How "Picky" Should I be when changing careers?

Job Seeking will give pastors ego checks.

I hate to give you bad news, but here it is. This job market is tight, layoffs are massive and you're a career changer.

The odds are not in your favor in this current job market and this may not be time to be picky.

On one hand, I want you to be bold and confident in your abilities to find a new job and perform at a high level. On the other hand, you need to be realistic with what is out there, what they can offer and what risk you are as a career changer applying for new roles.

Here are 3 practices when it comes to being picky about your next job.

1. Cash in Verses Cash out. This is the first and obvious place to start. If you are gainfully employed, paying your bills and could see yourself in your current role for the next year or two, you can be as picky as the Prom Queen. However, if you are unemployed, not able to pay your bills and burning through savings, you have forfeited your right to be picky, you just need to find a job.

2. Am I ok with a good enough job for now? The odds of you staying at your first job post full time ministry is slim. In the 16 months since IHPGJ was formed, there are already pastors who I helped in March 2022 who are coming back to me for round 2 because they got a year under their belt and want to make their next move. I find pickiness tends to be correlated with time spent. If you can accept that your job won't be perfect and will probably only be 12-18 months, it makes the leap much more manageable.

3. What frequency and intensity am I applying / networking / reskilling? This cannot be overstated, if you are applying for a new job once a month because none of them "feel right", you will probably never get a job. I am not saying that to disparage or discourage but to provide perspective. The perfect job doesn't exist, period. You're way better off applying to 5-10 jobs weekly that check 70% of your boxes than applying to one a month because you deem it suitable for your precious time, energy, and gifting (this was sarcasm).

If there was one thing to remember from this e-mail about how picky you should be regarding your next job, it would be this.

You need to be less picky than you currently are.

That is across the board for all job seekers.