Sniff - I need reassurance!

[laurathistle]

Ok, So as most of you will know becassue I have being going on and on and on and on about it, I went to a Directors Fair in Liverpool today.

I had high hopes of securing a position, but alas I didn't.

I think the problem was I was coming on a bus from Scotland which was provided by Camp Leaders andwe didn't arrive until 2pm. The fair had started at 9am and was finishing at 4pm.

I was looking for a General Counselor Position but was told by almost all stalls that they didn't have any left. I was okay about this as the Camp Leaders staff kept saying it wasn't a major problem. Then I was speaking a woman from a camp (which is rather large and famous and shall remain nameless) who was rather abrupt in telling me that no, her camp didn't have any general positions left and didn't I know that almost all international staff were specialist any way and if I wasn't able to/prepared to be a specialist that I would find it extremley difficult to find a suitable position.


Can anyone, international or not, tell me if in their experiance they have found this to be true?:(

[ArtisticEric]

Well i'm not an international an as an art student i have specialities ....I can say you shouldn't worry.I mean my first summer i got hired in like april....i kinda decide to be a counselor at the last min. So I guess i'm trying to say I'm sure It'll work it self out. P.S. whoever the rude woman was wasnt excatly showing a welcoming camp appropriate additude IMHO.

[laurathistle]

Oh, and another thing, I applied way back in September. There are things I could specialise in, like special needs, GS, Drama, A&C because I do have quite a bit of experiance. But I would rather generalise for my first summer.

Good job I wasn't judging the whole camp world on that woman. She really was the kinda person who would put people off all together. Glad I have you guys!

[gabor85_hungary]

Don't give it up, but maybe you really should apply as a specialist if there is no demand for international general counselors.

Anyway you scared me too: ) My fair will be on Wednesday organized by CampLeaders, it starts at 9.30AM and I was asked to come at 6.00PM because "their office is small". These camps are supposed to be there, so if you know their boss, tell them to wait for me, because I'm so greeeat: )

www.cheley.com
www.campstarlight.com
www.campcarolina.com
www.camprobinhood.com

[CAMPFRIEND]

You should be fine. I know there is still a lot of camps still looking. Job fairs have just started at schools around here. I know I am still looking for staff!

[laurathistle]

You should be fine. I know there is still a lot of camps still looking. Job fairs have just started at schools around here. I know I am still looking for staff!


Don't supose you use Camp Leaders for International staff Campfriend?!

[Trees]

MANY internationals aren't specialists. You don't need to worry at all.

One thing to keep in mind is that CampLeaders is much smaller than CCUSA, and a lot of camps only have relationships with CCUSA and/or CampAmerica. But if you approach the camp, many of them will be happy to work with you through CampLeaders. Look around at camp websites and email the directors of places you like. They'll be impressed that you came to them.

If there's a particular area of the country you're interested in, you could google "Girl Scout camp Minnesota", for instance, and camps will pop up. Or use the ACA search feature, or campstaff.com, though campstaff.com has only a small number of the possible camps.

[laurathistle]

Thanks Trees

I think I will e-mail Camp Leaders and check with them if it is okay for me to approach camps instead of waiting for them to do it. I am very consious that time is marching on and I don't want to be forced into taking a position that may not be right for me for the sake of being placed.

[CAMPFRIEND]

We use ICCP and CCUSA. Sorry!