Short Prompt - Summarisation

Dear candidate,

In case of a very short prompt, I recommend still rephrase it however use this opportunity to indirectly scope and clarify it already. So in particular if it is short, you can scope the objective already as you summarize it-"the client is particulary focused on… and not on… or to solve their question we will take into account …. and not ….. The interviewer can then respond to your paraphrase and you'll see whether it is fine.( Just to be clear, I do not mean paraphrasing incorrectly. ) When you use the paraphrasing for scoping, you can still use your clarifying questions for something else. 

Best regards,

Let me answer with a provocative question: when you speak with someone, do you repeat (or paraphrase) the last three sentences you have just listened to? I bet you don't. 

I know that 99% of other coaches will not agree, but I suggest that you should never repeat or paraphrase the prompt. 
Repeating or paraphrasing the prompt is a very junior behavior, it wastes precious time of the interviewer and casts doubt on the fact that you are able or not to listen (otherwise, why should you check your understanding?). 

At the same time, no-one wants to lose important details needed to solve the case. Therefore, my suggestion, which applies to both long and short prompts, is to just ask questions that help you understand the case and ultimately solve it.

How to ask questions is one of the most overlooked skills, and I see from candidates who worked with other experts (in particular the ones who never interacted with CEOs because of their juniority), it is sometimes not even touched upon in mock interviews. 

If you want to upgrade your thinking process by learning what questions to ask and if you want to avoid silly mistakes most coaches are suggesting to make, just schedule a slot with me.

Best

Yes, in this situation I would suggest doing more clarifying questions - but then do the “confirmation summary” at the end.

Hi there,

You should absolutely always look to paraphrase/summarize! In general for interviews you want to aim to be natural/conversational (while professional of course).

In the case of any prompt, make sure to paraphrase back the key pieces of information that matter. It doesn't matter how short or how long it is, this principle still holds!

Let's please be clear about the distinction between repeating and paraphrasing:

• Repeating is just that - it shows the interviewer that you're good at note taking really fast and then reading those notes. Nothing more! As a general rule, do not repeat because it's essentially a redundant activity because I (interviewer) know what I told you (interviewee). What I don't know is whether you actually understood the situation.
• Paraphrasing is a way to communicate top down in a concise manner what you're being asked but in your own words with emphasis on the objective. You should generally do this as a means to start a conversation with the interviewer and segue into the framework. If the prompt was short, then you can still say something about it and let your personality shine through!

Hope this helps a bit! Let me know if you'd like to learn more!

Hi there, 

it is important to clarify what you understood, the scope of the case, what the key question is to solve, it happens often that candidate doesn't clarify and starts to solve another problem. 

Remember that there is almost always additional information available, just make sure you ask for all info you may need to build your hypothesis. 

Good luck!

Lucie

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