The Ultimate 4-Step Career Change Guide for Pastors: Everything You Need to Transition From Ministry to the Marketplace

♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: The entire Ministry To Marketplace process.

You have our entire Ministry To Marketplace process at your fingertips. 

Yes, you read that right. 

In our FREE Ultimate Guide For Your Ministry To Marketplace Transition, I essentially copied and pasted all of the trainings that we go through in the Interview Accelerator. So, go there first.

1) Foundations of the Job Search + Getting Clarity On Your Next Job.

Key concepts you need to understand:

1. The game has changed in the last 10 years. 5 years. And 2 years. Even in the last 3 months! Relationships are everything. People trust AI less. The person who communicates their fit to the job the best gets the job.

2. If you don’t have clarity on your next job, you won’t be able to explain what you are looking for next to people who can influence your offer.

3. If you don’t have clarity on your next job, you won’t be able to create an effective resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile, or look like a top candidate in interviews.

4. Doing 20 hours of the wrong things will get you less progress than doing 3 hours of the right things. Hard work doesn’t matter as much as smart work. Both are required to win this game.

   
   

Go deeper with these newsletters:

• Ministry To Marketplace Method

• How To Get Unstuck On Your Job Search

• How Long Does It Take To Get A Corporate Job After Ministry?

• Best Jobs for Pastors

  
  

2) Develop An Attractive Candidate Presence (online and offline)

Key concepts you need to understand:

1. Translating your ministry experience into words and phrases that someone else who has never worked in ministry (or maybe never been to church before) can understand is the mountain you must climb to enjoy skiing down the other side. This is the most difficult part, but the part that makes the most difference. 

2. When you translate your experience, you have to internalize the new language. Learn to speak it like you’re going to a foreign country with only native speakers. That’s the environment you’re stepping into. (ChatGPT can only help you so much here).

3. Your resume and LinkedIn are critical pieces of the job search assets you need to be a top candidate. Format matters just as much as wording (recruiters take an average of 7.4 seconds to read each resume). Make it easy to scan.

   
   

Go deeper with these newsletters:

• How To Translate Your Ministry Experience for Corporate Jobs: Part 1 and Part 2

• Building a Resume That Showcases Your Marketable Ministry Skills

• The 9 LinkedIn Profile Essentials for Pastors Making a Career Change

• Do Former Pastors Need A Cover Letter for Marketplace Jobs?

  
  

3) Lock In A Predictable Process To Get Interviews

Key concepts you need to understand:

1. Applications don’t equal interviews. And applications don’t lead to offers. Interviews lead to offers, so your main strategy question should be “how can I get more interviews?” Between 1-2% of applications lead to interviews. Having an internal connection can be upwards of 15X that amount.

2. Targeting companies that will be (or currently are) hiring for the job you want and where you have connections is the fastest way to bypass the security system of the ATS and get into an interview where you have a better chance of getting an offer. Internal connections = more trust. More trust = more likely to get an interview.

3. Your best process is a mixture of quality and quantity. We label this “The Success Equation.” The Success Equation = (higher quality and quantity of connections) + (higher quality and quantity of conversations) x (how many reachouts you do per week). Increase your luck surface area, if you will.

4. Following up is a level 100 skill. We’ve had two people in our community land jobs recently because they followed up with a company after not getting an offer a few months prior! That speaks for itself. Follow up after interviews. Follow up after applications. Follow up after “rejections.” Follow up after introductions. Always, always, always follow up.

   
   

Go deeper with these newsletters:

• Who Will Hire Me As A Former Pastor?

• How To Stand Out In The Job Search As A Former Pastor.

• 15X Your Interview Chances After Leaving Vocational Ministry

• How To Get More Interviews At Your Dream Organization When Leaving Ministry

• Who Will Help You Get A Job As A Former Pastor?

• How To Get Predictable Interviews After Leaving Vocational Ministry

  
  

4) Winning In The Interview

Key concepts you need to understand:

1. Each resume needs to be tailored to the job description. Yes, that is a lot of work, but whoever said there was an easy button? (ahem, I’m looking at you LinkedIn) The reality is that a BDR at one company is going to do things differently than a BDR at another company. A project manager is going to do very different things than someone with the exact same title at another company… because each of those companies has different products, different clients, different industries, and different processes.

2. Interviewers are looking for very specific things, and each interview has a different purpose. Phone screens are to get to know you and figure out if you’re who you say you are on your resume. Initial interviews are for understanding your qualifications better and starting to get to know you as a person. Final interviews have way more to do with your likability. (Catch that: interviews progress more from competency in the beginning to likability and culture fit in the end.)

   
   

Go deeper with these newsletters:

• Interview Questions To Expect When Leaving Vocational Ministry As A Pastor

• How To Explain Your Ministry Career Change In Interviews

• “Why Are You Leaving Ministry?” Crafting Your Ministry Career Change Story for Marketplace Success