Good evening, cupcakes!!
I ran into several former students at an event recently and was reminded that although for Unitarian Universalists, offers are now being made to candidates for settled ministries by churches that began their search process between six and 12 months ago, for much of the Christian world, it is Interview Season. At least I gather that it is by the volume of mail I get this time of year!
So, aspiring ones, here are some of PeaceBang’s Thoughts on Ministerial Interviews:
1. Remember that you’re not looking for a job so much as they are looking for a minister. Big difference. We all know that you need to eat, put a roof over your head, pay student loans and put gas in your car, but that’s not what this interview is about. Don’t freak out. You can -and should be willing to – work in a secular job unless this church position is something to which you feel called and is a good fit.
2. Wear something revealing. NO, silly, I don’t mean THAT kind of revealing! I mean revealing of who you are. Don’t be generic. Who are you? They should see that you know. Are you a cool, hip youth minister? Express that (but no revealed bellies or grungy flannel, please). Are you the corporate minister of the large church, steady and sure in your suit and tie? Are you a creative minister? Then don’t wear something uptight just because you think the congregational culture is too strait-laced to accept you. Opposites can and do attract in ministry just like in other relationships. BE YOURSELF, but an especially polished version of yourself. P.S. A huge cross doesn’t tell me anything about you that I don’t already know. Yes, you love Jesus. They need to know more than that. Don’t expect your jewelry or resume to communicate for you.
3. If you are interviewing with a colleague, you can dress a little more informally, but not casually. If you’re meeting with a committee of laypeople, take it up a notch. Show your respect for their time and effort by showing up promptly at the appointed hour, having already visited the Ladies or Mens Room if necessary, and being prepared with good questions, your calendar and a pen and small pad of paper. Don’t be boorish with technology; no one wants to have to wait around while you fire up your laptop. Put away the appliances, silence your cell phone and be present as a human being.
4. Your bag and your materials say just as much about you as your outfit. Don’t bring a tote bag overflowing with clutter. Pack a neat and clean bag. NO KNAPSACKS.
5. Shine your shoes.
6. Consider the impression that your car makes in the parking lot. Is it overflowing with books, papers, folders, gym clothes and food wrappers, and filthy from the road? Is it festooned with obnoxious, immature bumper stickers? Be aware that your vehicle is in some ways an extension of yourself. Unless you’ve been living in your car, there’s no excuse for it to be full of dirty laundry or empty soft drink bottles.
7. Send thank-you notes. Hand-written.
8. Pray for discernment, and good luck!!
Definitely yes on a nice work bag. I advised my sister to do the same for her secular interviews. A nice work bag with nothing in it but a nice folder with your printouts on the company/church, and a few copies of your resume, and your wallet, a pen, and perhaps a small bag or pouch with anything necessary.
Interestingly, I think I flubbed a job interview last year by being spectacular in every way but wearing a stiff uptight suit to the interview. I was uncomfortable and overly formal and traditional and it showed. My next interview, I’m wearing what I wore for a big presentation this year. It was a dress, not a suit. As one person said, “You look ready to start this program RIGHT NOW.” Yep.
Gosh, it seems kind of brutal to have interview season during the spring, around Holy Week and all.
This is, without question, the best and most succinct set of pointers I have ever read for any job seeker. Especially point one, even if interviewing for dog catcher. And polished shoes is a point lost on most people these days.
And get a decent haircut — even if it’s at a chain joint, make sure your hair isn’t falling in your face, and is clean and combed/brushed. A little lip gloss wouldn’t hurt you young women, either, unless you’re in a tradition that forbids make-up, and in my experience most of them aren’t going to hire you as a pastor anyway. [WHOA! HEY! Susan. I assume you’re speaking from personal observation and frustration, but I gotta say, this isn’t an age thing. Men and women of all ages need to be groomed and polished for job interviews, and the helpful touch of make-up idea certainly applies just as much to “you/we older women” as much as to our younger colleagues. Also, having recently made the acquaintance of several fabulous, accomplished, very polished young women who are breaking through centuries of sexism in their conservative faith traditions as impressive leaders, I would never lay that curse of “they’re probably not going to hire you anyway” on any one of them. “Behold I maketh all things new!” So you go, girls! – PB]
I have also found it very helpful to draw a square/circle [whatever form the group takes as you meet] and put the names of each person on the circle at the place they are sitting as they introduce themselves. People are always impressed that you can call them by name…and trust me, without this I would not remember. [Hold onto it…it is amazing how often at a second meeting people sit in the same places!]
Abject apologies. Is my Freudian slip showing?
You are CERTAINLY correct, PB, and I had fallen into the very, very outdated idea that candidates this time of year are, for the most part, young. It wasn’t true 25 years ago, it certainly isn’t true now.
And even if you’re wearing clothes that have seen better days, but which are your best and are clean and pressed that will make a better impression than throwing on something new thoughtlessly.
And the most important tip is about being on time and being respectful of the folks in the process. Last spring we hired a seminarian (not yet middle-aged, but not really young) to work with the congregation in the fall – she then took a different job and let us know by e-mail. When we set up an interview with another seminarian he never showed up. When we called to find out why, he told us he hadn’t decided whether or not he would actually return to school. [YIKES!! Interviewees, take note!! – PB]
As a courtesy, don’t take an interview for a position you wouldn’t take from what you know on paper. Of course, you could show up and it would be a total bait and switch, you want to get away and spend an hour in the shower and burn your clothes after meeting the people. Or, you might simply decide it’s not the place for you.
If you accept an offer and then take something else, at least have the decency to break the news to the first organization with a phone call in real-time. Always be polite and courteous and positive about having enjoyed meeting the people on the interview panel.
Remember that running a search costs an organization money–travel costs, sometimes consultancy, etc. Even if you (the potential minister) are what they are looking for, act with grace and decency. It’s funny how not doing so may catch up with you later in life.
This was a great article. Very insightful, practical and helpful. Now I’m going to clean out my car.
You know, I think it’s #2 I love the most. In my twenties, I spent a lot of time trying to dress like I wasn’t young. (Sort of sad now about what a big ol’ waste that was.) Absolutely, there were people who didn’t like that I was young, but dressing like I was 50 wasn’t going to change that! I’m grateful to be gaining the courage to be more, as you say, revealing.
About shining your shoes:
http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+shine+shoes+video&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
I’m old enough to remember growing up with one pair, which we shined on Saturday night. My father actually had a roll of leather machine belting in the attic, to sole our shoes WHEN the depression came again!
I have to disagree, Wendy in England, about not taking an interview for a position “you wouldn’t take from what you know on paper.” I just finished a call search in which I had many, many interviews that I was really excited about, and one interview for a position that left me totally cold reading the church’s profile. I went ahead and interviewed with them because 1) what the heck, and 2) the church was 15 minutes from my dear hubby’s work, and I thought it was worth a shot just for the potential convenience factor. I went to that interview fully expecting to hate every second of it. During the interview I absolutely fell in love with them…and reader, I accepted a call from that church last month.
All of which is to say, that we never really know what we think we know, and the ONE place I was certain I wasn’t interested in was the one place where I heard God’s call. So I say interview! 🙂
Or maybe that should be “I accepted a call TO that church”…accepting a call “from” that church makes it sound like they were calling me collect.
Wintry Mix, you have a point–but then again, you applied for it, and there must have been something beneath the ‘what the heck’ factor (and it may have been the geographical desirability) that tipped you into doing so.
I’d also like to say that the reverse should be true–a call committee shouldn’t interview someone they wouldn’t (on paper) consider appointable.
We were always told the bigger the cross, the bigger the problems. [That is really funny. I’m sorry, but it is! – PB]
Wintry Mix, for me, I read Wendy in England’s caution more as “don’t interview for a job you won’t take just so you can get the free trip”. For example, my year was cautioned that several churches in Hawaii were hiring, and that it would be extremely impolite to interview in Hawaii if you didn’t have a real intention of picking up and moving to Hawaii. Apparently several churches were burned by candidates who just wanted the free trip and didn’t really want to move.
Bee, that’s closer–more ‘don’t acceopt an interview for a job you couldn’t take’. I did that once–I knew the college was way too conservative for me (a Christian college, and I teach theology). It was a two day interview, and I went in with reservations (which grew through the process). I knew by the end of the first day that I wasn’t going to take it, and I knew by then in my heart that it was wrong to even accept the on-campus interview.
That said, if you’re at a ‘what the heck’ place (as was Wintry Mix), that means you’re at least open to being persuaded, and nothing has happened in the paper part of the process that throws up a red flag. I should have known this about the place I interviewed even before the AAR cattle-call, as I had gotten a number of signals it wasn’t going to be a good fit.