Interview Coordinator

Part of The Settled Ministry Search Handbook

The interview coordinator is the point person for the first and second interviews of potential candidates. Along with the actual scheduling logistics with the candidate and search team, they take the lead on helping the team decide on a consistent, welcoming, and equitable process for :

  • A script and structure that creates a relational and informative interview
  • Interview questions, order, and team member asking
  • Sharing the questions in advance as the team decides
  • Rubric for assessment for individual interviews
  • Convening the meeting after the round of interviews are completed.
  • Contacting ministers post-interview, including warm notes to the candidates that you did not select,
  • Sample Interview Questions for Settled Searches (XLSX)

For More Detail

All Team members should review the following article before deciding on an interview process.

Three people standing around a modern desk, with two of them shaking hands

Interviewing Tips for Congregational Leaders

By Renee Ruchotzke

From LeaderLab

Hiring new staff is a task that most congregational leaders have little to no experience doing or have done so in a business environment. How might we conduct job interviews in a way that incorporates our shared values? What kind of diversity do we want on our search team?

Interview Tips

    First Set of Interviews

    After the initial review of ministerial records, the search team selects their first set of potential candidates around mid-January. The first set is usually conducted by video conference. Generally, these interviews last sixty to ninety minutes, reserving at least 15 minutes for questions from the applicants.

    Note: You may be in a situation where one or more of your interviews could be conducted in person, but you should not do so unless all of the interviews can be in person. Being granted an in-person interview would provide an unfair advantage over those only available for a video interview.

    All search team members should participate in these video interviews. If there is a unavoidable schedule conflict or personal emergency where a team member cannot be present, it is possible—with the ministers’ prior knowledge and consent—to record the session for the sole purpose of sharing it with the absent team member, then deleting it.

    Second Set of Interviews (Precandidating Weekend)

    The second set of interviews happens over the course of the precandidating weekend (February-March). Generally, the whole team has a three-hour interview with the pre-candidate on Saturday and then a follow-up conversational interview on Sunday at lunch.

    All search team members should participate in pre-candidating weekends.

    Time Requirement

    The search team should decide how it will conduct these interviews before extending any invitation to interview.

    Key Dates

    • December: 
      • Team members review Interviewing Tips and draft an interview script and structure
      • Possibly hold a mock interview with the interim minister
      • Reserve some dates in late in January for video interviews
    • December-early January: 
      • Search team crafts interview questions for the first set of interviews. For equity, be sure to ask each candidate the same questions.
    • Mid-to-late January: 
      • Conduct interviews, using your chosen assessment rubric
      • Once the first set of interviews is complete, use process described in Interviewing Tips.
      • Follow up with all candidates
    • Early February:
      • Before the first pre-candidating weekend, choose questions for the pre-candidating weekend Saturday Interview
    • February- Mid March: 
      • Pre-candidating weekends occur