Should We Hire for Age or Experience (Building Your Dream Team)

Ever wrestled with the choice between injecting your church staff with youthful energy or the seasoned insight of experienced leaders? Struggle no more, because on this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, we navigate the conundrum with a mix of wisdom and wit. Join me, Todd Rhoades, as we unpack the advantages of both worlds: the vigor and innovative spark that younger candidates contribute, and the invaluable lessons and leadership prowess that come with veterans in ministry. Whether you're a fan of mentoring budding talent or you seek the kind of stability only years of experience can offer, this is the conversation you need to hear.

Our discussion swings from the infectious enthusiasm of eager greenhorns to the deep-rooted knowledge of ministry's tried-and-true. Consider this your guide to discerning the perfect balance for your dream church team. There are no guests, just straight talk and practical insights drawn from the trenches of church staffing. So, if your congregation is leaning towards a fresh face or if you're sizing up the gravitas of seasoned individuals, lend us your ears for a dialogue that promises to enlighten and equip. Don't miss out on an episode that's all about shaping the future of your church with the right mix of passion and prudence.

Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Is Your Church Hiring?
If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help.

Are You Looking for a New Ministry Role?
If you are open to a new church role in the next few months, add your free resume and profile at ChemistryStaffing.com.

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:03

Well, it's the age old question when you're hiring new staff at your church, should you hire for youth or for experience? We're going to talk about that today on our episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast. Hi there, thanks for joining us. My name is Todd Rhodes, I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom, and today we're talking about the key to building your dream church team Should you hire fresh faces or seasoned souls? And I've got a link that I put down in the show notes below for you on this, a blog post that I wrote a little while back on this. But it's really that I get asked a lot in my work at Chemistrystaffing, todd, should we hire young people, maybe, that are a little greener in ministry, maybe don't have the experience, or should we hire older candidates that have the experience in the proven track record? And really it depends. That's a perfect consultant answer, right, it depends. So let's unpack this a little bit. Let's talk a little bit first about what a young candidate, what a young staff member, could bring to your team, and then what hiring an older or more experienced candidate can bring to your team, and then talk about how to decipher which route you should go. Okay, so let's talk about hiring young people and maybe just out of college, just out of seminary, for your next staff opening. Here are some things that they're going to bring that maybe you wouldn't get necessarily with an older, more experienced candidate. They're going to bring more enthusiasm and part of that is just because they're green and they're eager and they're ready to do, they're going to be willing to try new things, they're going to be excited. This is what God's called them do and they really finally, for the first time in their lives, really get to dig in into your church and really make a difference. That's really what we're called to do and a lot of times with more experienced candidates, they've been there, done that and on the enthusiasm scale, maybe it wanes a little bit after the years, but with young candidates you're almost always going to get a high level of enthusiasm Not always, but a lot of times you will.

Speaker 0: 2:08

You're also going to get a candidate or a staff member that's going to bring some fresh perspectives, some new ideas, some outside the box thinking. Now, if your church is one that doesn't like those kind of things or doesn't value those kind of things, then that's something to take into consideration as well. But for the by and large younger candidates, those that are maybe a little greener, are going to bring some fresh perspectives, some ideas to try and a lot of times that can be really beneficial to your staff team to have somebody with enthusiasm and fresh perspectives. They're also going to, in most cases, be it a little bit more adaptable to new technologies and maybe even a little bit more open to trends that are happening in the church world, and in most cases they're willing to learn. They're tech savvy, they have the skills, but they're willing to learn new ideas, new ways of doing things. A lot of them are. If you're in a church that does well at building in to people and mentoring people, you get the right person and they can be mentored and really turn out to be we call them kind of rock stars in the making. And another thing to consider is that younger candidates appeal to younger demographics. So if you're working with a lot of younger people in your church young families, singles, college age a staff member in that age range may work out really well for you. Okay, so those are some of the things to look forward to in a younger candidate.

Speaker 0: 3:37

Let's talk for a second about older candidates, hiring experienced candidates for your next church staff position. One of the things a lot of them are going to bring older candidates, more seasoned candidates, are going to bring wisdom. They have more knowledge, they have more experience. They've been there, done that, they know they've. They've paid the stupid tax so that you don't have to have them pay the stupid tax while they're on your payroll. They know what works, they know what doesn't work. So they bring a lot of wisdom and they also, a lot of times, just through honing that leadership muscle, they have some stronger leadership skills. So they're going to be able to step in, hit the ground running as far as leadership skills.

Speaker 0: 4:17

Not everybody, but a lot of your older, more established candidates do that. They also bring some established connections and networks. A lot of times that will be helpful not only in the ministry that you hire them to do, but also just for you as a staff and you as a church as a whole, and for the most part they also bring an added level of stability and some long-term commitment. Older candidates tend to be a little bit more stable. They don't take off on you after a year and a half and they're really in there for the long haul, especially once they have kids and families and those kind of things. Stability is much more prone in an older candidate, and another added bonus is that they can serve as mentors to some of your younger employees. We talked about mentoring in the first part, but they can definitely help to mentor younger employees and even volunteers.

Speaker 0: 5:08

So how do you make the decision? Should you hire somebody young or somebody maybe older and a little bit more experienced? And, as I said, it depends. It depends on your specific needs. It depends on the goals of your church. Do you have a clearly defined job description and requirements and qualifications for that? Do you know what strengths you're looking for in your next staff member? Do you know what the weaknesses that you're looking for? Do you know the desired skills and the desired experience? How important is long term commitment to you? All these things are things that you can take into consideration as you determine whether or not what to go with more of a fresh face or a seasoned soul.

Speaker 0: 5:49

Here's what I'll tell you is that I think both and older candidates bring a lot to the table and a lot of times we get pigeonholed into. This is exactly what we're looking for At chemistry we find a lot of times we're surprised at some of the candidates we find maybe don't fit exactly that tight range of what you're looking for, but, man, they're going to be great at your church. A lot of times, younger people can just can really bring a breath of fresh air and excitement and a really good skill set to a ministry, and in some cases, older candidates can as well. It's not as much an age thing as it is a skills and a talent and just how they fit. What you're looking for strengths and weaknesses, requirements, qualifications all of that desired skills and expertise those are just important factors.

Speaker 0: 6:44

We're going to dig into this into future episodes here on the Healthy Church podcast, but I would encourage you, if you're looking for a staff member and this is what I tell people overall is remain open, keep an open mind, look for the skills and the qualifications and the requirements, the strengths and weaknesses that you need in that position first and then look for somebody, regardless of their age, regardless of their stage of life, and see who fits best for exactly what you need at your church. That will serve you well long term and it'll help you to keep from getting pigeonholed. And hey, we need somebody that's between 25 and 35, which really, legally, you're not supposed to do now anyway, right? Okay, any questions on this or any future podcast suggestions you have for us, you can always catch me online at podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I hope you have a great weekend. We'll be back here.