Smile. That’s right. Smile. Too many of you are walking into your interviews as though you’re ready to have a very long and involved conversation with the Grim Reaper. Rewind. An interview provides you an opportunity to learn about a job to which you may be well suited, and to present your credentials in order to secure the position. That’s reason enough to smile.

Yes, the business of getting a job is serious business, but that doesn’t mean you have to be solemn, stern, and humorless.

Here’s the deal: Interviewers are interested in finding out if you can do the job they have to offer. They want to hear about your work experience and how that experience can indicate or predicate your ability and competence to do the job at hand. As they ask questions, listen to your responses and listen to the questions that you ask, they’re making another determination: Will you, no matter how skilled, fit in with and be accepted by their existing team? If the answer is no, you’re history. If it’s yes, then hello, paycheck.

What can you do to act as though you fit in when you aren’t really sure what you’re trying to fit into? Look open, pleasant, and pragmatically optimistic. That’s easy to do if you’re mindful about how you’re coming across. If you’re not, some unappealing behaviors can pull up a chair next to you and interview in ways that cause your candidacy to lose its attraction.

Look open: Job candidates who look open appear interested in new information, they’re forthcoming when asking questions, sharing observations, or making statements, however daunting the subject. They communicate openness through body language, word choices, tone and tonality.

Act pleasant: When your acting pleasant there’s an amicability and peacefulness about you; a get- along quality that suggests a preference for harmony over discord.

Pragmatic optimism: When you’re a pragmatic optimist you talk about what’s working, not what isn’t, of who and what’s good, rather than who’s behaving badly and causing something to fail. You’re solution- seeking rather than fault- finding and you sound like someone who likes to learn from experience rather than repeat past mistakes.

For all those reasons and more, people are comfortable with you, enjoy being with you, aren’t threatened by you and trust that you’ll do the right things for the right reasons.

What else can you do to enhance your interview success? Tell a good story. Here’s what I mean: You’ve probably noticed that when speakers say, “let me tell you a story”, they get your attention. With that simple transitional phrase they’re able to transport you from lecture hall to club room; they’ve closed the gap that exists among strangers by an apparent willingness to share information about themselves or others that you’ll likely understand, connect to, and remember. So it is when interviewing.

If you can narrow the gap that naturally exists between prospective employer and potential employee you’ll improve your odds of making a positive impression. For example:

When responding to specific yet open-ended questions about your experience respond by telling true stories that answer the questions as well as illustrate points you want to make.  But be careful, you can overdo it.

Be brief. You may find your stories more entertaining than does the listener.

Be mindful of the words you use. Some storytellers get so carried away with their own anecdotes they assume an intimacy with the listener that does not exist.

Respect the agenda. One story too many and you’ll throw interviewers off schedule. They’re not looking for a raconteur, they want to hire the person who can get the job done, efficiently, effectively, and on time