UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

STARTING POINT WEEK 5

UNIT TWO: TELLING STORIES

Objective: we want students to identify the structure of an anecdote.

SECTION I: ANECDOTES IN THE JOB INTERVIEW

Think about these questions:

1. Why are applicants sometimes asked about problems in their previous jobs, such
as arguments with mates or bosses, last-minute problems, etc?
2. What personality traits/skills do those anecdotes show?
3. Read the following two anecdotes from a job interview and think what
characteristic they reflect about the applicants:
a. “I didn’t get on well with my boss. Therefore, I never contradicted him so that I
didn’t have to listen to him complaining, but sometimes I knew that his idea
wouldn’t work”.
b. “The deadline was near and the prototype was not working. We didn’t have
any money left for more materials. Eventually, I found a way to make it work.
Although it was not a conventional solution, it worked”.
4. Can you think of an anecdote to show that you are… (choose from the following
traits: persevering, dependable, good at meeting deadlines, open minded.

When you arrive at this question (4), go to the forum and tell everybody an anecdote, not
necessarily at work, that shows one of the four possibilities suggested. Don’t worry about the
structure: as we advance in the unit, you will correct it according to what we read. Comentado [A1]: It is important for you to write it so that then
you can work on it and make it better.

Read the text below and match the kind of problem with the correct classification Comentado [A2]: Be sure you understand this classification
because from now on, we will use these terms.

A PROBLEM something very good you did

A CONFLICT bad relationship between people

AN ACCOMPLISHMENT bad functioning of a product/service

UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

Three stories you must prepare before

the job interview
BY WORKOPOLIS
https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/three-stories-you-must-prepare-
before-the-job-interview/
In any job interview, you will have to answer behavioural questions.
What are behavioural questions? They’re questions that ask you to describe what
you have done – your behaviour – in a variety of situations. These help employers
to determine not only whether you will be capable of doing the job but what sort of
person you are, whether they will enjoy working with you, and how well you will
work with the rest of their team.

There are dozens of examples of behavioural questions. You can’t prepare

answers for all of them. But if you prepare just three stories to take with you to
any interview, you can cover a lot of ground. It’s imperative that you do this,
because these questions will be asked.
Here are the three stories you should prepare and some samples of the
questions to which you might use them as answers:

A time when you solved a problem: Think of a time when you had to demonstrate
your problem-solving skills by getting creative, or using logic. Maybe you
persevered, solved a mystery, and/or completed a project without the proper
resources. Find a story that illustrates your drive, initiative, creativity, motivation,
and, of course, problem solving skills.
Sample questions:
“Describe a situation in which you had to get creative to solve a problem.”
“Describe a time when you overcame a large obstacle to complete a project.”

A time when you had to deal with conflict: Think of an instance when a customer
or prospect was belligerent or extremely difficult or when you had to deal with
warring factions among team members. Describe how you resolved the problem
Sample questions:
“Tell me about a time when you were able to diffuse a situation.”
“Describe a time when you had to deal with a difficult situation."

A time when you totally knocked that ball out of the park: What are your biggest
career accomplishments? What are you most proud of? Talk about a time when
you did a super amazing job. Describe how you went above and beyond to do it, or
how the success came naturally. You can also talk about the challenges you faced
or the curveballs that were thrown your way. Find the story that really illustrates
how awesome you are.
Sample questions:
“Tell me about a time you set a goal and either met or exceeded that goal.”
“Describe a project you created and saw through to fruition.”
 UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

Glossary
To diffuse: to make a bad feeling or situation less strong or serious
Fruition: into action, completed

1. WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY THE FOLLOWING WORDS/PHRASES? Choose the correct

option. Comentado [A3]: The three possibilities are correct but you
have to decide which synonym corresponds to the use IN THE TEXT

Cover a lot of ground: travel a long distance/review a lot of information briefly

Belligerent : hostile/engaged in a war

Warring factions: antagonist groups / combating parties

Knock the ball out of the park: score a goal / do something really remarkable

Go above and beyond to do it: climb to the top/ exceed your usual duty

Curveballs: unexpected occurrence that causes uncertainty/ actions that disappoint you.

2. CLASSIFY THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY ARE ASKING ABOUT:
solving a problem, dealing with a conflict or knocking “a ball out of the park”.

a. “Tell me about a time when you were able to persuade someone to change their mind”.
b. “Tell me about your greatest accomplishment”.
c. “Have you ever had a remarkable success at work?”
d. “Are you resourceful? If so, what can you tell us about it?”
e. “Sometimes, it is kind of difficult to deal with certain people, isn’t it? Has this ever happened
to you?”
f. “Describe a time when you worked closely with someone who had very different ideas from
you.”

3. Read these stories from three applicants and decide what questions from the text they are
answering:

What is your greatest career accomplishment?

Describe a time when you worked closely with someone who had very different ideas from
you.

Describe a situation in which you had to get creative to solve a problem.

UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

A: Bethany Williamson

“During my first year working as a project manager at Slate Construction, I was working with two of my
colleagues to meet a deadline on a proposal we were drafting. They could not agree with each other on Comentado [A4]: Not writing the final versión,

how to approach the proposal and the deadline was near. It was obvious we needed to work better as a
team, so I invited them both to lunch. Having lunch together and hearing each other’s plans gave them
the opportunity to see that they both had similar visions of the big picture but disagreed about smaller Comentado [A5]: The Project in general

details. After hearing both of their plans, we made a single list using the best and most efficient ideas
that we all agreed on. In the end, we drafted one solid proposal and we were congratulated on by our
boss and a happy client:”

B: Brandy Mackenna

“My stepfather was a role model and a strong influence in my life. He taught me about character; he
taught me the tough lessons in life that some people learn too late or not at all. In one instance, he Comentado [A6]: Lessons which are very difficult in life

taught me the value of standing up for yourself. When the kids in his family (the “stepfamily”) failed to Comentado [A7]: To defend yourself or your ideas.

accept me, he advised me that I would have to take the initiative to learn how to handle situations in
which I am passively excluded – that I would have to do something that could get their attention. I soon Comentado [A8]: Not accepted by the other people

learned to gather a couple of people and start up a card game or another fun activity to direct the focus Comentado [A9]: To bring together

on the activity instead of clashing personalities. I later realized that through this process, I had learned Comentado [A10]: The idea was that the children would pay
attention to the card game and not to the people playing
creative techniques to influence group dynamics:”
UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

C: Scott Nguyen

“In my previous job in a retail company, sales had been going down for a while. I convinced my boss to
adopt a perks program to increase sales-teams productivity. I proposed the idea to him, and he liked it and
adopted it. The end result was an 11% increase in sales. As a result of my contribution, I was promoted
and I got everyone’s respect. I had never felt so proud of myself before.”
Comentado [A11]: A company selling its products to individual
people for their own use, not for selling to anybody else
Comentado [A12]: Benefits that you receive at work in addition
to your salary.
Comentado [A13]: Satisfied with himself.

Scott Nguyen

Writing: tips to write an anecdote

1. Read the previous stories again. Can you make a list with some common elements in
them?

Example
• The three stories include the time when they happened.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

2. Now read the following tips to write an anecdote and compare them with your
answers

You have probably noticed that in terms of the story, there are in the three of them
coincidences in the information they include: as we said before, they include a SETTING. The
setting is the when, where, who of the story: you need to identify the moment when it
happened, the company or the place where you were and the people involved in the
anecdote. At the same time, you generally mention what the situation was (what you were
doing) when the problem/conflict took place.

Once set, the story really begins and you need to tell 3 different pieces of information:

What was the problem or the conflict?

What did you do to solve it? What was the solution to the problem?

What were the consequences of your idea/solution? And how did you feel about it?

1. Look at how this information has been organized in the first anecdote:
UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLAM – DPU- INGLÉS 3 -903

“During my first year working as a project manager at Slate Construction, I was working with two of my

Where and when

colleagues to meet a deadline on a proposal we were drafting. They had not agreed with each other on

situation at the moment of the conflict

how to approach the proposal yet and the deadline was near. It was obvious we needed to work better as
a team, so I invited them both to lunch. Having lunch together and hearing each other’s plans gave them

what she did

the opportunity to see that they both had similar visions of the big picture but disagreed about smaller

how it resulted

details. After hearing both of their plans, we made a single list using the best and most efficient ideas that
we all agreed on. In the end, we drafted one solid proposal and we were congratulated on by our

consequences feelings

boss and our happy client.”

2. Can you now, identify in the same way the components of the other two
anecdotes?
3. Go back to the anecdote you wrote at the beginning of this lesson. Check you
have included all these details. If you haven’t, please, think of the missing
details and add them

WELL DONE! That is all for this lesson.