8 Places to Go Find Candidates
by Dave Miller
A new year brings new hopes and dreams for your organization, and new realizations that you need new leaders to help your team realize those hopes and dreams. Building a sustainable leadership residency is certainly one answer to the pressing needs of staff on your team.
QUESTION: What can your team do beyond posting a job online or having a great landing page to collect interested people via social media? How do we build the best pipeline of all for recruiting…the referred pipeline?
But where will candidates come from? How do we find them?
Here are 8 places to search for future staff and future residents to get a referred pipeline going:
That dynamic family that moved away last year. Are they engaged at another church in another city? (then see step 8)
The college roommate that you haven’t talked to in forever.
Your buddy at that other church across town…the one who goes to every conference and is always quoting Rich Birch or Carey Neuwhof. He knows people.
The new amazing volunteer that has been asked to be on your guest services team, a kids team, plays in the band, and probably should be on your staff. She knows people.
That elder that casually mentioned in passing three Christmases ago that their nephew was going to some school online studying to be in ministry someday. The school was called Liberty or something.
That one guy in your denomination that seems to speak at every gathering. He does all sorts of strategory with churches. He seems to know a lot of people.
That one friend who “knows a guy.” You know, he introduced you to your roofer, a fundraiser, a plumber, and a chiropractor.
The church across town that just found its staff leader after an 18-month search. They may know a couple of people if you’ll buy them lunch.
BONUS: there’s a dynamic campus ministry at the regional university…there are a lot of great young potential leaders there, but you gotta get around the gatekeepers.
There are probably seventeen more that I haven’t thought of…
Sit still and make a list. Sometimes I’ll sit still and literally pray Lord please bring these folks to mind. I have to turn off all the gadgets and be quiet for 30 minutes.
I bet you have a dozen or thirty names. When I’ve led this exercise with teams this is normal. They begin by telling me they’ve asked everyone …thirty minutes later a group of six people might have 100+ real names of folks who may know someone who knows someone…
If you want to learn more about learning to think like a recruiter GO HERE and keep reading.