Places to find a job while attending seminary

Ok, here is another list that might help. Here are some sites that might help you find a job while you’re in seminary (no particular order other than this is how they came to my mind):

• First, check with your seminary. Lots of them have job resources for you (often in local churches). Some also offer work study… which has ups and downs… but it is an options none the less.
• Snag a Job (Good for hourly / part time gigs)
  
• Craig’s List (be sure to change to view jobs in your area)
• Monster
• Indeed
• Career Builder
• Church Jobs
• Church Staffing
• Guru (Good site if you want to be a freelancer… I use this as a web development freelancer, but they have lots of other niche freelance categories. Oh, and you’ll need to drop cash to get an account, but I made about $2k this year through guru gigs.)
• Hot Jobs

Any other suggestions for good job sites?

Life is hectic

My apologies for being absent the past few days. As any seminarian will tell you, life is hectic.

In preparation for our departure for seminary in January, I’ve been working full time at a start-up company in my town helping them with system/process management and optimization; preparing the company for, what I think is, its soon approaching tipping point. While it is a great job and lots of fun, it has been a lot of work. On top of that I’ve been trying to increase my client base for my web development company, as this will be the main bread winner while we are at seminary (at least according to my spreadsheet).

So, every day I get home from work and then… well, go to work. Which I guess is good preparation for seminary. There is no doubt that there will be a lot of work… I guess the upside is that there are no cubes involved. For those of you who’ve ever been trapped in a cube, may I recommend a cubicle freakout (I pretty much sing this theme song every day).

On top of all the work, there is of course the kids and wife. I think a big danger we all face is neglecting our family for the things we think can’t wait… and, lets me honest, there are those of us who hide from our families in our work and school. There are certainly days where it is just easier for me to say I need to get to work (which is true) but in reality I just can’t handle the kids, the mess, and the stress. Now, I’m sure that is just me… good ole sinful me… but anyone feel me on that one?

Well, enough rambling here. Just needed to let you know I’m alive and well. In fact, I’m celebrating my 7th wedding anniversary this weekend and I have a bit of a surprise up my sleeve for my gal (little man and sweetpea are being shipped off and we’re shipping out). So, I’ll be off the next two days, but I hope to post some good stuff on Saturday. Just writing this post has given me some great ideas. I think I’m going to write about some preparatory steps to take when deciding to go to seminary… like figuring out if you can afford it (hint… you probably can’t).

(Also, if you happen to know what squidoo is, then check out the lens I recently created. I mostly created it for SEO purposes. But if your a Squidoo fan, then hook me up with some votes… and while I pathetically asking for some SEO help, please vote for the site at the bloggers choice awards… ok, ok… enough shameless marketing talk…)

Advice for families going to seminary

While scouring the internet today for more information to help us all on our seminary journeys I stumbled across a great post on tHe Resurgence (not to be confused with theresurgence.com). The post, Advice for Seminary Students with Families (& Full-Time Jobs) give 17 spot-on nuggets of wisdom for the family seminarian. While you should check out Colin’s site, it is so good I’d hate for you to miss it in the case that you don’t want to click the link… so, at length, here are his 17 points:

1. You are not single without children. Your priorities are 1) God, 2) Family, 3) everything else. If you lose your family for your ministerial aspirations, you have lost your qualifications for the ministry.

2. If you need A’s and B’s for possible doctoral studies, take fewer classes rather than upsetting the priority list above. If you were an A student in college, you must get past the idolatry of the grade.

3. You may not always be able to read everything assigned in a class. Be judicious in what you set out to accomplish. Rank the importance of the texts at the beginning of the semester, acquiring the professor’s help if necessary, and start with those. You must be diligent in your reading, even if you are not a quick reader. Nonetheless, set a goal and a corresponding calendar to get all your work completed for each class, having the important texts read in case (err, when) an emergency crops up.

4. Get papers completed early and utilize the Writing Lab (or similar writing/tutoring service if available). Since you may not be able to read the quantity of books a single or non-father student will devour while in seminary, and therefore without the benefit of exposure to as diverse examples writing quality, you must pay attention to edits and critiques of your writing in order to improve.

5. Do not neglect Bible study and devotion times. You may have to change your routine or your devotion time during the day. You must spend time in the Bible to supplement your seminary education. This means that you should not neglect Bible study for an assignment (but neither should you use it as an excuse for not completing something due to poor planning or management).

6. Read wisely. Select your books carefully. Read reviews. Open the book before you read, peruse the bibliography to get a feel for what main sources the author draws from, read the biographical information about the author, note the publisher, and read the last chapter. This will get your mind in tune to the work and ready to glean its significant points. Unfortunately many books in the bookstore today hide significant points within sermon illustrations, anecdotes and useless repetition of nonsense instead of coming right out and saying, “This is my point/thesis, this is what it means, this is why it’s true and this is why its significant.”

7. Keep up with your languages (see this site for help)!! Michael suggests to take them early, and if you want to get done in 3-4 years, you must take them right away. Also, try to group classes (like OT + Hebrew, NT + Greek, Preaching + NT Greek, etc.) and remember many electives usually require more outside study time than core classes. Pick your electives very carefully, especially if you want a concentration.

8. Do not ever, ever decide on a professor based on his soteriology. But try to pick classes based on the professor you want to take. This may mean figuring out a way to take Tuesday and/or Thursday classes, or changing your schedule. Yet never dismiss a professor. God has something for you to learn in every class, and if you think otherwise, you don’t need to be in seminary.

9. Debate other students wisely. Michael’s advice here is spot on- make sure you know what you are talking about and be humble. If you are a Calvinist, try to steer clear of debates on Calvinism. Do not say anyone is “not God-centered.” For all, do not dismiss anyone out of ignorance. Too many who pipe up in class debates on the subject quickly reveal they do not know what is going on. Do not say Reformed Baptist churches should call themselves Presbyterian. Do not call everyone attending non-Reformed churches “man-centered” or “seeker-sensitive.” And don’t discuss soteriology the first time you meet someone.

10. Do not believe what blogs say about seminaries. Once you begin attending, the ignorance of many bloggers is revealed when you see things are directly opposite what they dogmatically claim. If anyone comments on the intellectual level of the faculty, it reveals a biblical-realism disconnect (i.e. an affinity to academy rather than biblical theology).

11. Don’t be loud. Don’t dominate conversations and theological discussion. Do not ask questions every class period, and do not ask multiple questions per class. Everyone in the classroom is paying money to hear the professor.

12. Having obligations such as a professional job and a family will preclude you from fitting in to the “campus crowd.” Expect not to be a favored student. Be careful who you partner with in accountability.

13. Do ministry. Do not fall into the trap that ministry begins after seminary. One example: have people over for dinner often. Ministry does not have to mean teaching a class at your church. In fact, if you are not already on staff somewhere, volunteer for jobs you may never have the chance to do again, like parking duty or cleaning bathrooms.

14. Men, support your family. Don’t be shy about accepting help when offered, even if it is enough to live on. This is God’s provision. However, going into chronic debt is not healthy. Do not put your babies in day care for seminary.

15. Do not neglect family devotion time. Catechize your children. Read through Scripture and doctrine with your wife.

16. Try hard. Seminary is hard work. It is harder than you can imagine. Know this, but determine to do the best you can do (given various circumstances) on every assignment. The rewards are sweet.

17. Exercise. For you husbands who love your wives, buy a jogging stroller (do they make four-seaters?) and take the kids off her hands in the evening while you get some exercise. Give her time alone to do her quiet time, cook, or simply catch her breath. What a great stress reliever for you both! (Thanks SelahV for the reminder)

Brilliant post Collin. You are to be commended!

My virtual seminary experience

Ok, before I was just a guy going to seminary I was just a virtual guy going to a virtual seminary. Yes, I was an online student. The journey for me began about 7 years ago when I was trying to determine if God was calling me to seminary. I’m not so much sure how much of it was God and how much was me just looking for an excuse to skip town… either way, after looking into lots of seminaries and talking it through with my pastor, I decided to give distance education a shot.

Now, the first thing to note is that the education I received via my distance program was great. I loved sitting down and listening to the lectures, reading all my textbooks, writing my papers. I felt like these exercises truly helped me in my job (I was a campus minister). However, as time went on I discovered what I believe is the greatest challenge of distance education… life.

My wife and I moved to a new city, we had our first baby (little man), I went through 3 jobs (eventually getting back to campus ministry), we bought our first house, our basement was destroyed by a flood (3 times), we had our second baby (sweetpea)… and on and on… All while trying to find time to sit, read, and study. Needless to say, it didn’t really pan out.

Over the course of 5 years I purchased 6 extensions ($50 each) and withdrew from 3 classes (meaning I paid a lot of money for the class, didn’t do the work, and then bailed at the last moment). For me, there always seemed to be something more pressing than the classes… besides, they’d always be there tomorrow.

So, my experience ultimately led me to the decision that I’m going to have to do a residential program if I ever want to finish this degree. Now, please don’t take that to mean I think distance education is a bad idea… quite the contrary. I think it is amazing. However, I believe that it requires a certain type of person, with a certain personality, a certain discipline, and a certain situation. You might be that kind of person.

Anyone out there had any luck with the distance program? Let us hear your success story.

Work and studies

So, I haven’t actually started seminary yet, so for me this is an area that I’m giving a lot of consideration. I really haven’t figured out how everyone in seminary pulls this one off. I mean, you need to work to pay the bills but working means you’re not studying which means you’re doing bad in class… which seems like a bad trade off… So, you decrease your work hours, but the power company doesn’t care and they still send you your bills. So, what are you to do?

I guess the best solution is to find a job that allows you to make lots of money for minimal hours invested. Uh… yeah… anyone know where I can find one of those?

As for me, my wife and I crunched the numbers and it looks really tight. Thankfully, I am a web developer, so I have a job that is flexible and pays well for hours invested. The problem is that it is typically feast or famine in the work category. So, it is a little nerve racking.

In the end, we simply decided that, even though the excel spreadsheet says that money will be tight… we just need to trust that we are hearing and obeying God’s call and that He will care and provide for us as he is always done.

Anyone got some insight on how to balance the work/school issue? Please drop some wisdom for us newbies.

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