Q: How can I ace a job interview?

A: As quickly as possible, change the conversation from your past to your future.

Yes, you have a rock star resume, but so too do a large handful of other candidates. Rather than make your history the focal point of the conversation, discuss the types of responsibilities you are likely to have in the future.

Talking about the past (1) leaves you vulnerable to misinterpretations of your history, (2) leaves you vulnerable to candidates who do a better job selling their histories, and (3) won’t really give the interviewer a sense for who you are.

If possible, gently drive the conversation with questions about the job to be done. Refer (quickly and often) to your experience to highlight familiarity with particular types of issues, but always frame these experiences in terms of how they will help you moving forward. Talk honestly about mistakes as well as successes… including what you learned and how you’re better prepared for the next challenged for the experience. Be grateful for your past experience, whatever it is! If the interviewer has firm control—which, by the way, he should—roll with it. Engage the interviewer in an exercise of trying to articulate similarities and differences between what you have done previously and what you will be doing in moving forward. Ask questions. Have ideas. Think ahead.

Looking forward will create a positive, creative atmosphere. It will make the interview more relaxed and conversational. It will put you and the interviewer on the same side of the table, so to speak, trying to solve a single problem. (Namely, how can we align the needs of the company with your personal goals?)

On the other hand, looking backward—for instance,by discussing your resume—creates more of an adversarial interaction, in which the interviewer is testing you and trying to ascertain the veracity of your claims.

A forward-looking approach is far more effective. Go get ‘em!