You've made this mistake in an interview

"I interviewed a pastor for a marketplace job and he was a piece of..."

The other day I spoke with a friend of mine who works in HR and he told me that he had a former pastor apply for a job at his company and he brought him in for an interview. This was a bit of a risk since he has no "traditional experience" but my friend who is a believer decided to give this guy a shot.

Huge mistake!

The candidate came in with a pompous and proud demeanor, was very intense and off-putting to the team that interviewed him. Obviously he did not move forward with the job and I asked my friend why do you think he acted that way and his guess was, "He probably just got some bad advice."

That would make sense. Pastors like you who are changing careers don't know how to act in corporate environments and that begins with the interview.

One simple reframe that can help you in the interview process is that an interview is a two way street.

That means that you're being interviewed for the role but you're also interviewing for the company. How do the people interviewing you show up for the interviews, because that is good intel for you to know if you even want to work there!

Pastors like you get tripped up because you look at an interview as a misbalanced power dynamic where the company holds all the power but that is untrue. You are the person that brings the talent, labor, fresh ideas, creativity and energy with you to work every single day. They need you just as much as you need them.

When you walk into an interview, you're not walking in begging them to "take a chance" on you, nor are you (like the pompous pastor above) making them beg you to offer you a job, you are walking in as two parties who want to exchange something: my talent and labor for your money.

You both have something to give, you both have something to receive.

If you struggle with job interviews, I highly recommend you invest in yourself and purchase my Masterclass. There are 5 Pillars that help you move to ministry sustainability without money stress and Number 4 is the Interview. I spend 90 minutes explaining A-Z how to crush a corporate interview, including best practices from a Tech Recruiter! Get a free preview of the course HERE

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