How to Show Trustworthiness in a Job Interview

The most important thing to get across in an interview is not that you are smart and motivated – it’s that you are trustworthy.

Trustworthiness is the fundamental trait that people – not just interviewers – automatically and unconsciously look for in others. It will make or break you.There are two qualities you need to possess to be seen as trustworthy: warmth and competence.

Warmth signals that you have good intentions toward the perceiver, and competence signals that you can act on those good intentions. A warm and competent interviewee is a valuable potential ally. But a competent interviewee who doesn’t project warmth is a potentially formidable foe – the kind of person who may not be a team player, and who may cause trouble for you down the road.

Warmth: modesty and gratitude.

Competence:loyalty, and responsibility

Another powerful way to project warmth and competence is through the questions you ask your interviewer. Specifically, you can use questions to send three of the warmest signals you can send: interest in the perceiver, affirmation of their skills and abilities, and empathy.For example, you might show interest in the interviewer by asking, “So, how did you come to be [current role] at [company]?” or “What are you currently working on?”

https://hbr.org/2015/05/how-to-show-trustworthiness-in-a-job-interview