can I repeat stories for fit interview

Hi Behnoosh,

jup that works! 

it’s totally fine to reuse the same stories for fit questions, especially if they’re strong examples that showcase your skills or experiences. we interviewers understand there’s overlap in what we ask. The key is to slightly tailor your framing each time, for example, emphasize different aspects of the story depending on the question or the interviewer’s focus. They mainly compare scores, not transcripts of your answers, so repeating stories won’t hurt as long as you stay genuine and concise.

You can reach out if you want tips on varying the “motivation to join” answer across multiple interviews.

best, Alessa :)

Hi Behnoosh,

Yes, you can reuse stories across interviews and this is very common, especially with back to back interviews. Interviewers do not expect entirely new examples each time. What matters is that each answer is clear, well structured, and authentic.

Interviewers typically submit their own independent feedback and scores rather than directly comparing verbatim answers. That said, it helps to slightly vary emphasis depending on the question or interviewer, for example highlighting teamwork in one answer and leadership or impact in another, even if the core story is the same. For motivation questions, consistency is more important than novelty, so it’s fine to repeat your core reasons while adjusting how you frame them.

Happy to help you prep if useful - feel free to reach out!

Best,
Evelina

Hi Behnoosh,

Short answer: yes, you can reuse stories, and you probably should. What matters is how you adapt them.

For BCG DACH, interviewers do not compare transcripts or exact wording across interviews. They submit scores and qualitative impressions, not a line-by-line record of what you said. So you don’t need five completely different lives or motivations.

That said, you should avoid sounding rehearsed. The best approach is:

• Reuse the same core stories, but emphasize different angles depending on the question or interviewer.
• For motivation, keep the same reasons, but vary the entry point. One time focus on the work, another time on people or learning curve, another time on your background fit.
• For leadership or conflict stories, you can reuse the situation but highlight a different decision, tradeoff, or learning.

Think in terms of story modules, not one fixed script. Experienced hires are actually expected to reuse strong professional examples, as long as they feel authentic and tailored.

Yes, you can reuse stories. In fact, you should have a core set of stories you know really well.

Interviewers don't compare your exact answers word for word. They compare scores and overall impressions. Each interviewer forms their own view of you. They're not sitting together saying "wait, she told me the same leadership story she told you."

That said, don't use the exact same story for every single interview. With five back-to-back interviews, some variety helps. If every interviewer hears the identical example, it can feel rehearsed and one-dimensional.

My suggestion:

Prepare 4-5 strong stories that cover different themes: leadership, teamwork, conflict, failure, impact, influence. Each story should be flexible enough to answer multiple question types.

For "why BCG" and motivation questions, your answer will naturally be similar across interviews. That's fine. Just keep it genuine and don't sound robotic. Small variations in how you phrase it are enough.

For behavioral questions, rotate your examples. If interviewer one asks about leadership and you use Story A, use Story B if interviewer three asks about leadership too. This shows range.

Know your stories cold. You should be able to tell them in 2 minutes or expand to 4 minutes depending on follow-ups. The depth of your answers matters more than having a unique story every time.

My advice:

If an interviewer asks something you've already answered earlier in the day, it's okay to say "I shared a similar example earlier, but another situation that comes to mind is..." This shows self-awareness and gives you flexibility.

Five interviews is a lot. Pace yourself. Stay energized. And remember, consistency in your message is actually a good thing. You want them all to walk away with the same clear picture of who you are.

Good luck.

This is a common, and very smart, anxiety when you are facing a multi-round superday setup like this. Do not worry about inventing five unique examples for "Driving Change" or "Leadership"—that is impossible and unnecessary.

Here is the reality of how the internal review process works: interviewers are primarily comparing scores and reviewing the high-level themes, not reading detailed transcripts of your stories. When they debrief, they look at your performance across the key competencies (e.g., Leadership, Influence, Drive) and check for any significant red flags or inconsistency in your narrative.

You absolutely should repeat your highest-impact narratives, but you must change the frame and the focus for each question. For example, use your "major project turnaround" story when asked about Resilience (focusing on the difficulty and recovery), and then use that same story when asked about Stakeholder Management (focusing on how you negotiated with conflicting parties). This shows you have a handful of rich experiences that demonstrate multiple skills, which is actually a strength.

For the core non-behavioral questions, like "Motivation to Join," your answer must be consistent every time. It needs to be deeply personalized, linking your specific career trajectory to BCG’s specific strategic needs in the DACH region. Prep three core, powerful stories and practice articulating each one to hit three or four different competency buckets. This ensures you never run out of material and keeps your narrative focused and impactful across all five rounds.

All the best!

Short answer: yes, you can (and should ;) ) absolutely reuse stories. That’s very common and completely fine.

Each interviewer typically has a slightly different angle when it comes to fit (e.g., motivation, leadership, conflict, resilience), so it’s actually unlikely you’ll be asked the exact same question five times. Even when questions overlap, the same story can highlight different qualities depending on how you frame it.

A few practical tips:

• Reuse stories, but emphasize different aspects (e.g., leadership vs. problem-solving vs. conflict handling)
• Keep answers concise and structured (STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result works well)
• Stick to the truth - don’t exaggerate or over-optimize

Also, interviewers are very aware that candidates (especially early in their careers) don’t have an unlimited pool of stories. That’s expected.

Finally, interviewers typically submit independent evaluations. While scores and notes may be reviewed together later, they’re not doing a line-by-line comparison of how you phrased a story with different interviewers.

If you want to practice tailoring stories or pressure-test your fit answers, happy to help :)

Benhnoosh, 

The answer used to be no. 

Now, it's more often yes. 

Basically, you should ask the recruiter and they'll give you a direct answer. 

Until 1-2 years ago, they always said you should consider the stories 'burnt' and come up with new ones (I still believe most candidates should do that anyway). 

But lots of recruiters say you can keep the same story from round to round. 

The reason why I don't think it's good to keep the same stories is that if you're a borderline candidate and the interviewers from multiple rounds get together to take a decision in your case and find out you've used the same stories, it might look like you don't have sufficient experience to showcase. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi Behnoosh,

It's ok to re-use stories, as long as you tell them from a different angle, to really answer the question that was asked.