What Job Search Support Is Available to Pastors Leaving Ministry? Breaking Down Every Resource (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)
Read Time: 3.5 minutes
Todd Linder
Founder & Head Coach
Overview
Welcome to the Ministry To Marketplace Minute! Today, we’re talking about all of the ways you can get ahead in the job search game with support from others. Friends, family, but also resources, recruiters, and coaching. We’ll cover everything from the free stuff that works (and doesn’t) to the paid stuff that can help you (and what to avoid). So let’s dive in.
Today's Ministry To Marketplace Minute:
Mindset Shift: Don’t do the job search alone - especially coming from ministry!
Strategy Shift: All of the support available to pastors transitioning jobs from ministry.
Do This Right Now: Get the support you need for your pastor career change.
Who Will Hire Me?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.
🧠 MINDSET SHIFT: Don’t do the job search alone - especially coming from ministry!
The job search is a solo endeavor. Lie.
The days of creating resumes and applying for jobs on your own are over.
It is true.
There’s not a single person in the Interview Accelerator who has gotten a job cold applying.
And when I talk to other coaches and recruiters, it is the same story.
Doing the job search on your own, without any support or help, is playing a 1 to 2% game.
Getting Help Is The Way
Those who apply to jobs with a connection to the organization are 15X more likely to get an interview. Sometimes even higher.
That’s assuming a few things, though.
You know what type of job you’re looking for. It is really hard for someone to give you directions to the beach if you never say, “I need help getting to the beach.”
You know how to talk about your experience in a way that will make you look like an attractive candidate to the hiring team. That means using the right words and phrases on your resume, LinkedIn, cover letters, and in interviews.
You know which organizations you want to work for. If the highest chance of getting an interview is via an introduction inside an organization, having that list is more important than looking at job boards.
You have a repeatable process that works. It isn’t enough just to get one interview. Unfortunately, the chances of landing an offer for the first job you interview for are also pretty low. It may take 3, 6, 10, or more interview processes to land the offer. So you need something that gets you results over and over again.
So, beyond having the right network, how can you get these things?
Let’s get clear on what is available to you.
♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: All of the support available to pastors transitioning jobs from ministry.
Beyond your friends and network, here’s what is available to you, categorized by what it will cost you in dollars and time.
$ = FREE, Time = HIGH
Artificial Intelligence (but you might have to pay $20/mo eventually). You can use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini – you name it – as a thought partner to help figure out roles that could fit you, and then for help translating your experience. You can also use Perplexity to do research to find organizations.
Social media. There are lots of career coaches and creators on LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok with great advice. And those with very bad advice. It takes time to consume everything, create your own process and weed through the junk.
$ = FREE, Time = LOWER
Recruiters. These are people who are paid by companies to find talent that fits a role that is hard to fill, or the company doesn’t have the time to fill the role. You are the product that makes them money. They are VERY helpful if you fit the profile they are looking for. And they can be entirely unhelpful if you don’t.
Webinars/Workshops. Some coaches will do a free webinar or workshop where they go deeper on topics or answer questions. There is often a sale for their coaching program at the end. We do a “casual group Q+A” every 3-4 weeks that we announce in this newsletter.
Networking Events/Job Fairs. Hosted at churches, chambers of commerce, or local colleges. You can meet employers in person and essentially have initial interviews without having to formally apply and wait.
$ = $100s or less, Time = LOWER
Assessments. Better for finding job titles that fit you. Many assessments will give you generalities of occupations, but not job titles or levels with additional information. Don’t do the free ones. We developed the Career Compass, which is a tool that generates a list of job titles that fit your skills, experience, and wiring. We use it internally in the Interview Accelerator, but might release it independently in the future. Click here to get on the waiting list!
Job search AI tools. There are plenty of tools out there that boast about automatically applying or tailoring your resume to job descriptions. Some work. Many don’t. Expect to pay a monthly fee or per batch of resumes. Usually less than $100 per month or per batch.
LinkedIn Premium. Useful if you’re doing specific things on the job search, like a lot of searches of people and companies. I broke down the cost analysis in this newsletter for you.
Resume writers. People who specialize in the resume portion of the job search. They’ll usually send you a form asking you to fill out a bunch of information, including jobs you’re interested in, and then will write up a few “master resumes” that you can use in the future as a baseline for jobs you want to apply for.
$ = low $1,000s, Time = LOW/LEAST
Career Coaching (group). To make coaching more financially accessible, some coaches will offer community-based group coaching. Expect anywhere from $1500 to $3000. The value is in the process they provide (same as 1:1 coaching below), but also in the community that creates camaraderie and connection support. These often also include group coaching calls. This is how we’ve structured the Interview Accelerator.
Resume writers. Yes, resume writers can also charge thousands of dollars. Same rules apply.
$ = mid $1,000s, Time = LEAST
Career Coaching (1 on 1). A coach who works with you one-on-one to strategize the entire process from start to finish. Your next job titles, working on translating your experience, building resumes, finding organizations and identifying connections, preparing for interviews and negotiating offers, and even making introductions on your behalf. They often do calls weekly or every other week and you have direct messaging access to them. Expect anywhere from $3,500 to $7,000 (though newer coaches might be less). I’ve seen it as high as $12,000.
Reverse Recruiters. This is relatively new. They’re basically a combo of a coach who helps you strategize and then finds the jobs and applies for you. I don’t love this because AI is pushing many people to become impersonal. More and more authenticity and connections matter, and this takes some of that away. Expect similar pricing to one-on-one career coaching.
Phew! OK, that was a lot.
It is good to know your options. Especially if:
You’re on a short timeline
You don’t have clarity on your next job
Translating your experience is giving you headaches
Or you have a low application-to-interview rate (the number of applications it takes you to get one interview)
Go get ‘em!
✅ DO THIS RIGHT NOW: Get the support you need for your pastor career change.
Evaluate your process. Are you leveraging your support network or applying cold? Start there.
If you’re having trouble getting clear on one of those key points, you need to get a job, decide if you want to use free resources or invest in getting results.
Commit to that route for 2-3 weeks. It is really difficult to know if a strategy works if you only try it for one week.
🚀 FROM THE COACHING GROUP
Interview with B&G went great. It’s a long process, I’m expecting at least 3 more rounds. Next round is with the Regional President.
🤝 WHO WILL HIRE ME?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.
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How we can help you:
FREE Ultimate Guide To Your Ministry To Marketplace Transition Our entire process in a free (yes, FREE) guide that walks you step-by-step through the essentials of landing a marketplace job that you'll enjoy, and supports your family. Each section builds on the next: clarity, translation, resume, and LinkedIn connections… everything you need to start seeing traction in your search. You can sign up here >>> Sign up for the Ultimate Guide.
The Ministry To Marketplace Interview Accelerator Join 127+ others who have successfully transitioned from ministry into marketplace jobs that value their experience. The Interview Accelerator will give you our proven step-by-step process, coaching, and community for getting more interviews for jobs that value your ministry experience and support your family. Let's hop on a call!
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