Talent Advancement Tools

Building A Candidate List

This month's Talent Advancement focus is actually a part of the Midwest Region Recruiting Playbook and is a simple yet powerful exercise in building a robust list of potential candidates for any open FCA position.  Then exercise begins with your current staff, board members or a recruiting team you may have built for a specific position. 

Creating a Potential Candidate List:

• Ask each staff and Board member to individually create a list of the ten most talented and well-connected Christ-followers they know. Make a master list of all the names (use the Recruit Tracker Tool).

• Go through each name on the master list and get a commitment from someone to speak to this person personally, or introduce them to the FCA staff supervising this open position (Hiring Manager), so they can have a conversation with that person in next three to five weeks (adjust this to fit your timeframe, but give at least two weeks for the activity to produce fruit – don’t rush the process) and ask the person this question:

• “Who are the most talented people you know that have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and have a bent towards sport ministry?”
• Write down the individuals’ names they identify and ask them if they would be willing to introduce you to this person or give you their contact information so you can connect with them.
• Build your Potential Candidates List from these conversations.
• Add potential candidate names to the Recruit Tracker Tool.

Do the same exercise with the following population/groups of people and add potential candidate names to the Recruit Tracker Tool:

• Your pastor.
• Your small group.
• Church members.
• People engaged in sport industries that might have a bent towards sport ministry.
• Current coaches.
• People in your work location.
• Families that live in your neighborhood.
• People you sit in the stands with at athletic events.
• Other groups/individuals identified.

The idea is to build a robust list of potential candidates to begin having discussions with, utilizing the relational networks of our staff and boards.  There's no such thing as 'too many names'!  This exercise helps us leave no stone unturned and it also engages your staff, board and search team in a very practical and powerful way!