You’ve applied for a church music jobs and been invited to interview audition in-person. Here are the interview questions to ask for a church music job plus the most likely questions the committee will ask you, and strategies on responding to personal questions and questions about conflict.
But before you head into your interview, keep in mind that everyone on the committee might not have read your application materials. Most committee members (84%) were able to review applicants’ materials prior to an in-person interview (not just chairpeople). But there’s a greater than 10% chance that you might interview with a committee who hasn’t actually reviewed your materials ahead of time.
29 Interview Questions You Might Be Asked
Here’s how musicians responded to my survey question, “What did committees ask you during your interview? (Select all that apply).” Plus, the other questions they asked job applicants.
- Previous church music positions, 88%
- Previous non-music positions, 26%
- Personal religious beliefs, 44%
- Intention to settle in the area/stay at the job, 32%
- Long-term career plans, 38%
- Goals for growing/changing church music program, 71%
- Opinions on musical styles/genres, 61%
- Approach to leading hymns/encouraging congregational singing, 68%
- Times that you’ve failed/what you learned from the experience, 33%
- Achievements, 39%
- Knowledge of their liturgy/beliefs/culture, 63%
- How you fit into their church culture/beliefs, 4%
- Working with children
- Musical choices you might make (e.g. specific music for a specific Sunday)
- Conflict resolution practices (yes conflict! see below for more on that)
- Possible start date
- Willingness and background working with people with developmental disabilities
- Plans for continuing education (e.g. are you willing or interested in taking music lessons)
- “Skills/willingness to work with people with developmental disabilities
- How do church musicians “worship” in the church services they lead
- “What music do you listen to ‘for fun’?”
- “What was the last book you read?”
- “Music history – what era is a certain piece from etc.
- “A sneaky way of asking about musical tastes if your denomination has multiple hymnal/music resource choices: what is your favorite hymnal?”
- “If you are prepared to take lessons.”
- “How do you deal with apathy in the church. What is your weakest area.”
- “Was asked about blended services in a strong traditional church.”
- An oddball one: “Tell us a joke.”
- Another oddball question: “After auditioning on their organ and piano, one church asked me questions about both instruments…not to test my knowledge, but to give them information they did not know. This was not a problem, but a surprise and I was glad to be able to be thorough in my responses.
Be Prepared for Questions about Conflict
(You Can Ask Them about Conflict Too)
Questions about conflict are not necessarily a red flag that the church has more (or less) conflict than any other congregation. No church is perfect, and committees want to know that you are able to work with volunteers and staff even in the midst of personality differences and other kinds of conflict. Here are questions you might get asked:
- “Have you ever fired a volunteer?”
- “How do you cope with conflicting personalities (with the implication that this was an ongoing issue)?”
- “How would you deal with a choir member who is impacting the morale of the rest of the group?”
- “Questions about dealing with congregational conflict.”
- “How do you blow off steam / relax?”
- “How do you deal with cantankerous people.”
Of course, you can always turn questions around and ask the committee how the church and its staff handles conflict.
For example, you can ask, “Can you tell me about a time there has been conflict in the church and how you handled it?”
This could be a neutral ways of asking what ne respondent wrote that they wanted to ask: “So, where are your REAL areas of interpersonal dysfunction and pathology?’ (No, not really, but that’s always what you need to know and never find out till you are there.)”
On a similar note, you can ask about the pastor’s leadership style.
Asking about their approach to leadership is a neutral way of getting a sense of what other respondents described as “Whether the priest was a control freak or not,” “Does the pastor have anger control issues?,” “If the pastor was psychologically stable. (Only partially joking),” and “Do your research on the parish priest. He will be the biggest factor in whether you will be happy there or whether you feel you belong there and feel secure there.”
Personal Questions Are Legal in Church Interviews
How Do You Want to Respond?
Churches in the U.S. are legally allowed to ask you personal questions that are not legal in other employment areas. So, you can legally be asked about your religious beliefs, your marital status, even your sexual orientation.
You need to decide ahead of time what you would like to talk about with the committee, and how you want to respond if someone bluntly asks, “Are you gay?” (as happened with several people who took my survey).
You may also be asked about your beliefs on issues that are currently contentious in the global church, especially LGBTQ rights. Churches hold a wide range of beliefs and typically want to hire staff who hold generally similar views. In denominations with a diversity of local practices, you might be asked questions gauging whether you are a good fit for the church itself (not just that you agree/don’t agree with the denomination’s official beliefs).
You might also be asked if you are a member of a church or if you would become a member of the church that hires you.
Personally, I mention my husband and son in passing—they come to whatever church I work in, so it’s important that all three of us will “fit” with the church where I work. In interviews, I will often talk about my religious beliefs—how they are similar or different from the beliefs of a particular church, and how I see my role in the congregation as one of ministering and leading theologically through my musical choices.
Regardless of how you choose to respond to personal questions, you need to know how you want to respond before you are asked.
And of course, it is completely appropriate for you to ask the committee about specific questions you have about the church’s beliefs and culture.
The Questions You Should Ask in Your Interview
In my survey, I asked hiring committee members about applicants’ questions that were particularly good or not.
Good questions: anything related to what the church is like. For example, “If your church closed tomorrow, what would you miss? What would your community miss or notice?,” and “Questions that probe into current worship practices and the church’s long-range plan are most helpful.”
(On a related note, one musician wrote: “Thank you letters and follow ups are key. My last interview process lasted 3 months, there was never more than a week that went by that I didn’t correspond in some way with them. they called or emailed me or I dropped them a note expressing my continued interest. Knowing the church you’re interviewing is also helpful, read every page of their website and talk about things you’ve seen there, it shows interest.”)
Bad questions: signaling that the job is a “job” nor a “calling,” signaling that you aren’t interested in actually working, and not having any questions for the committee.
Salaries again… As I’ve wrote earlier in this series, some committee members said they prefered a person not ask about salary until they are offered a job. However, not all job postings name a salary range, and since some churches offer a salary that is substantially outside the norms of your region, it can be a huge waste of time for you and for them to get all the way to a job offer only to find this out. So, proceed carefully and read these EARLIER POSTS that go into more detail on this sensitive issue.
34 Questions to Ask in Interviews
Here’s how musicians responded to my survey question, “What kinds of questions did you ask to help you decide if you would be a good fit?” Plus, a bunch of questions they proposed for the job interview and after you’ve been offered the job.
- Long term plan for the church music program, 67%. For example, you can ask, “How do they imagine the program changing in a year? 6 months? First rehearsal?” or “1–Do you envision adding other choirs to the music program—children or youth choir, handbell choir, flute choir, etc. 2–Do you envision moving this service to more of a blended service, complete with a praise band, or adding another service? If so, how would my responsibilities change.”
- Does the head pastor plan to leave in the near future, 17%. You might also ask about the length of time the head pastor and other staff members have been at the church.
- What kinds of challenges does the committee foresee? 44%.
- What is the church’s power structure (i.e. who is your boss, who can fire you, who could change your job responsibilities, what do the by-laws say about committees’ power), 50%.
- What kinds of input do non-music people have on your choices, 59%. (Who chooses hymns, who exactly might have veto-power over the musical choices you make, etc.)
- Typical budget for the music department, 60%.
- Major expenses foreseen for the music department, 18%. Related: you could also ask about the possibility of new instruments.
- Do amateur instrumentalists participate in the music program? 48%.
- Those this job entail oversight of other employees (such as staff singers), 50%.
- What do current staff members like about working at the church, 4%.
- Average Sunday attendance
- Past repertoire
- How duties are assigned in a music program with multiple staff
- Teaching privileges
- Right of 1st refusal for weddings/funerals and average number of these services. (Also confirm that you and the church mean the same in “right of first refusal.”)
- Specifics on the congregation’s beliefs/culture/practices
- Musical preferences in the congregation
- Why previous musician left and how long previous musicians stayed.
- Relationship of music program to other programs/departments in the church
- How changes for the job will/should be made (a number of musicians referenced a job whose duties gradually expanded but whose salary did not also expand)
- “If I do everything in the job description, will I be successful?” (Another phrasing: “What duties might be expected of me that are not in the written in the job description? (i.e. worship planning).”)
- For cantors and section leaders, you can ask about the music director’s approach to and knowledge of vocal technique.
- Who chooses hymns. (Note: who chooses hymns depends on denomination and pastoral preference, so just because one pastor choses/doesn’t chose hymnody right now doesn’t mean that a subsequent pastor will follow that practice.)
- Do you need to keep specific hours on-site in addition to services and rehearsals.
- How do the goals of the congregation align with those of the pastor?
- Can you look at their music library?
- What is the financial condition of the church?
- “What do you love about your church?” and “What do you love about the music at your church?” (One respondent wrote, “Do you love being Lutheran?”)
- Depending on your beliefs and the church you are interviewing with, you might ask about the church’s specific beliefs. Just like the church wants someone who fits them, you want a church that fits you. One musician wrote: “If the position is more than a paid musical gig to the applicant, have the theology, doctrine, liturgical practices (high/low church), customs, etc. of the denomination and of the particular parish been considered?”
- “Does the church compensate for travel expenses?”
- For weddings and funerals, who ensures you are paid?
- Who is responsible for finding and scheduling a substitute musician for you?
- Who is responsible for instrument maintenance?
- And last but not least! “Does the parking lot flood during heavy rainfall? (You’ll laugh, but I’ve been at two churches where this was dangerous.)”
Other Interview Tips
You might need to teach the committee (VERY politely)
- “No committee is an expert on every issue involved in hiring, with rare exceptions; be prepared to gently educate in every area.”
- “Advocacy and resource are needed to help educate churches on the time and commitment required to provide worship music. They seem to understand that Pastors need a living wage but musicians are viewed differently.”
- “Hiring committees often have little understanding of how irregular the schedule can be for church musicians.”
- You might need to explain how Sundays off for church musicians aren’t necessarily the same as “vacation.”
Trust Your Gut
- “The Worship Committee chair drug her feet through the whole process. Took 4 months. That’s exactly how she works in the church. Drags her feet.”
- “One pastor in the negotiation of the salary when the range had been given and clearly I qualified for the highest amount listed said, ‘Just because someone may be qualified for a certain salary doesn’t mean the church can afford to pay it.’ And I had not inquired about any amount more than the salary range they had published. I sensed there would likely be problems but accepted the job anyway. I should have listened to my ‘gut’ and declined the post as I left after 4 months….a ‘first’ for me. The only reason for leaving other positions has been that I was moving beyond a reasonable commute to the church.”
- “Be aware of when the hiring committee (individual members or collectively) glosses over questions posed to them, does not answer them fully, or in an answer raises additional questions that should be brought into the discussion.”
Auditions
Most interviews for a church music job include an audition. The specific repertoire and skills will vary widely according to the kind of job you are applying for. (For example, organists usually play hymns, music suitable for preludes/postludes, and maybe choral accompaniments and related skills like open-score sight reading.)
Here’s advice from one musician that applies to anyone selecting music for the audition portion of their interview: pick music “that you believe encapsulates your music style.”
It’s a great way for the committee to get a sense of who you are as a musician. (Their full advice is: “I had the opportunity to direct one piece at Mass the following Sunday, as did the other potential candidate; the choir I would direct got a vote! So the advice is to pick something that you believe encapsulates your music style, but also that will be enjoyable for the group to sing and that lets you do a little rapport building with them in that very short window of opportunity.”)
Get a Church Music Job You Love Series
This series is based on my survey of over 250 church musicians and the people who have hired them.
- I surveyed 250+ church musicians. Here’s what I learned about getting a church music job you love.
- 17 Places to Find Church Music Jobs
- 3 Ways to Research a Church Music Job Opening
- How Much Are Church Musicians Paid? Here’s How to Find Out.
- How to Write a Church Music Cover Letter and Resume (Plus the #1 Way to Make Hiring Committees Happy)
- 29 Interview Questions You Might Get (Plus 34 for YOU to Ask)
- How to Negotiate Salary and Benefits (and Why You Should)
- 4 Things You Need to Get a Church Music Job You Love (Plus 9 Big No-nos)
- Do These 8 Things to Get a Church Music Job You Love (Ep. 22 of the Music and the Church Podcast)
