{"id":2024,"date":"2012-04-17T03:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-04-17T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=2024"},"modified":"2012-04-17T08:23:13","modified_gmt":"2012-04-17T15:23:13","slug":"6-vital-conversations-before-making-a-ministry-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/17\/6-vital-conversations-before-making-a-ministry-hire\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Vital Conversations Before Making a Ministry Hire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few dynamics have a greater impact on the success of your ministry than building a great team.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it is so critical that you get your next hire right. And it all begins by having 6 vital conversations.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with God<\/strong>
\nNo decision should drive you to your knees in prayer quite like a ministry staffing decision. The entire process must begin and end bathed in prayer.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with EVERY reference<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s shocking to me how few leaders pay attention to this hiring essential.<\/p>\n

Step 1 is to personally connect by phone with every reference listed.<\/p>\n

Step 2 is to understand that because these references are, by definition, biased toward the candidate, you must ask probing questions. Don\u2019t simply say, \u201cTell me about Joe.\u201d Try \"\"<\/a>something like, \u201cTell me about a time you saw Joe under great pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with the \u201creferences of the references\u201d<\/strong>
\nConclude every conversation with a reference by asking, \u201cWho else do you know that could give me some more background?\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019re hiring a youth pastor you need to somehow drill below the references provided. You need to talk to his previous youth leaders, parents of the kids, etc.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where you\u2019ll find the gold nuggets of truth you\u2019ll need.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with the previous employer<\/strong>
\nAssuming the candidate is no longer working at his previous church, you MUST talk to his former senior pastor or supervisor, regardless of whether or not he is listed as a reference.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with the spouse<\/strong>
\nIs the candidate married? Guess what; you\u2019re hiring the spouse too.<\/p>\n

By that I mean it\u2019s almost impossible to have a successful run in ministry with someone whose marriage is in trouble, or who is not 100% supported by their spouse.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with the applicant<\/strong>
\nNow you\u2019re ready to interview the applicant. But you must go well beyond \u201cSo, why do you want to work here?\u201d talk. Learn the craft of probing for character traits.<\/p>\n

Take them out for lunch and watch how they interact with service staff. Get them to talk about a former employer and listen for signs of respect, or disrespect.<\/p>\n

Whatever you do, never short-circuit this process because few dynamics have a greater impact on the success of your ministry than building a great team.<\/p>\n

What conversations do you consider to be essential in the hiring process?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few dynamics have a greater impact on the success of your ministry than building a great team. That\u2019s why it is so critical that you get your next hire right. And it all begins by having 6 vital conversations. 1.\u00a0\u00a0 The conversation with God No decision should drive you to your knees in prayer quite…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[478,579,583],"tags":[850,612,682,41,62],"class_list":["post-2024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-ministry-2","category-staffing","tag-conversations","tag-hiring","tag-interview","tag-ministry","tag-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2028,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions\/2028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}