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News

Working At Day Camp: The Best Job You’ll Ever Have AND It Looks Great On Your Resume

Mike Green

Owner / Director

Working as a counselor at a summer day camp is the best, most fun job you’ll ever have. But it’s also much more than that. Let’s explain.

Being a Day Camp Counselor Is Fantastically Fun

Working as a day camp counselor is the best. You’re outside. You’re active. You’re surrounded by young people – both lots of young campers and lots of young staff. There’s great energy at camp.

Your job is to play with kids – you get PAID to play! Camps work hard to match their counselors with jobs that fit their skill sets. Camp counselors spend their summers doing things that they already love to do. And what could be more fun than that?

Being a Day Camp Counselor Is Incredibly Memorable

Work as a day camp counselor and you’ll never forget it. You’ll meet lots of people and maybe even make friends that you’ll have for life.

You’ll remember not only the fun you had but the connections you made – the 14 3rd graders who looked up to you and made you bracelets to thank you for being so awesome. Or the kindergartener who keeps asking if you’ll babysit. Or the 6th grader who asks if you’ll coach his basketball team. Or the family that stays in touch with you after you go to college and invites you over for dinner when you’re home. Or the Color War events where you played basketball or volleyball or sang or danced (or maybe all of the above). Or the staff nights on Thursdays at Applebee’s after everyone has had a chance to go home and shower.

Years and years later, you’ll think back to your time at camp and smile. Can most summer jobs say that?

Being a Day Camp Counselor Builds Skills Which Look Great on a Resume and Help You in Life

Day camp counselors get meaningful responsibilities and get to do real problem solving. We provide lots of support but our counselors are responsible for engaging and motivating children of all different personality types. Through our camp model, our staff learns meaningful and valuable leadership and team building skills.

When an interviewer asks, “Tell me about a challenge you faced and how you overcame it,” you can talk about that time Zoe became paralyzed by fear halfway up the rock wall and how you motivated her to complete the climb, or how you taught Joey to hit a backhand, or how you led a bunch of hesitant and possibly mutinous 3rd grade boys to do a camp-scheduled song and dance that they ended up loving and talking about for weeks, or how you defused a conflict with your co-counselor that allowed you both to continue to work positively for the good of all of your campers or how you led 70 staff members through the logistics and very late nights of Color War planning while still showing up for work every day and leading your kids with a smile and without missing a beat.

With no disrespect to summer jobs like the local ice cream shop or clothing store or landscaping company, only camp provides so many young people with real responsibility and so many opportunities for leadership, lifetime skill building and growth – and all in a super fun environment!

Briarwood Day Camp is always looking for more great staff. Interested in learning more? Check out our staff page! Fill out our job application if you’re ready!