Since many ministers (and to a lesser extent religious educators) in my denomination, Unitarian Universalism, schedule retirements or resignations to take place over the summer — that means that many Unitarian Universalist congregations are forming search committees right about now, getting ready to search for a new minister or religious educator. Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article that job seekers and members of search committees should read. The article, “How Blogging on the Web Can Help You Get a New Job,” by Sarah Needleman (p. B1), is aimed at job seekers, telling them to think about how they can control their image using the Web:
Job seekers who blog increase the odds that a potential employer will find information online that the candidate wants to be seen, says Debbie Weil, a corporate blogging consultant…. “Everybody has an online identity whether they know it or not, and a blog is the single best way to control is,” she says. “You’re going to be Googled. No one hires anyone or buys anything these days without going online first and doing research.”
If I were on a search committee, that would make me think, “Hey, candidates are going to Google us just as we’re Googling them!” Therefore, as the Wall Street Journal points out, why not consider shaping the online image of your congregation:
Some companies encourage employees to blog because they can use them to recruit others. When recruiter Harry Joiner was hired to fill two positions at Musician’s Friend Inc. in November, he used an employee’s personal blog to help sell his client’s rural location of Medford, Ore., to job seekers. “Candidate were using Medford as a reason not to consider the jobs,” he says. “As a marketer, I thought, if you can’t change it, promote it.”
The blog, by So Young Park, the company’s director of e-commerce…, describes her move to the area a year ago from New York City. It includes details about her work, … a bear sighting near her home, and related topics. While she started the blog to share information with family and friends back East, she acknowledges that it has also been a good resource for attracting job hunters.
I wonder if that kind of idea could help congregations in rural regions to attract top-quality talent.
Thanks for the mention of this story. For more ideas on how companies can market their open positions, check out my blog at http://www.MarketingHeadhunter.com
We did tons of research on church websites as soon as the UUA search database opened, and some of what we found caused us not to apply to certain churches that looked otherwise sound from their official records.
A couple of general examples:
~The church that had just passed very anti-minister provisions in their by-laws, such as the ability for the board to fire the minister with a majority vote and no input from the congregation, with a “quorum” of less than 5% of their membership, all reported in the church newsletter available on the website
~The church website where every page had been modified/updated within the last three weeks (according to the automatically generated time stamps) except those about the minister, which still listed the previously settled minister, with pictures and sermons, but made no mention of the interim minister except on the calendar of services – even the newsletter didn’t include a column from the interim
~The church with no mention of Sunday services on the website – including the time! It wasn’t even clear that this church held services at all!
Helpful things both positively and negatively were those sites with good archives of their newsletters, sections where the search committee posted their reports, and good calendars. Those sites with members-only sections were rather frustrating, though I totally understand why some churches go that route.
What I would have loved to see on any of these churches’ sites would be a section “advertising” their search for a new minister. Not just reports on the progress of the search committee, but a resource for those ministers looking to apply to the church, to point out positive things that maybe these applicants might not find out on their own. Why not develop a truncated, online version of the church packet – a brochure version, if you will?
Granted, search committees and church boards are made up of volunteers. But I think churches that start using the web for more intentional, targeted outreach as well as being a resource for current members will open up many more possibilities for themselves.
Harry (a.k.a. Marketing Recruiter) — I usually delete posts that point to commercial sites or blogs, but it looks like your site could be of real assistance to church search committees. Thanks for the comment.
Jess — Thanks for the good insights. I hope church search committees pay attention to this.
Search committees, you really need to coordinate with the church Web master. Sadly, too many churches pretend that it’s still the 1950’s, pretend that they really don’t need a good church Web site. People, if your congregation has a lousy Web site, and you’re in search for a minister, you are making a big mistake, and you will not attract the best candidates. Listen to Jess, and at least have a nice section of your site where job seekers can learn how great your congregation is.