Our general rule of thumb is that your resume should probably land somewhere between one and two pages, depending on work history and experience.  Anything longer will not get read by prospective churches.

A really honest answer: the hardest church job to get is your first one.

That said, if God has called you to ministry, there is a position out there for you.  It may just take a little longer to find it.

Many churches are looking for past staff experience.  It’s important that you show both volunteer and relatable experience on your resume to help churches see your potential as a part of their team.

There are a lot of considerations that come into play in answering this question.  How aggressively are you searching?  What part(s) of the country are you looking for?  What salary do you need for you and your family?  What is your experience and education level?  All of these things factor into how long it might take for you to find your next place of ministry.

A good rule of thumb is to plan on at least three to six months.  In some cases of aggressively searching, it may take up to a year or more.

We see (literally) thousands of ministry resumes each year.  Most look nearly identical to be honest.  But there are ways to make your resume stand out and grab attention.  We suggest you take our free resume self-assessment.  It only takes about 7 minutes to complete, and we’ll give you a score between 1 – 100 on how well your resume performs, plus provide you some helpful action steps to nearly immediately improve your current resume.

Honestly, it’s probably not you.  Don’t be too hard on yourself.  Most churches do not respond back immediately (or at all) when you send them a resume.  In fact, if you receive a 10% acknowledgment rate, you’re probably doing better than most.

It never hurts to follow up (about a week after you submit your resume) via email to see if the church has any questions or what your next steps might be.  But beware, phone calls to the church are hardly ever appreciated!