“Is this a Real Job?”
(or… “Should I get an internship instead?”)
YES, this is a very real job. It’s more fun than most jobs. It also offers more responsibility than most jobs. For many staff members this is also far more valuable career preparation than a technical internship. More than one employer has been impressed to hear that a 20 year-old has lead multi-night wilderness trips where the health and safety of a dozen people depended on her/his sound judgement.
We’re Committed to Staff Development (How We Help You Grow)
- Our mission is to strengthen young people’s positive character traits, and to increase their social skills so they can spread those traits more broadly in society. (“Young people” includes most of our staff.)
- Staff attend 10 days of pre-camp training, learning team building, conflict resolution, group management, creative problem-solving, and much more.
- Lifeguard, CPR, and Wilderness First Aid training are great practice for high-stakes decision making.
- Our staff training continues throughout the summer through evening meetings, teaching observations, and individual coaching.
- Staff receive friendly one-on-one support from a Leadership Team member, who’s there to guide them as they set goals, overcome challenges, and develop skills. We emphasize this relationship as a partnership – Leadership Team members are there to help you in any way you need.
Build A 21st Century Resume By Working At Camp
The Partnership for 21st-Century Learning identified the 4 skills (or the 4 Cs) that today’s employers believe are most crucial to success in the workforce:
- Communication,
- Critical Thinking,
- Creativity, and
- Collaboration.
Camp work requires you to hone each of these skills every single day. All that, while enjoying a job that gets you out in the Sierras, gets you laughing and playing, and turns you into a role model for children.
We often hear employers say, “I can teach missing technical skills, but it’s hard to teach someone soft skills.” Our whole business is soft skills! And our leadership team writes excellent reference letters translating camp skills into industry-specific language. We can write focused letters, whether you’re going into camping(!), teaching, research, engineering, healthcare, business, art, law, or something else entirely.
Some of the Roles You’ll Practice That Will Develop Your 4 Cs
- Good communicator – Our staff members are communicating and learning to connect with people across all age ranges on a daily basis.
- Life-long learner – Our staff members embrace a growth mindset. They know that there’s always room to learn more and improve, and are prepared for any challenges that come their way.
- Community player – Sometimes our staff members are bombarded with what feels like a million challenges all at once. Staff and the Leadership Team members work together daily to overcome problems, develop new ideas, and best support our campers. Our staff members use their resources like Leadership Team members and fellow staff members to problem solve together and come out stronger.
- Creative thinker – Our staff members love to add twists to old games and activities to make them new, fresh, and engaging. They learn how to plan out creative classes and to think on the fly when things don’t go as planned!
- Detail-oriented worker – Our activity manuals have tons of tips for how to break down complex skills and teach them quickly. Staff who pay attention to these details watch their students soar. Outside class time staff have their own small group of campers and notice when the campers not their usual selves. They watch for little cues and changes in their faces, paying close attention to the details!
- Organizer – Our staff members are given large responsibilities and coached to see those through. These can range from ordering and organizing all the food for out-trips, to running camp construction projects, to directing our all-camp talent shows.
- Leader – Our staff members are responsible for young people, which means that they are constantly modeling attitude control, building rapport, encouraging others, building community, acting decisively when needed.
- Problem solver – Staff members are always problem-solving ways to help their campers grow. What might you do if a camper has a hard time when they lose a game? How about shifting the game’s focus to promote recognition of good sportsmanship rather than winning? Staff members learn specific methods to efficiently resolve problems and demonstrate problem-solving techniques for their campers.
Alumni Network
Our commitment to staff development also includes advising in the many areas of employment covered by our active staff alumni network.
Thanks for connecting me with [former staff]. I did chat with her, she gave me some really good advice on getting certified and the hiring process….
– Anna L., Camper 2015-22, LIT, Staff 2024