How to Interview at a Church
In my last two posts I wrote about my visit to a church in Iowa and that I was interviewing with them. I first wanted to say that out of 3 candidates that they narrowed it down to, I was told last Wednesday that they offered the job to one of the other two guys that had interviewed besides me. I was a little shocked based on how well everything went, but I’m ok with the decision as I prayed that the right thing would happen and so I will be staying put here in Montana for now.
With that being said, I did want to follow up and give you some information about interviewing with a Church.
Here’s what I would like to discuss:
- What questions to be prepared for
- What questions you should ask
- What Red Flags to look for
- When to talk about the salary
- Do’s and Don’ts
What questions to be prepared for: In a general answer to this…be prepared to answer any question regarding youth ministry. I really liked how they decided to ask questions. They asked scenario based questions so that I could give them answers to real situations that I have experienced. Let me give you an example: “If a student approached you and shared with you about a sin struggle they were having, how would you handle that?”
Other questions they may ask:
-Explain how you do youth ministry.
-What do you enjoy about youth ministry and what frustrates you about youth ministry?
-What’s your spouses role while you do youth ministry?
-What do you like to do?
-How would you say students respond to you?
-What is your plan for recruiting leaders to help assist you in the youth ministry?
What Questions You Should Ask: It’s important not only for you to answer the search teams questions but also for you to be able to ask some questions back to them. This is actually fun because you can get a feel for how well they know what’s going on in the youth ministry or the church.
Here are some questions to ask:
- Give me some positive things and some negative things that you have seen in the youth ministry.
- What was the reason/s that the last two youth pastors have left?
- Explain what your church worship service is like.
- Are there any expectations outside of the job description?
What Red Flags To Look For: You may find yourself in a situation that seems good, but after interviewing you may find some things that might cation you from accepting a youth ministry job. Here are some things that I would say to proceed with cation or even rethink about accepting the position:
- We’ve had 3 youth pastors in the last 3 years.
- After reviewing the job description you’re not sure if Jesus could do the job.
- While doing the interview and seeing the church you get a sense that you wouldn’t fit there.
- The last youth pastor was terminated because of a serious problem (sexual misconduct, stealing, or attacking someone)
When To Talk About The Salary: I think it’s great when church’s are forth coming with the salary, but when they don’t mention this upfront, then the appropriate time to talk about salary would be after they offer you the job, however, if the church has a lengthy process, it would be ok to inquire about it your 2nd or 3rd interview to see if if would be adequate for you to be able to live. It’s just never been a good thing to ask them right away how much they pay the youth pastor before anything else.
Do’s and Dont’s:
Do’s:
-Dress up unless they say don’t because were casual (get a feel for what they want ahead of time).
-Be prepared by knowing information about them heading into the interview.
-Know your stuff (philosophy, scenario questions, your plan).
-Be yourself nobody likes fake.
-Ask questions that will help you get what you need to make a decision.
Dont’s:
-Over dominate the interview process by taking a long time to answer every question and chopping them off to ask your questions.
-Be a slob. It still does matter how you present yourself.
-Be quiet. This can be bad too.
-Share all your deepest and darkest sins.
-Be ungrateful. Man if you are havin some great ribs say THANKS!
I hope this process has been helpful to you and if you have more things that you would like to add to help those that are going to be interviewing with a church, then please leave your comments below. Maybe even tell a horror interview story for the rest of us.
Good Luck!
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If some churches had a profile and job description before hand and things in writing – might help the screening process on both sides. Good thoughts here!
Some good stuff here. Thanks for sharing.
I would ask the question about the last youth guy leaving, but don’t expect that they will be honest. Instead, I ask, “If I am not doing well in two years, what will that look like?” Your more likely to get he real reason the last guy left.
You might ask the same in reverse to get an idea of their expectations. If I’m doing well…
I ALWAYS ask how long they are willing to wait to see changes. Most real change doesn’t happen the first year or even two.
In my opinion, the most important thing for an interviewee to communicate is their vision for youth ministry. The most important thing for the interviewee to determine about the church is their values, both written and unwritten, and evaluating how they align with your own.
“After reviewing the job description you’re not sure if Jesus could do the job.”
BIG RED FLAG!!! Very well put.
If our Savior does not qualify, you might want to prayerfully reconsider your options.
Thanks guys for sharing. I will be going for a interview as a Youth Pastor. Your toughts and ideas are much appreciated.
I recently went through a three month interview process for a position with a church. I visited the church on several occasions and felt it was a good fit for my family. I got along with the staff so well that they were inviting me to hang out during the long interview process. Eventually, it came down to me and another guy, and it was at this point that the red flags started popping up. The church made promises from the start to reimburse me for traveling expenses, but I never received anything. Appointments were set for lunch with this pastor and dinner with that staff member, but they always fell through last minute. Then there was a period of absolutely no contact for two weeks, which was strange considering how smooth things had been going. I called and sent emails, but no response. This was the final red flag – I couldn’t uproot my family and move to a new community if I couldn’t trust the church. I sent an email to withdraw my name from consideration, and then they finally responded. They told me they had dismissed the other candidate only the day before receiving my withdrawal. They said they had planned to offer me the job. They apologized and told me that things had been put on hold due to “organizational and financial restructuring”. Unfortunately, I’ve met many irresponsible church leaders during my search. During your search, you need to interview your prospective supervisors as closely as they’re interviewing you.
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