Integrity in Job Searches
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    I'm discovering something troubling in the world of job postings and search processes. It is that parishes, whether they intend to or not, make "misstatements of material fact" (to perhaps a bit incorrectly borrow a legal term of art) when representing the qualifications they are looking for in candidates. After a while, one begins to wonder if one really is "over-qualified" or if "your credentials don't match our requirements at this time." They seem to suggest that their looking for one thing, then change their minds and move in a different direction. I know that it's their choice, they're the ones doing the hiring, but there seems to be a lack of honesty and integrity in the process. They seem to engage in a kind of "bait and switch" when they post their listings.

    I'm noticing another trend: parishes first post their listing with the national AGO, carefully worded to make it seem as though they're looking for someone with an advanced degree and experience with traditional music and liturgy in the Roman Catholic Church, then a bit later put another posting in the NPM "Hotline" that is watered-down and soft-pedals the need for a high degree of proficiency and knowledge in traditional music.

    I'm also beginning to get the impression that it's who you know (or who you associate with) versus what you know and what your real qualifications are.

    Am I just imagining things?
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    I'd have to know specifically what you're driving at with the first bit. As far as qualifications, I'll apply for any job that says "Bachelor degree required" even though I'm a student, since I have roughly the experience, skill, and knowledge of many BA or non-music grads. Wasn't a problem at my last job, although there are the few who won't call back because of it.

    And as for dropping key words, I think if you look carefully you can still spot a bad listing. Although I've gone back on my swearing off Catholic churches, I still won't apply for any listing that doesn't mention Gregorian chant, Latin, or have an EF Mass. Then again, it has been 6 months since I've had a job...

    "I'm also beginning to get the impression that it's who you know (or who you associate with) versus what you know and what your real qualifications are."

    DUH. Really, that's not bad. I'm trying to expand and work my network for jobs now that I've moved. Nothin' wrong with that. If you want to do chant, get "in" with the chant crowd in the area and tell them to keep their ears open for you.
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Gavin,

    My last statement about who you know or associate with was to suggest that quite the reverse of what you said seems to be true. I'm suggesting a "guilt by association." They (searching parishes) want someone who "knows the music of the tradition" but not someone who "knows the tradition itself" (read, a "traditionalist"). They want someone who can put lipstick on the pig, not change the pig itself. They'll talk a good game about good music, but I suspect that when it comes down to it, it's a matter of window-dressing. They aren't genuinely interested in what makes good music happen. If they sense that you're serious about training singers, and establishing discipline, they don't want that because it will interfere with their cushy "post VCII" sensibilities. That's the "bait and switch" I'm talking about. All too often they think that these things just happen, and don't understand what makes a music director "tick".
  • Daniel Bennett PageDaniel Bennett Page
    Posts: 837
    My job experience in churches leads me to believe strongly that it really is 'whom you know' and that said person should be the pastor. Every successful church job I've had came to me because I knew the priest. The two jobs for which I applied in response to an advertisement were awful for many of the reasons David Andrew outlines: unclear process, passive misrepresentation, and (in one case) a bold-face untruth from a key person. My first serious organ teacher believed strongly in the maxim that 'organists don't get jobs through other organists'. Friendly colleagues can certainly be helpful along the way, but the pastor's priorities ultimately rule the day. If one is applying for a position, one cannot research the pastor's track record thoroughly enough.
  • mjballoumjballou
    Posts: 994
    Parsing job descriptions for church musicians can provide hours of frustration or harmless fun, depending on the state of one's employment at the moment. The best advice I ever had was this: find out exactly what they're doing in the parish right now. Ask for worship aids (hate the term), go to a few Masses, get some answers. No matter what the search committee says, nine times out of ten that is going to be what they really want. Much of the chatter is window-dressing - "of course, we're open to the highest-quality music, respecting the full musical traditions, etc." Of course, there's a flip side to this if your skills run in a more contemporary direction. This boils down to "what you see is probably what they want." In Catholic Churches, where the pastor is king, obviously his views carry the most weight. But what about the question of regime change? I guess you'd have to find out how long he's going to be in the parish.

    And remember, watch out for the word "vibrant."
  • G
    Posts: 1,401
    Some of it is whom you know, some of it is bait and switch, some of it is dumb luck, some of it is code, and some of it is talking past each other rather in the manner of male/female relations.
    And to compound the problem, words like "tradition" mean different things in different codes. ("Vibrant" and "welcoming", on the other hand, are pretty constant...)
    When I leave this job I may post about what Father said in the interview vs. what he meant.

    (Save the Liturgy, Save the World)
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I suppose another problem is the reaction to change that can happen only after the music director starts the job. Pressure can be brought to bear and the job description changed.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,986
    I take those job announcements with a large grain of salt. I have already made up my mind that I am working for my last Catholic parish if and when I leave this one. But it is a good idea to drop in on a typical service and see what is really happening.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Yes, NEVER make the day you're hired the first Mass you attend at the church. And furthermore, I always say be up front in your interview. I got my last job because I flatly said in the interview "I will not play On Eagle's Wings on Sundays." Of course I wouldn't go THAT far with every priest (I could tell this guy was good) but I would say spell out to them what you believe sacred music is, what the Church teaches, your commitment to do what you understand the Church's requirements to be, etc. That really solves the problem for you, and if you are interviewing for an AmChurch parish, you can have a story to look back on and laugh.

    Example: one interview where the interviewer (the music director) flew into hysterics at the MENTION of the PATRON SAINT of a parish that does the EF! Followed by the statement, "you have to understand, the liturgy is all about the community..."
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    As I'm feeling I have nothing to loose, and as I've had yet another experience that makes me want to chuck it all, I'm going to give some details. However, I'm NOT going to name parishes or names, and I'm going to try to be general enough to protect the culpable.

    In the last 6 months, I've experienced the following:

    1) Before accepting a position that would involve a major geographic move and a huge financial commitment, I asked for a follow-up visit to the parish that would take place on a weekend rather than a weekday, and give me an opportunity to experience the life of the parish on a Sunday, to which the Pastor vigorously objected. Basically he wanted me to accept the offer based on a one-and-one-half-day interview and audition experience wherein I had no opportunity to meet anyone from the parish that he hadn't orchestrated.

    2) A Pastor who claimed to be looking for someone who could truly help the parish enter into a deeper sense of liturgy and music, but who after several meetings told me that he wanted to put together a full committee and go through a formal process, and who assured me that I was on the "top of the list" of candidates. After not hearing back from him for a month and a half, I discovered, by visiting the parish website and reading a more recent issue of the parish bulletin that he'd hired the current part-timer, who he, by his own admission to me, didn't think had the proper qualifications. Nevertheless in his column announcing the appointment he sang her praises and made it sound like she was going to be the salvation of the program because of her unique abilities.

    3) A Cathedral position that never mentioned in its detailed job requirements even once that they wanted or expected qualified candidates to have prior Cathedral/Basilica/Office of Worship experience. On the contrary, their expectation was the usual: Practicing Roman Catholic, Bachelor's degree (Masters preferred) and 5-10 years parish music program experience. When contacted and told that I was not in the final list of candidates, this was the sole reason for not being considered, no Cathedral/Basilica/Office of Worship experience. Doctorates degree, 10+ years of parish experience, extensive exposure and knowledge of liturgical and choral music be damned.

    4) A seminary position (liturgical music director for the chapel with adjunct professorship responsibilities) , run by a prominent religious order, that I was informed after applying was "going to be covered by Sisters already in the employ of the seminary and talented seminarians rather than hiring at this time". This was back in the summer. I just found out that one week later they proceeded to appoint a nun who was not already in the employ of the seminary, and who didn't have any of the qualifications I possess. The reason? Because she was a religious, and therefore they didn't need to pay her. This is exactly what I was told when I contacted the seminary after reading about her appointment in the quarterly newsletter of the seminary that came in the mail, today.

    After many years of schooling, personal financial sacrifice in obtaining a terminal degree from a respected institution, years of working in parishes for near-poverty salaries, I seem to have hit the concrete ceiling in this field: a parish dominated by middle-American, white-bread, pop-tarts and twinkies, value meal, pre-fab, loose credit, wash-n-wear sensibilities, for a Church hierarchy all-too willing to pander to it.
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    No, I'm not bitter.
  • Michael O'Connor
    Posts: 1,637
    David, sorry to hear that. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to serve two parishes, but I would never go back to a paid position. For one thing, parishes deserve someone who can sing and/or play the organ and finally, they generally don't want Catholic liturgical music.
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