Curtis emailed me this morning asking me to blog about interviewing tips. I’m assuming it might be related to this job opening at Fellowship Technologies. I’ve shared some of my philosophy in the past. Here’s a snippet.

Just like with a marriage relationship, your business relationship is more likely to last because of the intangibles you’ll discover over time rather than the details you might find on someone’s resume. For a moment, forget about education, experience and skills, and answer these questions:

• Does this person love our church (or organization)? Have they demonstrated that they fully embrace our mission, vision and values?
• What motivates this person? Will they soar in the role I’m offering, or will it just become a job to earn a paycheck?
• Does he or she want to continue to grow? Does she like to read? Does he take time to think? Does she make it a priority to dream and to create?
• Is this person a leader? With a limited amount of money to invest in staff, I need someone who will help me multiply the ministry. Will this person help me do that?
• Does this person have a track record of success? Do they have the potential to help the church (or organization) reach the next level?
• Do I like this person? Does he or she have a fun personality? Am I going to enjoy spending fifty hours or more each week with this person? (This one is HUGE! Listen to your gut…that’s probably the Holy Spirit giving you direction.)
  

In my experience, when trying to find the best talent, these types of questions are far more important than learning whether or not someone has a big, fancy resume.

Our summer interns started this week and I (Jennifer) had the awesome opportunity to get to orient them as a part of the NewSpring Staff. We welcomed nine new faces and two returning interns. I must say we have an awesome group this summer! Here’s a few details about the internship program at NewSpring:

• It’s offered during the fall, spring and summer semesters.
• Interns have the opportunity to apply in one of eight different ministry areas.
• They work a total of 25 hours per week.
• Each semester is around 11 weeks.

This program really gives the interns an idea of what life is like in ministry and offers them some very unique experiences. If you think you might be interested in the internship program or want more details then check out NewSpring – Job Opportunities.

Welcome aboard summer interns!!!!

As churches become more tech-savvy and grow to rely on technology to reach today’s culture with the Gospel, it’ll be interesting to see how ministry competes for the best talent in tech-related fields. To be completely vulnerable, we’re finding a challenge attracting highly-skilled experts (IT, media, web, etc.) to join our team. Part of the problem is because there appears to be a shortage of talent for the demand that exists in today’s technocentric world.

The other reason is because our expectations look different than the “normal” organization. For example, we need someone who…

• Loves Jesus.
• Is fully committed to the unique vision and mission for NewSpring’s ministry.
• Is highly skilled in their field of expertise.
• Has technical knowledge and understands how that translates in a ministry setting.
• Is willing to sacrifice financial gain to work for a church.

As an example, our media team is trying to fill a key role. We’ve heard this same story from several folks. They’ve shared that most Christ-followers who are talented with media production aren’t clamoring to join a church staff. Instead they’re heading to Hollywood. Who can blame them? If you could use your specialized gifts, influence today’s culture, have more freedom to create, enjoy less-restrictive deadlines to fine tune your craft and make more money doing it, wouldn’t you go?

I used to think developing leaders would be the ultimate barrier to growth. I’m beginning to think finding highly specialized technicians may be just as big of a challenge. Yes, outsourcing is part of the solution. But, you still need someone on the team who can see the big picture, manage projects and talk whatever language of geek-speak is appropriate to manage those partnerships.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38). The truth in that passage is more real now to me than it ever has been.

Am I alone on this one? Are you sensing this same challenge?