How to network when my network is the church?

This one is tough. If we dig deep enough, your entire network isn’t your church. You probably have an uncle, or a high school best friend, or even go to the gym with someone who doesn’t go to your church.
 

My recommendation is to find your “Inner Circle.” These are your ride or die people. The people who are going to cheer you on and help when and where they can with connections and encouragement (and yes, that could be your mom). Make a list of 15 people who aren’t more attached to you than your church. Over time, you will likely grow this list.

Then explain to them your situation. Explain that it is a bit weird networking in the church and that you’d be grateful for their help. Ask if you can keep them updated on your job search progress. In our Ministry To Marketplace community, we like to send weekly newsletters to this group.

How much do I need to pay attention to my LinkedIn?

Your LinkedIn profile is a combination of your job history, experience, and a sneak peek into who you are as a person. 

In your experience section, I recommend using the Impact Bullet formula to create powerful bullets that grab the attention of potential hiring teams. This should be copied and pasted from your Job Type resume.

Your headline and about section are an opportunity to showcase more of your personality. Humans hire humans. And humans want to spend time with people that they like. Tell your story in your about section. Add some of your personality to it. Let people know who you are, not just what you can do!

Also, it is harder to lie online than on a resume or in an interview, so HR is definitely double-checking you there.

Translating my experience is a hurdle for me. I don’t want to make things up, but how do I explain my experience so that it makes sense to the hearer?

This is a common one, and critical to getting a job. First, you have to know the job title that you want next. If you don’t know that, then you can’t translate your experience because you don’t know what language you’re translating it into.

When you translate your experience, instead of thinking about what you literally do, think about what you functionally do in your job. Literally, you might teach the bible, verse by verse, each week to your congregation. Functionally, you simplify and explain complex concepts to a medium-sized audience live every week in order for that audience to apply that knowledge so that it creates positive change.

How do I add metrics and numbers to my resume? We don’t track those well in my organization.

This is real. We’ve all heard it said (or said it ourselves), “It is about the people, not the numbers.” But there are numbers, and we can find them.

The easiest numbers to talk about are time periods. You preached 48 weeks in a year. You led an 8-week bible study. You led one-on-one meetings with direct reports every other week.

The next metric that is simpler to pull is a count of people. 350 people attend every Sunday. 14 people came to the bible study. You have 5 direct reports.

You can easily add these metrics to enhance your resume. Don’t forget to translate those words first!