How To Get Predictable Interviews After Leaving Vocational Ministry: The 3X Rule for Your Pastor Career Change

♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: The 3X Rule, the Success Equation, and practicing your way to your dream organizations.

So, how many of these Key Actions should you do? Let’s look at the job search mountain.

The 3X Rule

The job search mountain is a picture of the 3X rule. The 3X rule states that as you move up the mountain of the job search process, you’ll need at least 3 results at one level to move to the next level. I wrote a newsletter explaining the Job Search Mountain in more detail, which will help with more context!

If you want 1 Offer, then you need to get in 3 Final Interviews. If you want 3 Final Interviews, you need to get in 9 Interviews. And so on.

Job Search Levels

There are levels to the job search. It starts with the application, then a phone screen, then a regular interview (maybe more than one), then the final interview, and then an offer.

The problem with this and the 3X rule is the 1% chance when applying cold. I don’t think anyone wants to apply for thousands of jobs to get 27 phone screens.

Which is why we need a different strategy. Insert Key Actions.

With Key Actions, we aren’t focused on applications; we are focused on introductions that come from productive, targeted conversations.

And so the mountain changes: instead of applications, we start with reach-outs to people on your list of connections.

Target Organizations are the Key

When you have a list of Target Organizations, the conversations change from “Do you know anyone hiring?” to “I’m interested in these organizations.”

That is incredibly more effective because now people know exactly how to help you. 

In this case, when you get a strong introduction, oftentimes you bypass the phone screen (though you might do it as a formality) and go straight into the interview.

Now the math looks good. 27 strong introductions lead to 1 offer. 

So your job now is to evaluate two things.

1. Evaluate your strategy. Are you doing the 7 key actions? What do you need to add to your job search? Maybe more importantly, what do you need to take away?

2. Evaluate your numbers. Are you playing the 1% game or the 3X rule game? Are you aiming for applications or aiming for introductions that lead to interviews?

   
   

Want to go deeper on this strategy? I wrote a newsletter on the Ministry To Marketplace method that has helped 102+ (at this point) people make successful transitions from ministry into the marketplace.

The Success Equation

We measure "success" in this way:

Success = more interviews in less time.

You want a job offer. But you can't get a job offer without interviews. So if you aim for interviews, you have more opportunities to get offers.

Connections

ATS, AI, Easy Apply. These are all decreasing your chances of getting interviews when you apply online. Especially with your non-traditional background.

The key to getting interviews is through your connections. Humans hire humans. Period.

But not just any connections. High quality connections.

High quality connections (people who want to help you and actually have the ability to) are the ones that make introductions that lead to interviews.

And the more of those high quality connections you have, the more people can be in your corner and help you out.

Conversations

But you can’t stop just by making a list of great people.

You have to get into quality conversations with them.

A quality conversation is one that helps them to understand

1. What job title you are looking for next,

2. What organizations they are connected to that you would be interested in working for,

3. Why it makes sense with your background and story that this is your next step.

If you can communicate those things and make an ask for an introduction in that conversation, that is a high quality conversation.

And of course, one conversation is good, but more conversations is better.

Reach Outs

So having a high quality and quantity of conversations with a high quality and quantity of connections is what gets you more interviews. 

Yay! Great job. You’re now job searching better than 99% of other people.

But that’s just half of success, right? More interviews?

The other half is to do it in less time.

That’s where Reach Out Velocity comes in.

How quickly do you reach out to those connections to start these conversations?

You can have 100 great conversations with connections over the course of 10 years, or over the course of 100 days. 

Which one is going to get you more interviews, and therefore more opportunities for offers, faster?

Yes, more reach outs.

The simple math.

This might feel overwhelming.

But the most important thing you can do (after getting clarity on your next job and translating your experience) is… reaching out.

If you send one text to one connection every day, for 30 days, maybe 20 of those turn into conversations. 

If half of those turn into interviews, then you’ve got 10 interviews in 30 days.

WILD. And simple.

The Success Equation is your “Work Smarter, Not Harder” in the job search.

Practice makes perfect: the star-rating system

Your goal is to get offers, so we need to practice how to get them.

Step 1: Find organizations to practice with.

Wait, practice? Yes, practice - live!

If you can't get an interview anywhere, that means that something in your application process is broken.

So instead, apply for jobs at organizations you would classify as "2-star" or "3-star" organizations. If you rank the organizations you're applying to on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, these are the ones where, if offered a job, you might consider accepting, but they're not your dream companies.

So start by finding organizations that do similar things and have similar roles.

Step 2: Apply for roles you're interested in at these 2 and 3-star companies.

If you get ghosted or rejected here, it's likely the same will happen at a 5-star organization.

If you get an interview here, take the time to do the interview and learn why they liked you for the role. What about your experience, your resume, and anything else you did made you an attractive candidate?

Additionally, take the time to figure out what gave them pause. What about your background did they not like? Are there any gaps that you need to fill on your resume, either by upskilling or being clearer?

If you don't get an interview, study the job description and figure out what's missing from your resume, and if you have that experience, can you better clarify it?

Step 3: Once you get an interview, go as far as you can in the process.

If you land an offer at a 2 to 3-star company, that's a great thing! You don't have to say yes, but you've taken notes along the way on what makes you stand out as a top candidate and what you need to improve on.

You might even be surprised that the organization could move up to a 4, or even 5-star organization, as you get to know their mission and their team.

Step 4: If you continue interviewing, move now to your 4 and 5-star organizations.

Once you feel confident about your ability to get offers or into final interviews, move on to your 4 and 5-star organizations.

Use what you've learned: resume adjustments, answering the interview questions, asking the right questions yourself, and providing any project or sample work - to be the best candidate they see!

These roles will be more competitive, but now, so are you. Because you've practiced and honed your skills.