Leaving Vocational Ministry Without Fear: A 3 Step Safety Guide for a Confidential Job Search
Oct 3, 2025
Read Time: 2.5 minutes
Todd Linder
Founder & Head Coach
Overview
Welcome to the Ministry To Marketplace Minute! In today’s episode, we’re talking about a sensitive subject: not getting found out by your employer that you’re job hunting. Specifically on LinkedIn. I’m going to get super practical here and give you a quick, 3-step process for making sure you can job search on LinkedIn with confidence. So let’s dive in.
Today's Ministry To Marketplace Minute:
Mindset Shift: Making the post pastor career search easier.
Strategy Shift: Search for non-ministry jobs with confidence!
Do This Right Now: Clean up your LinkedIn presence.
Who Will Hire Me?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.
🧠 MINDSET SHIFT: Making the post-pastor career search easier.
LinkedIn may be your most valuable asset in the job search. But what if someone sees that you are active or have changed your profile?
This might be one of the most common questions that I get from people in ministry before joining the Interview Accelerator. Whether for fear of getting found out, or just wanting more freedom while navigating the job search.
But what if someone sees that you’re doing that? What will they assume?
Someone on the HR team or ministry board might see your #opentowork banner or a change in your headline. Maybe they’ll see you like someone’s post or connect with a career coach 😉.
Regardless of the reason, that shouldn’t stop you from using LinkedIn.
You can do this instead: BLOCK THEM.
♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: Search for non-ministry jobs with confidence!
Yes, block them.
Blocking someone else on LinkedIn might be one of the most effective things for your job search - if just for giving you peace of mind to do everything that you need to do to get this next job.
What blocking does.
Blocking doesn’t do anything to that person.
It doesn’t dock points on their account (not the same as reporting).
And it doesn’t notify them if you block them.
What it does do is prevent them from seeing you on LinkedIn.
They can’t navigate to your profile.
They can’t see any messages that you have previously sent, or message you.
They can’t find you in any search results.
They can’t see any of your activity: posts (including #opentowork posts), comments, likes, connections, or follows.
It is as if you don’t exist on LinkedIn to them.
How to block people you don’t want to see who are job searching.
It is really simple.
Here’s a quick walkthrough video of how to do it.
Here are the steps:
Navigate to the search function.
Open the person’s LinkedIn profile page whom you want to block.
Click “More” then “Report/Block.”
You’re done! Now do this for the next person.
✅ DO THIS RIGHT NOW: Clean up your LinkedIn presence.
Step 1: Make a list of all of the people whom you don’t want to see that you are job searching.
Step 2: Block them.
Step 3: Adjust your job search strategy on LinkedIn to give you more opportunities.
🚀 FROM THE COACHING GROUP
I’ve been looking for a job for a few months and haven’t had a single interview to show for it up to this point. But I have two scheduled for this week and am under consideration for another job or two. Feels like things are finally starting to happen!
🤝 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 109+ 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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