What Does a Teenage Camp Counselor do?
As a camp counselor, you’ll mainly be planning, leading, and implementing activities and workshops for your campers to do. You will also be responsible for the overall safety of your campers. Depending on what type of camp you will be working at, you can be staying overnight at the camp for months at a time, or it can be a day job. Basically, you will work at a camp and have fun with children to make sure they have a great day and experience at the camp. You’ll spend a lot of time working with children, so it would be extremely helpful to be able to control your temper and be patient. Children can be stubborn at times, so it’s best not to lose your temper on them.
How Much Does a Teenage Camp Counselor Get Paid?
As a teenage camp counselor, you’ll most likely earn $10-$10 an hour. This can vary between if you are working overnight or a day camp. The main obstacle with this job is that you will have to deal with children. Most of the times, children will be wonderful to work with, but sometimes, it can be really hard. You’ll need to calm them down and ensure safety of many campers. Children might not listen sometimes, and you will have to be able to manage them. But if you start as a camp counselor and stick to it, it will be a fun experience for you, and it will also be very impressive on a resume.
How Can I Get Started as a Teenage Camp Counselor?
- Make sure that you speak to your parent(s) before trying to become a teen camp counsler. Doing so we’ll ensure your safety and they’ll likely be able to help you in your efforts.
- Before you begin, you’ll need to determine what kind of camp you want to work at. There are camps for arts, and science, and there are also camps that are deep in the woods where you sleep overnight with the campers. You will have a higher pay if you work overnight, but a downside is that you will have to stay in the woods for a very long time. You will be disconnected from friends and family, but you will have a wonderful experience as an overnight counselor. You can connect with the campers more, and have a vacation of your own.
- Get trained. Do some smaller jobs that will improve your skill as a camp counselor. Perhaps you can volunteer at an elementary school. Anything will help, as long as your strengths as a camp counselor will go up. You need quite a bit of skill to manage the children, and it’s good to “dip your feet in the water” before you swim. Basically, it’s good to get a sense of what you will be doing as a camp counselor. You can also read articles about what it’s like being a camp counselor like this one.
- Apply to different camps. Once you’ve determined which camps are for you, apply to them. You can probably find a lot of camps in the magazines for parents that recommend which camps parents should send their children to. I would also recommend that you apply to camps that you have an interest in as well. If you like basketball, apply at a sports camp. For these, don’t be afraid to show off your skills in the application. See which camps fit you, and send them an email or call them. Remember not to get frustrated if you don’t get accepted. There will be more camps you can apply to, and you will land one of them.
- Congratulations, you’re officially a camp counselor. It may seem frustrating at times, when children aren’t following your instructions, or they are not listening at all. But with your skill, you will be able to push through it and work it out with the campers. Being a camp counselor is a memorable experience for all your life, and you should enjoy it as much as you can.
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Helpful Resources
- Indeed.com: A site where you can search for camp counselor jobs. This website is great because it lists opportunities for camps all year round.
