Your First Interview

Your First Church Job Interview

The interview process has one purpose: secure an invitation for an on-site visit. In this session, we will share best practices for video interviews.

Now Playing: Your First Church Job Interview

Key Takeaways

After you watch the video above, read through these key takeaways that will help guide and reinforce the main points you just viewed…

Are Video Interviews REAL Interviews?

Our best piece of advice: treat this like an in-person interview (because it is a REAL interview).

If you blow off or are unprepared for your first video interview, most likely there will be no second interview.

Trips and Tricks to Make Your First Video Interview a Success

Log in Early (10 minutes)
Mark sure your zoom name is your name. 🙂
Dress professionally. Pants are optional. But wear pants (and shoes)
Have a copy of your resume handy
Have a copy of the job posting/job description handy
Mind the ‘Digital Handshake’
Be Conversational, but keep your answers short and concise
Don’t interrupt the interviewer
Use stories whenever possible
At the end of the interview, share your appreciation for the opportunity and feel free to ask for the next steps if they aren’t freely offered

What Should I Do AFTER the Interview?

Always take a few minutes to follow-up within 2 hours of the interview’s completion.
You can always do additional follow-ups if necessary, but give them time. Don't nag.

The Pre-Interview Process

NEXT: The On-Site Visit

Additional Resources

We’ve assembled some great supplemental learning tools that will help you in your search for a healthy, long-term fit for your staff team. All of these exclusive Chemistry Staffing resources are available for free download for you and your search team.

On-Site Visit Tipsheet

Your Presenters

Todd Rhoades

Co-Founder

Todd has invested over 30 years in serving churches, having served as a worship pastor for over 15 years, a church elder for more than a decade, and in various ministry leadership roles in both the business and non-profit sectors. As the original founder and developer of ChurchStaffing.com, Todd fundamentally changed the way thousands of churches search for pastors and staff on the internet. Todd served for over a decade as a Director with Leadership Network, providing him exposure to the innovative trends in today’s church and inside knowledge of how healthy churches operate. A graduate of Cedarville University, Todd lives in Bryan, OH with his wife, Dawn.

Matt Steen

Co-Founder

Matt has served the local church for over two decades as a youth pastor, church planter, and executive pastor. Originally from Baltimore, Matt currently lives in the Orlando, FL area with his wife Theresa, and has a B.S. in Youth Ministry from Nyack College and an M.Div. and MBA from Baylor University. Certified as an Urban Church Planter Coach by Redeemer City to City and as a StratOp facilitator by the Paterson Center, Matt has made a career of helping churches thrive through intentionality, clarity, and creating healthy cultures. He is convinced that a healthy church is led by a healthy team with great chemistry, and loves partnering with Chemistry’s churches to do great things for the Kingdom.

Need Additional Help With Your Search?

Check out these additional resources from our partners at ChurchResumes.com

Our video critique will take a look at your current resume and give specific recommendations to make drastic improvements. We’ll critique your resume based on our 20 resume benchmarks:

We’ll compare your current resume against our 20 resume benchmarks. You’ll gain the knowledge to drastically improve your resume in 24 hours or less.

We’ll go over your Resume Self-Assessment step-by-step in our one-hour call together. We’ll discuss each of our 20 resume benchmarks along with specific recommendations to make your resume better. After you make the suggested edits to your resume, we’ll provided video feedback with any follow-up items

One-on-one mentoring during your transition will make a huge difference. You’ll have a trusted partner and confidant to work with your throughout the search process. We’ll dive into areas that are important to YOU…

Your First Church Job Interview​