We get asked ‘what are Summer Camp Directors looking for’ a lot by people looking to head to camp in America.
If you want to become a Camp Counselor, then finding out more about the people who hire them is a good idea.
In today’s blog, a Camp Director talks us through what she looks for from her staff.
Amanda Ward is the Camp Director at Camp Chinqueka, an all-girls camp in Connecticut.
That’s a tough question. Other Camp Directors might answer this one differently, but for me, skills and personality are equal.
It’s important to have the skills to teach lessons. But it’s as important to be willing to work hard and be open to new experiences.
Some of the best staff we’ve had at Camp Chinqueka weren’t necessarily the “best” at sport or dance. But they were enthusiastic, curious, kind, and well spoken.
I recently hired a fantastic Archery Camp Counselor. She’d only started in the sport about a year before the interview with me.
She was really open about the fact she still had a lot to learn about the sport, but I found it hard to care because she was so interesting!
She told great stories, looked me right in the eye, and her personality was larger than life.
I knew I wanted her on my team and knew our campers would be drawn to her!
It’s absolutely essential to have some kind of experience working with children. It’s not the case for all camps though.
It doesn’t have to be formal experience, like teaching in a school or coaching sports. Any informal experience like babysitting would be great too.
Make sure you highlight any experience you have working with children to Camp Directors so they know you’re excited about engaging with campers.
Videos, videos, videos! If you can’t make it to a Placement Fair, do your best to create a short video because it can really boost your application.
It doesn’t need to be a fancy video, but it gives a Camp Director the chance to hear you speak confidently about yourself.
If I’m looking at two similarly skilled profiles, and one has a video and one doesn’t, the applicant with the video is going to have more of a chance of capturing my attention.