Rock star columnist Tom Friedman once wrote a New York Times piece on what Google looks for in job candidates. Not every organization has these priorities, of course, but when seeking a job today you’ll make a better impression if you keep these attributes in mind. Here are three capabilities Google prizes in new hires:

1. Can you learn fast?

Google says they’re not interested in your IQ, or even your GPA, so much as they are in your ability to learn on the fly. Can you think of an uncertain situation when you took diverse pieces of information and tied them together to develop an insight, make a decision or take action? Employers definitely want to see that you can think about problems effectively – and creatively – without needing the structure of a computer menu or a search engine listing.

2. Can you step in and lead?

Interestingly, Google doesn’t care if you’ve been president of your sorority or the school’s chess club. They’re not so interested in titles. Employers are more likely to be impressed by a story of when you were part of a group facing a problem. Can you show how you stepped up and, at least temporarily, lead the group toward a solution. Whether or not you’ve got the title, employers want to see how you’ve demonstrated leadership capabilities. They call this situational or emergent leadership.

3. Do you learn from your mistakes?

To be successful long term in your career you must accept that you will fail – or fall short – sometimes. The key to success is what you do in those moments. Are you able to face those negative experiences, reflect on them, and learn important lessons. This requires a certain amount of humility. “Without humility, you are unable to learn,” says Lazlo Bock, former senior vice president of people operations at Google.

Next time you go into an interview be prepared to tell a story of when things went wrong. Take ownership of your role in creating the problem and then explain what you learned and would do differently. There’s an old story about how IBM founder Thomas Watson demonstrated the value of mistakes. When one young executive made a mistake that cost IBM millions of dollars, he expected the boss to fire him. But Watson’s response was, “Why would we want to fire you when we’ve just spent $5 million training you up?” The point is your mistakes can be very valuable learning experiences.

If you want to impress in almost any job interview, start by having these stories ready in case they are appropriate:

One time that I showed I can think and learn fast was….

An example of where I temporarily stepped in to lead was…

One failure (or mistake) I really learned from was…

If you can’t come up with an example, try brainstorming your past experiences with a career counselor. Or start looking for opportunities where you can apply what you’ve learned in school or take on a temporary leadership role. Building and demonstrating the skills Google looks for in its new hires will help you stand out in today’s hyper-competitive job market. For more on what Tom Friedman learned about the skills Google values click here.