What Kind of Corporate Jobs Can I Even Get as a Pastor? 15X Your Interview Chances After Leaving Vocational Ministry
Jun 20, 2025
Read Time: 3.5 minutes
Todd Linder
Founder & Head Coach
Overview
Welcome to the Ministry To Marketplace Minute! Today, we’re going to talk about the single strategy that can 15X your chances of getting interviews (I’m not kidding). It is reaching out. We’re going to make it super straightforward for you. So let’s dive in.
Today's Ministry To Marketplace Minute:
Mindset Shift: Transitioning out of ministry
Strategy Shift: Who helps pastors get jobs
Do This Right Now: Start with one
Who Will Hire Me?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.
🧠 MINDSET SHIFT: Transitioning out of ministry.
There are three main ways to play the job search game.
You can play with the bottom 90% of applicants.
They find jobs that they think they would like, maybe tweak their resume using ChatGPT, hit Easy Apply on LinkedIn or Indeed, and hope for the best.
Studies show that you have a 1-3% chance of getting an interview doing this.
Not good odds.
You can play with the top 10% of applicants.
They find places they would like to work with open jobs that fit them. They check the job boards to see if there are any openings. They tailor their resume, write a cover letter, and apply on the website. They send a message to the hiring manager and the recruiter.
You’ll likely increase your chances to between 3-6% of getting an interview.
Better odds. Still not great.
Or, you can play the game that the top 1% of applicants are playing.
These job seekers are leveraging relationships with people they know (and people who don’t know them yet) to get introductions into the organization they want to work for.
This strategy makes you 15X more likely to get an interview compared to group 1.
Those are the odds you want to play.
What we’re about to walk through is the same method that has helped people in the Interview Accelerator average more than 1 interview for every 2 applications submitted. OVER 50%!
♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: Who helps pastors get jobs?
Before we start, there are some things you need to know:
It is important to have your ducks in a row before reaching out to people. I covered all of what these are in “The Ministry To Marketplace Method.”
Once you get those together (clarity on the job you want to do next, translated experience on a resume, target organizations…), then implement this method. But not before then.
Do this too early, and you’ll lose your opportunity to get the results like the people in our coaching group.
Who do I reach out to?
Start with people you know.
Find them in your phone contacts, your Instagram followers, your LinkedIn connections, your email history, the church listserv.
Do some research. Where do they work? Who are they connected to? How could they help me?
That’s your first list.
I like to segment them by your “Inner Circle” - those ride or die people that will help you no matter what, and your “Current Connections” - the people that you know that it wouldn’t be weird if you reached out to them (Weird in their mind, not in yours. Projecting your feelings onto them will reduce that list unnecessarily).
Your second list is “people who don’t know you yet.”
We call these your “Future Connections.” These are the people who will be more likely to help you for one of two reasons
You share a similar background vocationally (former ministry)
You have a mutual connection who is willing to introduce you
You can find both of these types of people with specific searches on LinkedIn. Here’s a walkthrough of how you can find people with a similar vocational background.
That is a separate list that you will create only after you have reached out to your Inner Circle and Current Connections.
How do I reach out to them?
How includes the mode of communication and the content of the message. We’ll cover your Inner Circle and Current Connections in this issue.
Mode:
For your Inner Circle and Current Connections, reach out in the way that makes the most sense - what was the last way that you interacted with them?
Text, email, Facebook Messenger? Use that same method to reach out to them; that way, your most recent conversation is in that place.
Message:
A first message reaching out to catch up or continue a conversation can be a good idea. But regardless of where you start, you should make sure that you have one of the following messages in your conversation:
If you are asking to connect with someone they know:
"Hey [name], I saw that you are connected to [mutual connection name]. I’m exploring a career transition, and what [mutual connection] does is really interesting to me. If you felt comfortable, would you be willing to make an introduction so I could learn more about what they do day to day in their job? I really appreciate your time!"If you are asking to learn more about an organization they work for, or used to work for:
"Hey [name], I saw that you are connected to [mutual connection name]/went to [name of school]. I’m exploring a career transition, and what [target organization name] does is really interesting to me. I’d love to know how was/is working there for you? I really appreciate your time!"
That second one can lead to making the same ask that the first message does as well.
Regardless of how you start the conversation, they need to know why you are reaching out. If they don’t know what you need, they can’t help you.
It starts with one.
I can tell you from experience, and from coaching all of the people that we have worked with…
… the hardest reach out is the first one.
That’s why we always have our clients start with their Inner Circle.
Smallest risk for greatest reward.
Then move to Current Connections, and after that, Future Connections.
You will become more comfortable the more you do it. I promise.
And the faster you become comfortable, the faster you can get into interviews that lead to jobs (remember 15X or better chance of getting interviews with introductions!)
✅ DO THIS RIGHT NOW: Start with one.
Once you have clarity, you have translated your experience, and have target organizations…
Make an Inner Circle connection list of 15 people.
Reach out to one of them and see if you can get a connection to someone they know who either does the job you want to do, or works somewhere you want to work.
Then reach out to the next one. And the next one. And the next one.
🚀 FROM THE COACHING GROUP
Had a great first interview/intro call with Water Mission! (other group members) thanks for connecting me internally to multiple people and leading to personal recommendations to the Hiring Manager!
🤝 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 120+ 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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