The things that make us good at communication also make us very, very attractive in an interview,” says Charles Duhigg: Here’s how you can impress your interviewer

The resume had done its job. You cleared the first round. Your skills matched the job description. Your experience checked every box. Now came the moment that unsettles even the most prepared candidates: the interview itself.Across the table, or on the other side of a screen, sat someone deciding not just whether you could do the job, but whether they could imagine working with you.This is where many careers turn. In today’s crowded job market, technical ability alone rarely seals the deal. What often makes the difference is something harder to quantify: communication.As Charles Duhigg, American journalist tells CNBC Make It, “The things that make us good at communication also make us very, very attractive in an interview.”Duhigg has spent years studying how people connect. He has analysed hundreds of conversations while writing three books on productivity, habits and communication. His latest work, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, explores why some people instantly build trust while others struggle to be heard.From that research, he has distilled three habits that can quietly transform how candidates show up in interviews.Most candidates walk into interviews ready to perform. They rehearse answers in advance. They polish every sentence. They try to sound impressive. Interviewers know this. “They know that you're performing; they know that you're there to try and get a job,” Duhigg says.But polished answers rarely linger in memory. Genuine ones do. The more candidates can “genuinely convey who we are,” Duhigg explains, employers finally get “a chance to see whether we'll actually succeed there.”It is not about oversharing or abandoning professionalism. It is about allowing some humanity into your answers.Answering sincerely, while staying tactful, creates connection. “The interviewer is going to remember that answer,” Duhigg says. “The best communication is the most genuine communication.”Few questions reveal this tension more than the dreaded: Tell me about your weaknesses. Most people freeze, some deflect, others recite safe, rehearsed flaws.Duhigg encourages a calmer approach. If asked, he says, “and I answer it as honestly as I can, it doesn't mean that I have to expose my flaws, it doesn't mean that I have to say something out of line.”Honesty, when handled thoughtfully, signals maturity. It shows self-awareness. And it tells employers you understand growth. The candidates who stand out ask better questions. Eventually, every interview arrives at the same moment.The interviewer leans back and asks: Do you have any questions for me? Many candidates treat this as a formality.“Think about how many people go into an interview and the person asks them, 'Do you have any questions for me?' and the question they ask is completely predictable,” Duhigg says.The strongest communicators do something different. They stay curious. According to Duhigg, they “ask a lot more questions” than their peers. Not surface-level queries, but deeper ones that explore values, experiences and motivation.Instead of asking only about responsibilities or timelines, candidates might ask how the interviewer entered the field, what keeps them invested in the company, or which part of their work feels most meaningful.They turn interviews into conversations. They show emotional intelligence. And they reveal genuine interest, something employers notice immediately. What you say without saying anything. Then there is the quiet language of the body.Before a single word lands, posture, eye contact and facial expressions begin shaping impressions. Duhigg points to mirroring, subtly matching an interviewer’s gestures or energy, as a powerful yet simple tool. It can be as small as returning a smile or leaning forward when they do.These subtle cues build familiarity. They create comfort. They make interactions feel natural rather than transactional.As Duhigg puts it, “The more we are prepared and comfortable doing that, the better off that interview is going to go.”Interviews are not just assessments of skill. They are tests of presence. Employers are quietly asking: Can I collaborate with this person? Can I trust them? Do they listen? Do they connect?Credentials may open doors. Communication determines who walks through them. Duhigg’s insights, shared with CNBC Make It, underline a simple truth: success in interviews rarely belongs to the most flawless speaker. It belongs to the most human one.Because long after the resume is filed away, what lingers is how you made someone feel in that room. And sometimes, that feeling becomes your next opportunity.