For engineers, I think the key is not to try to "sell yourself" or even talk much about yourself at all. Instead, just start digging right into the details. Act

For engineers, I think the key is not to try to "sell yourself" or even talk much about yourself at all. Instead, just start digging right into the details. Act like they've already given you the job and you're trying to get oriented so you can start. If you're smart and qualified, it will come through very clearly if you take this approach. It focuses the interview on tangible details and your problem solving abilities instead of amorphous qualifications and experience that anyone can bs (and which interviewers are naturally suspicious of). Also, if you are being interviewed by a less technical person, asking detail-oriented questions (which they often won't have thought about themselves) puts you in the driver's seat and gives you that 'tech guru' halo that business guy types are secretly in awe of. Note I'm not saying you should speak in techno-babble. Use plain speech, but focus on details.