Interview Questions to Expect When Leaving Vocational Ministry as a Pastor

Read Time: 4.5 minutes

LAUNCH YOUR JOB SEARCH

Overview

Welcome to the Ministry To Marketplace Minute! Today, we’re going to give you a list of questions that you need to prepare for in each type of interview. The person who wins in the interview is the person who gets the job, so knowing what to expect is critical to getting offers! So let’s dive in.

Today's Ministry To Marketplace Minute:

Mindset Shift: How you get job offers as a former pastor.
Strategy Shift: Preparing to translate your ministry experience.
Do This Right Now: How to change careers faster: Prepare for interviews.
Who Will Hire Me?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.

Overview
Welcome to the Ministry To Marketplace Minute! Today, we’re going to give you a list of questions that you need to prepare for in each type of interview. The person who wins in the interview is the person who gets the job, so knowing what to expect is critical to getting offers! So let’s dive in.

Today's Ministry To Marketplace Minute:

Mindset Shift: How you get job offers as a former pastor.
Strategy Shift: Preparing to translate your ministry experience.
Do This Right Now: How to change careers faster: Prepare for interviews.
Who Will Hire Me?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.

🧠 MINDSET SHIFT: How you get job offers as a former pastor.

The person who gets hired is the person who can communicate that they are the most qualified.

That is the point of the interview.

To communicate that you are the most qualified person.

In our coaching program, we talk about this definition as an “A-Player.”

We define an A-Player as someone who the hiring team believes has a 90% chance of doing the job in its entirety, at a level that only the top 10% of candidates could perform at.

Your goal is to show that you are an A-Player. And that happens by being prepared for interviews.

So let’s talk about what questions you can expect.

The person who gets hired is the person who can communicate that they are the most qualified.

That is the point of the interview.

To communicate that you are the most qualified person.

In our coaching program, we talk about this definition as an “A-Player.”

We define A-Player as someone who the hiring team believes has a 90% chance of doing the job in its entirety, at a level that only the top 10% of candidates could perform at.

Your goal is to show that you are an A-Player. And that happens by being prepared for interviews.

So let’s talk about what questions you can expect.

♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: Preparing to translate your ministry experience.

There are four typical types of interviews that you will encounter in your interview process. You may have more, you may have less. If you are applying for creative or technical roles, you might also have a project or portfolio requirement.

Below are many (but not all) of the questions you will likely encounter during interviews.

Phone Screen

This interview is typically with someone in Talent Acquisition, a recruiter, or HR.

"Tell me about yourself."
"What are your career goals?"
"What are you really good at professionally?"
"What are you not interested in doing professionally?"
"How would your former bosses rate your performance on a scale of 1-10?"
"Why do you want to do this job?"
"Why do you want to work at this company?"
"How does your past experience equip you/qualify you for this role?"
"Why did you leave that job/why are you leaving that job?"*

This interview is typically with someone in Talent Acquisition, a recruiter, or HR.

"Tell me about yourself."
"What are your career goals?"
"What are you really good at professionally?"
"What are you not interested in doing professionally?"
"How would your former bosses rate your performance on a scale of 1-10?"
"Why do you want to do this job?"
"Why do you want to work at this company?"
"How does your past experience equip you/qualify you for this role?"
"Why did you leave that job/why are you leaving that job?"*

1 on 1 Interview

This interview is typically with the hiring manager. There could be follow-up interviews with others who are a part of the hiring process.

"In xyz role, what were you hired to do?"
"What accomplishments are you the most proud of?"
"What were some low points during that job?"
"Who were the people that you worked with?"
"Tell me about a time when you…”
"Why did you leave that job/why are you leaving that job?"*

This interview is typically with the hiring manager. There could be follow-up interviews with others who are a part of the hiring process.

"In xyz role, what were you hired to do?"
"What accomplishments are you the most proud of?"
"What were some low points during that job?"
"Who were the people that you worked with?"
"Tell me about a time when you…”
"Why did you leave that job/why are you leaving that job?"*

Group Interview

Common Questions:

"What are your biggest accomplishments in xyz area during your career?"
"What are your insights into your biggest mistakes and lessons learned in abc area?"
"Tell me about a time when [insert outcome or part of the role’s mission]..."

Some follow-up questions might be:

“How did you do that?”
“What were the numbers?”
“Tell me more about the challenges in that process?”

Common Questions:

"What are your biggest accomplishments in xyz area during your career?"
"What are your insights into your biggest mistakes and lessons learned in abc area?"
"Tell me about a time when [insert outcome or part of the role’s mission]..."

Some follow-up questions might be:

“How did you do that?”
“What were the numbers?”
“Tell me more about the challenges in that process?”

Final Interview

All of the questions will be centered around determining the best fit for the needs of the team and specific problem.

Everyone is an A-player and everyone can do the job. This is between you and one or two other candidates.

Most of the time the offer goes to the person with the most relevant, or the most amount, of experience, OR who the team just feels the best about.

In order for the hiring team to “feel the best about” you, it is important demonstrate your Core Competencies beyond the resume.

All of the questions will be centered around determining the best fit for the needs of the team and specific problem.

Everyone is an A-player and everyone can do the job. This is between you and one or two other candidates.

Most of the time the offer goes to the person with the most relevant, or the most amount, of experience, OR who the team just feels the best about.

In order for the hiring team to “feel the best about” you, it is important demonstrate your Core Competencies beyond the resume.

Here is a list of 9 competencies that you need to communicate no matter what the role:

Efficiency: Able to produce significant output with minimal wasted effort.
Honesty/Integrity: Earns trust and maintains confidence.
Organization and Planning: Plans, organizes, schedules, and budgets effectively by focusing on key priorities.
Aggressiveness: Moves quickly and forcefully towards the goal without being abrasive.
Follow Through on Commitments: Lives up to verbal and written agreements.
Analytical Skills: able to structure and process data and draw insightful conclusions - asks good questions to achieve penetrating insights.
Attention to Detail: Does not let important details slip through the cracks or derail a project.
Persistence: Demonstrates tenacity and willingness to go the distance to get something done.
Proactivity: Acts without being told what to do and brings new ideas that are in line with the organization’s goals.

Efficiency: Able to produce significant output with minimal wasted effort.
Honesty/Integrity: Earns trust and maintains confidence.
Organization and Planning: Plans, organizes, schedules, and budgets effectively by focusing on key priorities.
Aggressiveness: Moves quickly and forcefully towards the goal without being abrasive.
Follow Through on Commitments: Lives up to verbal and written agreements.
Analytical Skills: able to structure and process data and draw insightful conclusions - asks good questions to achieve penetrating insights.
Attention to Detail: Does not let important details slip through the cracks or derail a project.
Persistence: Demonstrates tenacity and willingness to go the distance to get something done.
Proactivity: Acts without being told what to do and brings new ideas that are in line with the organization’s goals.

*How to answer the “Why did you leave that job/why are you leaving that job?” question:

A-players are valuable team members.
How you frame your reason for leaving will give insights into this.
- If you’re leaving because the organization didn’t align with your goals (the organization changed/leadership changed/ your goals exceeded what was possible), then that shows that you are an A-player.
- If your reason for leaving is because your boss didn’t value your contribution (didn’t compensate you enough/didn’t give you enough opportunity/pushed you out/didn’t value you), that makes you look like a B-player.
Both are saying the same thing, just communicating it differently. Perspective and presentation matter here.

A-players are valuable team members.
How you frame your reason for leaving will give insights into this.
- If you’re leaving because the organization didn’t align with your goals (the organization changed/leadership changed/ your goals exceeded what was possible), then that shows that you are an A-player.
- If your reason for leaving is because your boss didn’t value your contribution (didn’t compensate you enough/didn’t give you enough opportunity/pushed you out/didn’t value you), that makes you look like a B-player.
Both are saying the same thing, just communicating it differently. Perspective and presentation matter here.

QUICK WINS

✅ DO THIS RIGHT NOW: How to change careers faster: prepare for interviews.

Have an interview coming up?

Use the list to start formulating your answers to each question.
Think in terms of the organization and the job itself.
Prepare stories along with your answers so you can show how you’ve done this work in the past.

Have an interview coming up?

Use the list to start formulating your answers to each question.
Think in terms of the organization and the job itself.
Prepare stories along with your answers so you can show how you’ve done this work in the past.

🚀 FROM THE COACHING GROUP

Got a request to schedule a phone interview within 3 hours of submitting my resume!

🤝 WHO WILL HIRE ME?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.

Because of the time sensitive nature of job postings, we post these in the newsletter only.

Get the newsletter, along with 617+ others, every Friday morning.

Subscribe here.

Because of the time sensitive nature of job postings, we post these in the newsletter only.

Get the newsletter, along with 617+ others, every Friday morning.

Subscribe here.

Rooting for you! 🚀

Todd Linder

Founder and Head Coach // Connect with me on LinkedIn

How we can help you:

The Ministry To Marketplace Interview Accelerator: The Accelerator is closed for August. Want to join us for the next one and get more interviews for jobs that value your experience and support your family? Reply to this email and I’ll shoot you more details for when the next one starts!
The Ministry To Marketplace Quiz: Join 500+ other ministry to marketplace job seekers that have taken our 60-second (FREE) quiz to find out what is hindering your job search. You'll get a video and PDF results report straight to your inbox that will identify where you are, and what you need to focus on right now to get results. Take the FREE quiz here.

The Ministry To Marketplace Interview Accelerator: The Accelerator is closed for August. Want to join us for the next one and get more interviews for jobs that value your experience and support your family? Reply to this email and I’ll shoot you more details for when the next one starts!
The Ministry To Marketplace Quiz: Join 500+ other ministry to marketplace job seekers that have taken our 60-second (FREE) quiz to find out what is hindering your job search. You'll get a video and PDF results report straight to your inbox that will identify where you are, and what you need to focus on right now to get results. Take the FREE quiz here.

The Ministry To Marketplace Interview Accelerator: The Accelerator is closed for August. Want to join us for the next one and get more interviews for jobs that value your experience and support your family? Reply to this email and I’ll shoot you more details for when the next one starts!
The Ministry To Marketplace Quiz: Join 500+ other ministry to marketplace job seekers that have taken our 60-second (FREE) quiz to find out what is hindering your job search. You'll get a video and PDF results report straight to your inbox that will identify where you are, and what you need to focus on right now to get results. Take the FREE quiz here.

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