Also reported as Harvey Values Interview · Core Values Behavioral Questions
Behavioral interview round tied explicitly to Harvey AI's published core values (https://www.harvey.ai/blog/harvey-values). Candidates are asked to share past experiences that demonstrate alignment with 2–3 of those values. Typical question themes include: (1) most successful project and technical trade-off decisions, (2) handling tight timelines, (3) cross-team conflict or coordination, (4) mentoring style and team management (e.g., 'Do you schedule 1:1s?'), (5) how you lead a team, assign tasks, and make tech trade-offs. Sometimes formatted as 'one value → one question.' The round is sometimes standalone (≈30 min) and sometimes appended after a 45-min project deep-dive as a 15-min segment; occasionally an HM runs a 60–70 min version covering project leadership in depth. HR typically provides a prep call and may hint at the value themes in advance.
Common mistakes: Not reading Harvey's values page and preparing mapped STAR stories in advance; Saying 'I don't like 1:1s' without qualifying (should specify dislike of ad-hoc 1:1s vs. regular structured ones); Deep-diving into too many details in the 30-min format, leaving no time to cover all values questions; Using vague or generic stories without specific timelines, decisions, or outcomes; Not anticipating cross-team conflict question despite HR hints — blank in the moment
Interviewer hints: HR provides a prep call before the round and may hint at which Harvey values will be explored; Recruiter explicitly tells candidates to prepare stories aligned with Harvey's values page; For the 30-min format, interviewer implicitly signals to keep answers brief by moving quickly to next question
What passers do: Prepared 3–5 tight STAR stories explicitly mapped to Harvey values before the interview; Demonstrated concrete leadership: task assignment, tech trade-offs, timeline management; Engaged naturally with HM and showed enthusiasm about past projects; Kept stories concise in short-format rounds to cover multiple values
Why people fail: Underprepared narratives — stories felt improvised or lacked specifics; Made statements contradicting expected professional behaviors (e.g., disliking 1:1s); Spent too long on one story in time-limited format, unable to demonstrate breadth; Focused BQ prep on generic STAR without aligning to Harvey's specific published values
Edge cases probed: Candidate says they personally dislike 1:1 meetings — interviewer noted this as a potential negative signal; Candidate unable to recall a specific cross-team conflict example in the moment despite HR preparation; Time pressure: 30-min block insufficient if candidate deep-dives into single story
Alternative approaches: Freeform storytelling without value alignment (Easier to be authentic but risks missing the evaluative criteria; interviewers are explicitly scoring against Harvey's published values.); Generic STAR without Harvey-specific framing (Structured and safe but may feel rehearsed and miss company-specific nuance; less differentiating.)