10. Emphasize how you took control of events in your previous jobs.
Other research cited on PsyBlog suggests that, to impress your interviewer, you should talk about past work experiences where you took initiative.
In the study, retail salespeople heard hypothetical scenarios (e.g. A customer comes into the store about to go on vacation, and she doesn’t know what to take with her, so you talk to her about different products, and the customer purchases suntan cream and sunglasses.) and were asked to indicate how responsible they would feel for the positive outcome.
Employees who implied that they were responsible for the purchase generally received higher performance ratings from their managers.
The same idea likely applies in the case of job interviews. If you can show how you contributed to a positive outcome at your company, your interviewer will likely be more impressed with you than if you act like you had little to do with it. (But be careful not to overstate your role in the outcome — see No. 8.)