I don't understand how to answer the question if the interviewer says "tell me the story of the novel that you last read" I don't understand how much I have to say and in which speech means in past tense or present tense.How to narrate a story?
Responses (1)
It's one of those tricky interview questions. I've never used it myself as an interviewer but I've heard it used. They're looking for a range of skills:
- ability to summarise the bigger picture and to know what detail to leave out
- ability to quickly process a lot of information
- ability to think on your feet (because you have to start talking straight away)
- ability to communicate ideas using your own words
It's a really useful question for determining how you'll perform in a job. For instance, if the last novel I'd read was "A Christmas Carol" this is what I'd say:
It was about a mean Victorian employer called Ebenezer Scrooge who cared only about money and certainly not his poor assistant with an ailing son. One night, he is visited by three ghosts. The first was of his equally mean business partner who died and is now being punished in death for his meanness.
Then he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past showing him how good his own life was until he lust for money took over. Finally, he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come who shows him a deep lack of concern for a rich dead businessman. Enquiring who that man is, he is shown his own grave.
Told that he still has a chance to chance, Scrooge spends the rest of his life as a philanthropist, sends a huge turkey to his poor employee and looks after his son for life. He becomes well-loved and popular.
You can get through all that in about 40 seconds and that's every key point in the story and nothing extraneous.