Top 5 Job Search Priorities: Where to Start If You’re Just Starting or Stuck in Your Ministry To Marketplace Career Change
Jan 9, 2026
Read Time: 3.5 minutes
Todd Linder
Founder & Head Coach
Overview
Welcome to the Ministry To Marketplace Minute! This one is for the people who don’t know where to start. Maybe you feel lost, or stuck, or you just decided it is time to make a transition. If that’s you, below outlines the five priorities in the order that you want to focus on. So let’s dive in.
Today's Ministry To Marketplace Minute:
Mindset Shift: Getting a marketplace job is completely different than a ministry job.
Strategy Shift: 5 priorities for former pastors to focus on in the job search.
Do This Right Now: What do you need to focus on first in your ex-ministry job search?
Who Will Hire Me?: 5 ministry friendly organizations with jobs for ex-pastors.
🧠 MINDSET SHIFT: Getting a marketplace job is completely different than a ministry job.
You’ve decided you want to transition from ministry. Now what?
Maybe you’re early in the process. Or haven’t even started.
Let’s lay it out.
Searching for a job in a non-ministry position is a completely different mindset from a ministry position.
How you apply for jobs is different.
How you present your value is different.
How you interview is different.
Even how you think about your future is different (you’ve probably already noticed this one).
And it starts with your mindset.
In the ministry world, character often holds equal or greater weight than competency.
In ministry, you’re a generalist. You figure it out with limited resources. That’s what you do. So whether you can objectively do the functions of the job is important, but less important.
In non-ministry, character is often the last question being asked. Culture fit is evaluated along the way, but personality and “vibe” matter more than whether your marriage is intact or your kids are obedient (that would actually be illegal to ask about in interviews).
Whether you can objectively do the job as outlined in the job description or not is priority number one. That is what gets you into the first interview and beyond.
So reality check: in 99% of cases, you can’t use your “ability to lead people,” charisma, and small talk to scoot your way to an offer. At least at great companies, you won’t be able to.
♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: 5 priorities for former pastors to focus on in the job search.
So what do you need to do to increase your chances of getting a job?
*** We interrupt this section to let you know that we are doing a FREE Group Coaching Call next Friday (1/16) from 1:30 to 2:30 PM EST!
No strings attached. Show up, ask questions, get answers. RSVP for FREE here. ***
Everything, and I mean everything, is about communication.
There are 5 essentials that you want to master communicating as you are exiting your ministry vocation and taking a step into the marketplace, all of which we help you do in the Interview Accelerator:
Can you clearly communicate the type of job you want in a networking conversation?
Can you communicate to a hiring manager what you have done in language that makes sense to them?
Can you communicate that you are an attractive candidate through assets like your resume, LinkedIn, and cover letters?
Can you communicate in interviews that you understand and can fulfill the PARTS of the job description for a role you’re applying for?
Can you communicate why this next step in your career journey makes sense by telling your story effectively?
Let’s break this list down further.
Type of Job
This either means a job title or a group of functions that a job title would perform. If you can communicate these clearly, it will help people connect the dots and understand what you’re looking for next.
Then they can help you.
Translating Your Experience to Hiring Managers
You speak Christianese. They speak… business. Functionally, your job may be incredibly similar to what the company wants to accomplish with a specific role.
But what you called it at your church or ministry was completely different. If you preached a sermon in Greek… OK, cool, you know the original language. But that doesn’t help anyone!
Speak their language. Help them understand how you can serve their team.
To help you out, we created a list of 41 words that you can translate on your resume right now to make your resume look less ministry while keeping the functionality intact.
Attractive Candidate in Resume, LinkedIn, and Cover Letter
To get into the interview process, in 99.9% of cases, creating these assets is non-negotiable. It’s standard practice.
Not only do you need to have these, but you also need to stand out from the crowd by having the type of experience the hiring team is looking for.
That includes the right wording (translation) and the right metrics to prove that you’ve produced results before, and that you can do it again.
Tailoring Your Resume to the Job Description
Most people intuitively know that you have to do this… but you really, really do have to do this.
Instead of going through your resume line by line and seeing what you can make look like the job description – or asking ChatGPT to do it – go through the P.A.R.T.S. of the job description.
What are the PROBLEMS the role is supposed to solve?
What are the ACTIONS the person in the role will take to solve the problems?
What are the RESULTS the role should achieve?
What is the TECHNICAL EXPERTISE needed to take the actions that get the results?
What are the SOFT SKILLS needed to get the results, especially when doing it in a team context or being customer-facing?
(You can read more about what I mean by PARTS in these two previous newsletters: Part 1 and Part 2)
Telling Your Story
Many people won’t understand why you are transitioning from ministry.
I get messages sometimes from people saying that I’m actually hurting the kingdom of God with what I’m doing… seriously.
So you need to be able to craft a story that helps people make sense of it. Not just why you’re making a transition, but also why the next role you’re looking for (point number 1) makes sense.
Your story should include things you have always enjoyed, responsibilities you’ve performed, and the mindset behind why you’ve taken certain jobs. If three things are similar or the same to the next job, people will be better able to connect the dots on your next logical step.
✅ DO THIS RIGHT NOW: What do you need to focus on first in your ex-ministry job search?
Look at that list, 1 through 5. What do you already have? What don’t you have yet?
Pick the highest thing on the list that you don’t have clarity on how to communicate yet.
Work on that, and that only, until it is figured out. (Hint: this is the waterfall effect. If you do these in order, much of the work ends up taking care of itself!)
🚀 FROM THE COACHING GROUP
Good news! I accepted an offer… This process works!
I also accepted an offer! And the process works!
🤝 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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