If you’ve applied to work at a summer camp this post has some advice to help you get placed with USA Summer Camp as quickly as possible.
If you are interested in finding out more about work at a summer camp you can view my other blog posts about this here.
1. Complete Your Profile ASAP
Completing your profile as quickly as you can will allow you to progress to the ‘Ready To Hire’ stage quickly. At this stage the camps can see your profile and USA Summer Camp are hiring every day with over five hundred of these daily. Your online profile acts as your CV for the camps to see so be sure to include any information and qualifications you have. Sell yourself and talk about your experiences with each activity/skill as well.
2. Create a Introduction Video
This might sound a bit daunting for some but creating a showcase/introduction video is a great way to introduce yourself to camps. Keep the video short (about a minute long) and if you can include images/videos of travel and your skills that’s a bonus! The video doesn’t need to be public either, so you can upload it to YouTube/Vimeo as ‘unlisted’ and pop the URL in your profile for camps to see.
3. Check Social Media Accounts
As fun as summer camp is to be involved in, it is a job and the camps will be searching online for your name and social media accounts. Be sure to make them all private and check that there are no inappropriate messages or images on there! This is something that could prevent a camp getting in touch with you about a potential job.
4. Request References via Profile
When completing your profile you will need references to work at a summer camp and for your VISA. This is done through your USA Summer Camp profile and you can insert direct email addresses for each of these. The great thing about this is that you can see when it has been sent, completed and then approved by the USA Summer Camp office team. This will allow you to send a friendly nudge/message to those who have not yet completed your references.
5. Check Emails & Profile Daily
A key thing to do is check your emails and USA Summer Camp profile daily for any notifications. Be sure to check spam/junk folders as well as camp email addresses may not be recognised by your email client. The camps may want to get in touch to arrange an interview to chat about a particular skill in more detail and your suitability for their camp. Getting back in touch with them straight away shows you are interested and on-the-ball! Keep in mind as well that most placements are completed online which means the camps will be in the office until much later in the UK with the time difference. For example, a camp on the West Coast may be in the office until 5pm their time which is 1am here in the UK!
6. Attend Camp Placement Fairs
There are a number of events available via USA Summer Camp (check the events page on the website and their social media accounts). Placement Fairs are where camp directors and staff visit the U.K. to hire staff for the summer season. This is a great opportunity to meet camps face-to-face and many people get hired on the day! My best advice for this would be to plan ahead and save the date in your calendar, add this to your USA Summer Camp profile under ‘Events’ and get there nice and early!
If you have any questions about my experience of summer camp or the process of applying feel free to get in touch!
Thank you for reading, have a great day! 🇺🇸
Glen Conbeer 