Let’s be honest: basically no one (except our guest, Sara Kobilka!) enjoys job interviews. When you walk into an interview, it often feels like a high-stakes guessing game where you’re left wondering what the interviewer is actually trying to get at with their questions.

In this episode, Melissa Vining and Sara Kobilka pull back the curtain on all that ambiguity and share some lesser-known interview strategies that will help you turn a stressful interrogation into a meaningful, two-way human connection.

What You’ll Learn:

• The Power of Improv: Why practicing improvisation through gaming or playing with kids can strengthen your ability to handle unexpected interview questions.
• Storytelling Strategies: How to move away from scripted answers and toward a “bullet point” method that uses real-world examples to build human connection.
• Decoding Common Questions: Understanding the “why” behind standard prompts like “Tell me about yourself” and “What is your greatest weakness” to provide more authentic, strategic responses.
• Research Beyond the Job Description: Tips for using social media and organizational mission statements to “speak the employer’s language” and demonstrate cultural fit.
• The Two-Way Interview: How to vet potential employers by asking for specific examples of their values, such as how they define “flexibility.”

Guest Bio:

Sara Kobilka is a multipotentialite and the founder of Renaissance Woman Consulting. Her interests span a wide range of topics, fields, and disciplines, with a focus on community building, communication, STEM learning and engagement, and career coaching. She is dedicated to advancing disability and accessibility awareness. As an educator, scientist, journalist, coach, and entrepreneur, Sara actively cross-pollinates ideas across boundaries. Her career coaching work includes one-on-one sessions, workshops, and LinkedIn sprints. She uplifts people navigating career changes across disciplines, industries, and sectors and those with complex work histories. Sara lives in New York’s mid-Hudson River Valley with her family, where she balances work, parenting, and chasing new sparkly things.

Connect with Sara:

https://renwomanconsulting.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-kobilka/

https://www.facebook.com/RenWomanConsulting

https://saras-newsletter-74ba26.beehiiv.com/

https://connecting-dots.captivate.fm/listen

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Embracing an Outside-the-Box Mind with Melissa Vining, Boundary Spanner

Selections from Sara’s Career Newsletter, “Take it With You”:

• Acing the Interview Pt. 1
• Acing the Interview Pt. 2
• Learning a New Language
• Time to Translate

Sara’s Free Pre-Recorded Masterclass (VAST Technique ©)

Proxy Podcast with Yowei Shaw (“The LayoffTrilogy”)

Episode Timestamps:

00:34 – Meet Sara Kobilka

04:02 – Sara’s new podcast!

06:34 – Improv for interview preparation

09:52 – Anticipating interview topics

11:06 – The power of storytelling

12:54 – Using social media research

14:02 – Speaking the employer’s language

18:03 – "Tell me about yourself."

22:41 – The danger of too much scripting

25:34 – “Why do you want to work here?”

26:19 – The value of targeting your job search

28:55 – “Why are you leaving your current role?”

31:47 – Reframing a layoff, dismissal, or resume gap

36:45 – “What is your greatest weakness?”

39:43 – “Tell us about a time when you faced a challenge/conflict.”

42:37 – The two-way interview mindset

46:39 – Strategic closing questions

49:21 – The power of the pause

P.S. If you’ve found this episode helpful and want to support the podcast, ⁠buy me a coffee here⁠! Your support helps me keep creating content that helps high-performing misfits find work that fits.