The job interview went well. Your experience was spot on. Nice work! But despite your best storytelling, not to mention the questions you asked at the end, you didn't get the job. As companies focus more on skills-based hiring, it's easy to imagine that experience is what gets the gig. If you're in the interview, the company believes (on some level) that you have the experience they're seeking. So what else can get you closer to your next opportunity? In the job interview, these two things are vital - because they matter more than your experience.

"So, tell me about yourself," is the question that everyone asks. It's an invitation to share your experience, history and qualifications, right? Wrong. There's a question behind the question, and that unspoken inquiry is more important than your experience. When an interviewer asks, "Tell me about you" what they are really asking is, "Tell me about how you can help us".

In my coaching work with executives and aspiring leaders, I emphasize the importance of making the second person first. Second person is "you". Not you, dear reader. I'm talking about the person right in front of you - your audience - in the job interview. Talking about yourself is self-serving, if you don't make a connection. The second person is the one who matters most. How are you letting him or her know that you can help?

The storytelling strategy here is to use the past to create the future. Entrepreneurs who pitch their business ideas to investors do this for a living. The business pitch is filled with "forward-looking statements". Entrepreneurs seeking millions in investment talk about what could transpire if an investment is made. In the interview, you are asking the company to invest in you - and sharing the past as context for future possibility.

You have to consider the one thing that matters more than your experience: it's your service. "Service" doesn't mean customer service, repair service or food service. Service means helping others - and, by extension, helping entire organizations. Helping team members to succeed, helping board members to make the right decision, helping get that controller fixed so that the drone will work - you get the idea. In the interview, the real job is helping hiring managers to see the best investment for the role (you) - and that decision gets easier around service.

Connect your accomplishments to the service you can provide. That service is your solution - and ultimately, companies are hiring solutions providers. The takeaway here is to remember that the past doesn't create the future. The future is always created from right now. And right now, in the job interview, your service determines your future. How many people can you help? In what way? And to what degree? How quickly can you create that valuable service, and what would you do first if you had the job?

Focus on outcomes, using phrases like "because" and "so that" to link your other jobs to the one you really want. What stories can you share, to emphasize your contribution (which is another way to say "service")?

According to Carmen Simon, PhD, a Stanford neuroscientist and author of Impossible to Ignore and Made You Look, says that the past is only useful in that it helps us to predict the future. While past performance is no indication of future results, according to my broker, the past is often used to predict a candidate's success in the job interview. But would you hire someone with great experience....if you did not trust that person?

Trust matters more than experience in the job interview. Stories are the key to confidence and trust. Examples of how others have come to rely on you, or how you went above and beyond in difficult circumstances, establish the credibility and trust that you need.

To establish trust, consider how your job interview responses can cover these areas:

Your experience matters. Skills are vital. But without an attitude of service, your skills aren't going to connect to the interviewer - or the opportunity at hand. Moreover, establishing trust is vital to how your stories are received in the interview. Trust brings your skills into context. Make the second person first, and concentrate on how your background can offer service, solutions and possibilities to your potential employer. Because service and trustworthiness matter more than your experience in the job interview.