How to Interview

Nearly six weeks ago, I announced that Fellowship Church was looking for a web developer to join our team, and at last our search is over! God has truly blessed FC with a developer who has incredible skills and a servant's heart. Our superstar is also an expert in the new development platform, which I will write about in more detail soon.

After conducting a number of interviews for this position, I've gathered a few ideas for prospective employees that may help. After all, the goal is to get the job, right?

Want It

This seems like a fairly basic idea. If you're interviewing for a position, it helps if you really want to work there. Oddly enough, this is not always the case. Many people seem to approach interviewing for a church position as if they're trying to determine whether to volunteer their time.

When I first interviewed at FC five years ago, my entire focus and heart's desire was to be an employee, no matter the pay, position or hours. We have employees from the largest corporations come on staff and regularly tell us that FC is one of the most challenging, demanding, and fast-paced environments they have ever experienced. If all of you doesn't want to be here, you won't last three months. 

Do Your Homework

You are interviewing for a web developer position. Do you even know how many websites we have? What is the development platform? Have you done any Alexa searches to compare web traffic? Do you have anything constructive to say about the sites? Have you done a simple Google search on the person who is interviewing you?

Say Thanks

I've interviewed 20+ people over the past year (most applicants can be ruled out before the interview stage) and received less than 5 thank you notes, either written or via email! Again, you want the job desperately but you won't even take 5 minutes to thank the person for their time?

We don't settle when we hire. God doesn't call His church or His people to be halfhearted or second-best. He wants us to give everything we have to the cause, with passion and a heart for service.

My guess is there are more professional baseball players than there are full-time web developers in ministry. It is a phenomenal opportunity and responsibility, one that will challenge you like never before and change your life.

And it's worth your everything.

Comments

[Seun Osewa]

You want people to give you thank you notes for interviewing them and _not_ offering them a job?

The potential employee's time is just as valuable as yours!

Words of wisdom:
"If you think giving someone a job is a favor, you're wrong - unless he is not the best person you could have given the job to."

"If you think accepting a job is a favor to your employer, you're wrong - unless your employer is not the best employer you had the option of working for."

In an efficient hiring process nobody is doing anybody any favors; each party is looking for material gain.

[Ryan Brooks]

You're kidding, right Seun? In what world do you live in where the hiring process is immediate? It's a long, drawn out process. Most of the times, companies are interviewing dozens of people to choose the right candidate. Often, this can take weeks.

Wait a couple days then send a 'thank you for your time' LETTER (not email) with your professional letterhead. Even if you're not hired (hello, underqualified? Overqualified? Wrong personality? Sketchy?) it shows you have some sort of professional etiquette, and maybe you'll get another position that way.

I myself have been hired mostly because I ~TOOK THE TIME~

-Ryan

[Mark Spidle]

Brian,

Good article. My church http://www.pointofgrace.com uses fellowshipone for church management. do you see that moving toward open source. I would love it if you would.

I have written some programs for my wife for scheduling and such and would love to integrate it with F1 but alas I can not, because I don't have access to the data.

We would love to see the check in stations move away from a Windows only solution too.

Thanks

Mark

[Seun Osewa]

Ryan,

The process of looking for a job is as time-consuming as the process of hiring. If you take someone's time only not to hire the person, you have wasted that person's time also.

Sending a thank-you note is noting but an interesting *gimmick* which *might* get a candidate noticed. It is not something an interviewer should expect.

When last did you send a thank you note to a job applicant for wasting her time and not offering her the job at the end? I think it's about time people stopped thinking that giving someone a job is a favor! It should not be.

Your aim should be to hire the best person for the job, period. Not the person with the cutest gimmicks.

Seun Osewa.

[Brian]

Mark,

Regarding Fellowship One, that product will be staying on the .NET platform and will not be moving toward open source. We are very happy with where Fellowship One is heading and love the fact that each church can choose their own platform and still have the benefit of a true enterprise solution.

[Rich Schmidt]

Brian, thanks for the tips. I'll probably pass them along to friends who are looking for work (in unrelated fields).

Seun, my friends tell me it's not that uncommon to get a letter from the company/interviewer saying something like, "Thank you for applying for the ____ position. We have hired someone else... etc... Thank you for your interest."

You're right, of course, that both parties are hoping to benefit. And hopefully both parties will be courteous in the process. Whether they go as far as sending "thank you" notes is beside the point, in my opinion.

I believe you're wrong, however, in saying that an employer is wasting a person's time by interviewing them and then not offering them a job. I'm not sure what kind of better scenario you're envisioning here (one in which everyone who is interviewed gets hired?), but the applicant is the one who initiated the conversation by applying for the job. They came seeking an interview. For them to turn around and complain that their time was wasted if the employer ends the conversation would seem a bit silly to me.