistent.
In North America, you apply online, and shortlisted candidates receive a link to a recorded interview. Deloitte Canada names HireVue on its student recruitment page, and Deloitte runs its own branded on-demand interview portal. After the recording, successful candidates move to live interviews, which Deloitte's guidance describes as two or three rounds of telephone, video, or in-person conversations.
In the UK, the route is different. Early-careers candidates complete an immersive online assessment that mixes realistic workplace scenarios with numerical and verbal reasoning, then a Job Simulation, then a final stage assessment.
| Region | Recorded stage | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| US and Canada | HireVue on-demand video | Live behavioural and case rounds |
| UK | Job Simulation with recorded video | Final stage assessment |
| Canada (extra step) | Plum Discovery Survey after applying | HireVue on-demand video |
The practical lesson is simple. Confirm which stage you have before you prepare for it, because a HireVue answer and a Job Simulation response are different pieces of work.
Deloitte HireVue questions 2026 and 2027
Exact prompts are configured per requisition. The reliable categories are motivation and behaviour.
| Category | What the reviewer wants |
|---|---|
| Why Deloitte | A reason tied to the firm, not to prestige |
| Why this service line | Evidence you read the programme you chose |
| Teamwork | One real situation, your specific role |
| Client or stakeholder challenge | How you handled pressure and disagreement |
| Failure and learning | What you changed afterwards |
| Prioritisation | How you chose between competing deadlines |
Notice how little of this is technical. Deloitte is testing whether you can tell one structured story per question and stop. The recorded format removes the interviewer's nod, so a rambling answer has nothing to rescue it.
For explanation of how to structure those stories without sounding scripted, our HireVue finance interview tips guide is the companion read. Use this page for the Deloitte-specific content that sits on top.
Service-line answers are not interchangeable
The most common Deloitte mistake is a single "why consulting" answer sent to every service line.
An Audit and Assurance application is testing attention to detail, professional scepticism, and comfort with evidence. A Tax application is testing precision and a genuine reason for tax work rather than flexibility. Consulting and Financial Advisory lean toward structured problem solving and commercial awareness. Risk and Technology roles often want evidence that you understand controls, systems, or data.
You do not need deep technical knowledge for the recorded round. You do need a reason for the specific line that would not survive being pasted into a different application.
The UK route: Job Simulation instead of HireVue
If you are applying in the UK, the recorded questions arrive inside a Job Simulation rather than a standalone video. The simulation mixes ranked responses, short written answers, and recorded video in one sitting, and it usually takes around an hour.
That changes your preparation in two ways. First, you need to write as well as speak, so practise producing a short, structured email or recommendation rather than only an on-camera answer. Second, because everything happens in one sitting, pacing matters. Do not spend twenty minutes on a written task and rush the video responses.
The UK process also ends with a final stage assessment that includes a topic discussion and a skills and motivation interview. Keep the same motivation spine from the simulation, then add depth for the live conversation.
Delivery rules Deloitte publishes
Deloitte publishes its own video interview guidance, and it is worth following exactly.
- Raise the device so the camera sits at eye level.
- Avoid sitting against a window, because the backlight washes you out.
- Light your face from the front.
- Dress fully rather than from the waist up.
- Keep resume notes and story reminders behind the laptop, out of shot.
The last point is the useful one. Having bullets nearby is fine. Reading full sentences on screen is not, and it is obvious on playback. Our desk and camera setup guide covers the same ground if you want the mechanics in more detail.
A short prep plan for Deloitte
- Write the service line at the top of your notes and keep it there.
- Draft one story for each theme: teamwork, challenge, failure, prioritisation.
- Cut each story to under two minutes, with the result before the timer ends.
- Write one line on why Deloitte and one on why this line.
- Record three answers and watch them back once.
- Fix the single worst habit, then stop rehearsing.
Most candidates over-rehearse the words and under-rehearse the timing. If your answer runs to two minutes thirty when the window is two minutes, the content will not save you.
Mistakes candidates repeat
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| One "why consulting" answer | Ignores the service line you chose | Write a line-specific reason |
| Reading a script | Sounds flat and breaks eye contact | Use bullets behind the laptop |
| Overrunning the timer | The result never gets said | Time every practice answer |
| Assuming the video is the last stage | Underestimates the live rounds after it | Prep for two or three further rounds |
| Skipping the recorded practice | First take becomes the real take | Record at least three answers |
After the video: what comes next
Passing the recorded round leads to live interviews, and Deloitte's guidance points to two or three rounds after the screen. These usually involve practitioners from your service line, and they probe the same stories in more depth. Keep your examples consistent. If you used another firm's video guide, such as our EY HireVue guide, do not carry its motivation language across. Deloitte's service lines ask their own version of "why us", and the recorded round is where that answer first gets tested.
What to do after reading this
Applying to Deloitte this cycle? Confirm which recorded stage you have, write one reason for your service line that would not fit another firm, and record two or three timed answers before you open the real link.
Keep application timing on our Deloitte internship application guide, and keep the delivery habits on the HireVue practice guide. Both carry into the live rounds that follow.