This Exec Looks For New Hires With Good Storytelling Skills

When Jeremy Zimmer, CEO of global talent and literary agency United Talent Agency, interviews potential hires, he asks them to tell him a good story.

"I'm going to ask them to tell me about a movie they loved and why, a TV show they loved and why, a book they loved and why," Zimmer tells Adam Bryant at The New York Times. "Ultimately, if we're selling something, we have to be able to communicate it in an elegant, intelligent way."

That means that candidates should be able to turn any story into an interesting one, from how many siblings they have to why they chose their college. Basically, you need to be able to convince anyone that you're the most interesting person they'll meet - and you need to do it fast.

Zimmer asks these seemingly simple questions because they quickly test storytelling skills.

"I'm also looking for somebody who can see underneath the facts of a story, and who can understand that these moments in their life added up to bringing them to where they are, and that they see the story of their own life as being something that's interesting and compelling," he says.

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