Landing a job doesn’t just depend on a strong CV. In an interview, the way you speak, listen and interact weighs as much as technical skills, sometimes even more.
Recruiters aren’t just looking for degrees or experience that tick all the boxes. They also assess a candidate’s ability to show how their skills can concretely serve the company, in a clear, credible and natural way. In this exercise, communication becomes a decisive tool and those who master it stand out from the crowd.
For Charles Duhigg, journalist and author who has studied productivity, habits and communication, this relational dimension is central. “What makes us good communicators also makes us very, very attractive during a job interview”he explains to CNBC Make It. In his work Supercommunicators: How to unlock the secret language of communicationit analyzes the mechanisms that distinguish people capable of creating a rapid connection with their interlocutors.
One of the common pitfalls, according to him, comes from the gap between preparation and spontaneity. Recruiters know that candidates arrive with worked answers, sometimes repeated dozens of times. “They know you’re playing a role; they know you’re there to get a job.”he explains. When each sentence seems calibrated to the extreme, the exchange loses naturalness and credibility, thus dampening trust.
Conversely, showing more of your actual way of thinking and reacting allows the employer to more accurately assess your fit with the team. For example, it is important to be as honest as possible when an employer asks you about your shortcomings. Someone who naturally admits that they can be stressed will be taken more seriously than someone who describes themselves as a perfectionist.
Furthermore, the exchange is not based solely on the answers given. The best communicators, he observes, pose “many more questions” than others, by going beyond the information already available on the company’s website. They are interested in the background of their interlocutor, in their vision of the profession, in what really matters in the team or in the way of working. This well-placed curiosity signals real motivation and an ability to understand the human issues behind organizational charts. The most attractive candidates therefore remain the most authentic and the most curious.
Added to this is the non-verbal part of the exchange, which strongly influences perception. Attitude, posture, gaze and micro-reactions say a lot about the attention paid to the discussion. Aligning naturally with the rhythm and energy of the person opposite, without caricature, helps to create a more fluid climate.
