I just finished a great book, Acing the Interview by 30+ year career coach and recruiting veteran Tony Beshara, that will teach you exactly everything you need to know to get a job you hate.
He's been recruiting since before I was born. However, I edited over 1,000 resumes and interviewed over 400 candidates last year so I feel like I can speak to this topic with some authority.
His advice:
1) Write cover letters.
2) Learn the "right" answers to interviewers' questions.
3) Spin yourself into their ideal candidate.
My advice:
1) Find a person to be your cover letter.
2) Find a job that both uses many of your skills and few of your weaknesses.
3) Never take a job for someone that you wouldn't want to see promoted.
Debunking Myth #1 - The Cover Letter
A cover letter says two things about you. You don't know anybody in the company who can get you in, and you're "one of them" vs. "one of us." The push back people usually give me in this area is that they don't know anyone at a company they're trying to get into. Malcolm Gladwell's compelling argument in The Outliers was that weak connections are more likely to be helpful than best friends or family, since there's a good chance that you already know the same people they do. Your casual acquaintances and friends of friends are the most likely to have a connection that you don't and can help you get to the opportunity of your choice.
Rather than sending an anonymous letter, go through your Rolodex and start building it out. LinkedIn and Facebook are great resources for this. Once you find a person who might be open to helping you, a cover letter is unnecessary.
Debunking Myth #2 - The "Right" Answers
I've had exactly two jobs in my life that I hated, and I got fired from both of them within the first month. I've had another four jobs that I've loved, including my current job, and when I look back at what the difference was, I realized I should have seen it coming in the interview.
I'm very good at interviewing. I know the right answers. I've gotten every offer I've interviewed for since I graduated from college, and I can tell you definitively that there is never, ever a beneficial reason to sell a skill set that you don't have.
The classic example "My biggest weakness is perfectionism" is a really dumb answer for two reasons. Number one, it doesn't answer the question and number two, it sounds canned because it is canned. I once spent 23 hours over four days doing bullet (15 minute) back to back interviews with college students and I heard that answer over 70 times. Given the fact that so many of their resumes had extra returns, spaces instead of tab stops, and in one particularly egregious example, grammar spelled an E, I found that answer to be at best unoriginal and at worst an outright lie.
If you have a habit you can't or don't plan on breaking that might cause friction, you might want to consider making that the answer. I've admitted I'm not the best public speaker (which I'm working on) and that my desk is almost always a mess (which I'm not working on). But I'd rather not get an offer than to be harangued over something like office cleanliness.
Several years ago, one of my teammates and I were both promoted to the same position in marketing generating detailed reports and original sales ideas/campaigns. She used to proof my detail work and correct the many errors. I had so many original ideas, I turned in half of them with her name on them. The obvious solution we came up with over burritos at lunch one day? She'd take my detail work, I'd take her creative. Our boss' solution? NOT A CHANCE. She had a specific vision of what she wanted in that role.
I'm not good at detail. Saying I am is something I shouldn't have said in that interview. Complete full disclosure isn't always a great thing to lead with, but it's better to be up front then get into something you hate.
Debunking Myth #3 - Your personal brand
Interviewers, particularly early in your career, have been doing this a lot longer than you have and almost always do it more often.
The easiest way to impress an interviewer is to be impressive, interesting and mildly entertaining. If there's something about your current job that you don't like or think is a waste of money, start brainstorming around some ideas. Take a teammate to lunch and brainstorm together. Be interesting. Read books, have hobbies, have something to talk about.
Beshara and I disagree on the last point also - he says stay away from politics, religion, anything controversial. Where we disagree is on the delivery. On your resume, saying "Member of X Church (or political party)" isn't a bad idea because it might stigmatize you, it's a bad idea because it's not relevant. But, if your involvement shows clearly related job skills, I actually think it's a good idea if it comes up. Serving as an Elder on the board of your church and having fiduciary responsibility for the church's budget and pension is a non-controversial way to show your commitment to the community.
I'm a committed, lifelong Republican who once made a strong recommendation for an equally committed, lifelong Democrat who told me about her success stories winning over Democrats in a very red part of rural Georgia - which showed me more about her sales skills and passion than any of her prior job experience. She went on to have a successful stint as a sales rep (later promoted to sales manager) and we mutually agreed to never discuss politics. :)
As soon as you get a job, find the bathroom, and figure out what you actually got hired to do (HR job descriptions aren't always the most conducive), then the next thing you should do is figure out how to get your boss promoted.
If at all possible, only work for people you truly like and respect. The #1 reason people leave jobs is because of their immediate supervisor. I must either be the luckiest person in the world or just a decent judge of character because I've had a string of incredible bosses, each of whom I've seen get promoted while they were leading the team I was on. I used to joke around that I was causing it, but I think the real reason is that winners attract winners. If you're a winner, never work for a loser. If you work for a winner, push him or her up as high as you can.
The reason I start with character is because people push back on me here also with comments like "my boss would steal credit for all my ideas" or "there's no reason to push my teammates up - they wouldn't do the same for me." That's a loser's attitude. You're a winner. You work for winners. Your company is lead by winners. If that statement isn't true, you should start looking for a new job where it is true.
To wrap up, the best way to "ace an interview" is to be a star where you are, continue to push yourself and let success find you.