Looking for a church job isn’t a walk in the park.
Because I’m following my husband’s career, I’ve moved a lot (4 moves in 3 years!) So of course I’ve spent a lot of time looking for jobs and, fortunately, finding some good ones.
When I began yet another job search in preparation for our move to St. Louis, I decided to do a survey of church musicians and people who’ve been on hiring committees. I especially wanted to learn from people who’d been on the hiring side of things. I called and emailed friends who had recent experience hiring church musicians (thank you, Sarah, Mary, Brian, and Sarah!). Then I realized, huh, I bet I could do an online survey and learn even more….
And learn I did! 268 people ended up taking my survey. That’s a lot of collective wisdom!
The result is this guide to getting a church music job you love. This is the first post in the series, and there are links to all the rest at the bottom of the post. I hope this series helps you in your job search!
5 Things I Learned about Church Music Job Searches
1. Network, network, network!
While most jobs are advertised, a majority of musicians found out about jobs by word of mouth. That lines up with my experience. I have found most of my jobs through a traditional job search, but I’ve also had two that I was offered out of the blue based on my relationships.
2. Be honest. Be humble.
A troubling number of hiring committee members mentioned arrogance and dishonesty or a lack of sincerity in job applicants. If only a few people mentioned that, I would have attributed that to an anomaly or the committee member being too sensitive. But since so many people mentioned these really negative experiences, I feel like something deeper is happening here.
3. Not many people apply to church music jobs.
Job searches don’t yield tons of applicants. In fact, the majority of hiring committee members who took my survey said they got 15 or fewer applications. About a third got 5 or fewer applications. So you can write your resume and cover letter expecting that the search committee chair (and possibly the whole committee) will actually read your application materials.
4. Yes, you can get a sense of the pastor’s leadership style.
We need neutral scripts for asking tricky questions. Many musicians who took my survey said that they wished they could ask something like, “Is the pastor difficult to work with?” Of course, you can’t exactly ask that in an interview, and even if you could, you wouldn’t get anything close to a full answer. But there are open-ended ways of asking about personalities and power relationships in a church—and the answers to open-ended questions can be incredibly instructive.
5. Just advertise the salary range already!
Last but not least: when job posts advertise a general salary range, it saves the applicants AND the search committee a world of trouble. They would both know that they were comfortable with the general salary range by virtue of the musician applying to the job with that knowledge. No wasted time when a musician can’t accept a job offer because the offered salary is significantly lower than expected. And no awkward inquires about the general salary from musicians who don’t want to waste their time or the committee’s time.
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)
