The Power of Unusual Questions for Hiring Church Staff

The process of hiring a new team member for your church staff can be daunting. Standard questions such as the candidate's strengths and five-year plans can be useful, but can also be predictable and may not reveal the overall culture fit of the potential hire.

Break the Mould with Creative Questions

Online shoe and clothing giant, Zappos, challenges this traditional interviewing approach by posing an unusual question during their hiring process: "How weird are you?" And there's a reason for such an offbeat question – they are deeply interested in cultural fit.

Zappos aims to identify whether the candidate would thrive in their unique environment. Churches too can adopt this strategy by tweaking their interviewing process, and asking questions showcasing the personality, self-awareness, and alignment with the church's ethos of a candidate.

Why Different Questions Matter

Bland interviews often lead to poor hires as they can only skim the surface of a candidate's potential fit with your team. A more creative approach can help you avoid hiring someone who merely looks good on paper but proves to be a cultural mismatch with your team. Some examples of creative, yet relevant questions include:

• "What's a failure you learned from and would do again?"
• "What book would you make every staff member read and why?"
• "What's something about church culture today that drives you nuts?"

With this approach, you get to see how the candidate thinks, not just how they perform in an interview setting. Creative doesn't mean random – these questions should help explore the candidate's attitudes towards team collaboration, their ability to adapt to your church's culture and how they respond to failure.

Emphasize Culture Fit in Interviews

Bear in mind that it's vital to interview for culture, not just competency. Churches often hire for skills but end up firing for fit. So avoid rushing to hire someone simply because they possess the right skills or experience. Instead, deliberate on whether they will mesh with your team's dynamics and adhere to your church's values.

By including some unusual but considered questions in your hiring process, you can gain a deeper understanding of the candidates’ compatibility with your church's culture. Remember, your church needs not just a good hire but the right one.

Want to hear more about the art of asking unusual questions during interviews? Listen to today's Healthy Church Staff Podcast episode here.