Everyone tells us to smile in interviews. You see it everywhere.
There are posts on what types of smiles mean; what and how to not show a cheesy smile during an interview process. After staring in the mirror and correcting our smile to nail the next interview, we ask ourselves, “Why even smile?”
Research shows that smiling adds “face value” in an interview. Dale Carnegie, whom you may have heard of, wrote this poem on the value of a smile:
“It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None are so rich they can get along without it, and none so poor but are richer for its benefits.
“It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and nature’s best antidote for trouble.
“Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anyone ’til it is given away. And if in the hurly-burly bustle of today’s business world, some of the people you meet should be too tired to give you a smile, may we ask you to leave one of yours?
“For nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give.”
With so much to be said about the smile, the main point is what it does in an interview.
The huge secret: The smile is an influencer.
In interviews, a smile can speak the same language regardless of what language people speak. The front desk assistant taking your resume to the executive in the back interviewing you will feel the same value in your smile regardless of their position and it will make a positive impact on them.
Smiling also makes a good impression. People like people who smile because they project warmth and kindness and therefore are deemed more approachable.
So the next time you are headed to an interview, consider your smile face. Not the one that creates a less-than-warm interaction, but one riddled with genuine warmth and care. You will create an interaction that none of your words will have the ability to say.