Booz Allen Hamilton interview questions

I applied for this position at the end of January. I heard back early February where I was asked to schedule a screening call with a recruiter. I scheduled the call five days later. It was around a 15-minute screening where I was asked to walk through my relevant experiences, my interest in the position, and logistical yes-no questions regarding the skills for the position (experience in Section 508 Compliance, developing communication products). The recruiter was concise. I was told that I would hear back by the end of the day about whether I moved to the next round. I did not get an email until the next day which is when I was asked to schedule a time for a 45-minute interview with the hiring team. I scheduled it a week later (mid-February). This was a panel interview with some communications employees and the hiring manager. Two of the interviewers left early and the hiring manager (who was not very aware of the responsibilities of the position) joined late. There were also no introductions. I was asked interesting questions that I had not prepared for, like my experience with statistical software and coding, pet peeve, and my likes/dislikes about the CDC. I was not really asked about my communications skills or interest in public health, which was the main focus of the role. I will say the interviewer who was there the whole time was very engaging and informative, which was much appreciated by me. I heard back a week later (end of February) that while the feedback for me was positive, the hiring team selected another candidate who they felt was a better match for the role. I was very disappointed as I wanted the position, but it is what it is.

I went through an internal referral and connected with a recruiter for this position based in San Diego. The first step was a standard phone screen, followed by a panel interview on Teams. As a heads up, on one prior occasion, they scheduled an interview with me then cancelled it because the position was filled internally (a little bit frustrating, as they should have an internal job board and external to avoid confusion). Before the interview, they offer an optional information session that occurs weekly, or candidates can watch a prerecorded session. They also sent a copy of the STAR interview method, but it wasn't particularly helpful for my interview, as the panel didn't pose many behavioral questions. The top of their range was $126,000 for an experienced position based in San Diego, one of the highest cost of living cities in the US. They were pretty inflexible on this, and the recruiter told me straight up that my salary requirements were "likely too high," which felt inappropriate, especially when you consider Booz Allen's CEO often receives an annual salary exceeding $14M. Further, in the time since my interview with them I've interviewed for positions with similar contractors for similar positions, with salary ranges starting at least $20k-$30k higher. The position in San Diego also didn't permit any telework for some reason, making the salary even lower in real terms. Again, I interviewed with contractors working at the same facility that offer telework and higher salaries, so it's clearly not solely a DOD policy decision. The bottom line is they don't pay enough for what they ask of their employees, and this should be rectified for them to remain competitive. I recommend going elsewhere for more money and a more flexible schedule.