The "Five Cs" of the Ideal Interview

Over the past week I’ve had multiple opportunities to engage with prospective job candidates during the interview process. Interviews plays a critical role in just about every aspect of life. Practically every interaction you and I have as humans involves some level of “interviewing”. Interviewing to some degree involves “sizing people up”, so even a simple handshake and first-time introduction represents a mini-interview.

Provided below are several elements associated with what we’ll call The “Five Cs” of the Ideal Interview. It is critical that the interviewee successfully execute these five elements to maximize a positive and favorable connection with the person or panel conducting the interview.

• Connection – this starts from the minute you walk in the room. The way you look, carry yourself, and speak contribute to the connection level you’ll establish with the interviewer. As the interviewee you want to communicate confidence and that you are taking the interview seriously. Your “mode of operation” should be initially serious, but natural as you progress through the interview process. As you get more comfortable with the interviewer, feel free to “drop your guard” a bit and include a little humor. Reading the body language of the interviewer is critically important. Remember, interviewers are people, too. The old adage, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” should be at the core of everything related to making connections.
• Communication – when asked a question, answer it. Do not ramble and take 2 minutes to answer a question that can be answered in 20 seconds. Don’t use only “yes or no” responses; however, it’s critically important that you don’t lose the attention of the interviewer. Depending on the mood / personality of the interviewer, feel free to inject a little humor. Remember that the goal of the interview is to connect with the person on the other side of the table; you’re more likely to establish a strong bond by personally engaging with the interviewer through effective communication.
• Credibility – at its core credibility involves being believable. This is hard to do in a short-term interview, but absent credibility the interviewee will never see future engagements. Credibility takes on different forms, but it always involves sincerity. The worst thing an interviewee can do is “blow smoke” and exaggerate their capabilities. I once experienced a prospective candidate “crash and burn” as he tried to impress an audience of PhD’s with his “incorrect knowledge” on a particular subject; unfortunately for him, the PhDs in the room happened to be experts on the subject!
• Care – the old saying “people have to know that you care, before they care what you know” is appropriate here. As the interviewee you must demonstrate that you are interested in the cause of the organization with whom you are interviewing. This means you need to have studied and prepared about who they are and what they do. Failure to do this communicates to the interviewing organization you really aren’t interested in being part of what they do. This is not an opportunity to demonstrate your “photographic memory of facts and figures”, but you need to have a working knowledge of the interviewing organization.
• Commitment – this is probably the second most important element (connection is clearly the top element). By the end of the interview you must have established with the interviewer that you are the ideal candidate because of your level of commitment to the cause. While the level of future responsibility for interviewees will vary (i.e., rewards, promotions, scholarships, employment, etc.), a successful interview leaves the interviewer with the impression that if you, as the interviewee, are the recipient of the position you are a worthy and deserving candidate. Your ability to communicate commitment is the key for making this happen.

Good luck in your future interviews! Remember, you’ll never know the impact today’s interactions have on tomorrow’s opportunities.