Tips For Nailing Your Summer Camp Interview
Working at a summer camp is one of the most rewarding jobs you can ever have.
You learn so much about yourself as a person while travelling around America and making friends for life.
Before all that though, you have to get placed at a camp, which means having to do a summer camp interview.
This is where we can help - interviews can appear daunting at first, but this article will give you plenty of handy tips for nailing your summer camp interview.
Follow this guide and your interview is sure to be a breeze - the summer camp owners will want to hire you on the spot!
So, let’s dive into: Tips for nailing your summer camp interview
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Be yourself - the most important thing
We start with the most important tip of them all - be yourself!
When going into an interview, it is really important to present an honest version of yourself. Sell yourself? Yes. Change yourself? No.
Summer camp directors and interviewers aren’t trying to catch you out, they are simply trying to get to know the real version of you.
In your interview, if you sell yourself as somebody who loves performing on stage and singing in front of big crowds, guess what? You will be expected to do that once you get to camp!
So make sure that whatever you claim to be in your interview is what you are like in reality.
After all, if a camp decides not to hire you because of YOU, it’s probably not the right summer camp for you anyway.
Camp counselors at summer camp
Ask questions, be curious about the camp you’ve applied for
In a traditional interview, it is expected that the interviewer asks most of the questions.
While this is still the case for a summer camp interview, it will really impress your interviewer if you ask questions about the camp you’re going to be working at.
By this, we don’t mean asking ‘Where is the camp?’ and ‘What’s the camp called?’ - these are questions you should definitely know the answer to already.
Ask more intimate and relevant questions like ‘How does the camp promote positive inclusion for its campers?’ or ‘What are some examples of how you can stand out as a counselor at camp x?’
The nice thing about asking questions in your interview, other than getting answers to your queries, is that it will give the interviewer a chance to talk more and you the chance to simply listen.
Do your research on the camp’s website
This leads nicely to our next tip for nailing your summer camp interview - do lots of research on the camp’s website beforehand.
The more you know about a camp before your interview, the more it will seem to the interviewer that you really want to work there.
Try to learn about the camp’s values programme and highlight them in your interview. Perhaps learn about which age groups the camp caters for and mention that you have previous experience working with that specific age group.
You could even reach out to people on summer camp Facebook groups and see whether anybody has first-hand experience working there - get their thoughts and opinions on the working culture.
Honestly, the more you know about a camp before the interview, the better!
Sell your experiences without bragging
This tip for nailing your summer camp interview is an important factor for any interview you will have in your life. At the end of the day, being successful in an interview is all about selling yourself without coming across as arrogant.
What that looks like in reality is showing and demonstrating your skills to the interviewer rather than telling them.
For example: “I’m really good at working with children” is a statement that is telling the interviewer your skill.
“At school, I was chosen to be a school prefect because I was able to bond with the younger students and act as a mentor for them”. This is a way of demonstrating and showing your skill.
See how a subtle language change can make all the difference?
Summer camp directors want to hire people confident in their ability to work with children so be sure to demonstrate that confidence in your summer camp interview.
Be confident, engaging and smiley
Probably the most obvious tip of them all - what summer camp director will want to hire somebody if they’re really shy and looks emotionless during the interview?
Be super smiley and bubbly throughout your interview, and it’s sure to leave a positive impression on your interviewer.
Arguably the most important role you will have as a summer camp counselor is to be fun and engaging with the kids - and your fellow counselors.
One of our tips for being a great camp counselor is to be as enthusiastic as possible. So, if you demonstrate during your interview that you’re enthusiastic about the camp and the role, then you are going to impress the camp director!
Answer in depth, avoid one-word answers
Over the years, we have spoken to a lot of camp directors and one of the main things they find challenging about an interview is when the interviewee only responds with one or two words to every question.
It then becomes a battle for the camp director to prize the information they’re looking for out of you.
Instead of letting it be a battle, try to answer in-depth (without ranting) and maybe even try to preemptively answer their next question.
For example: if a director asks you “have you worked with children before?”. Instead of simply answering “yes I worked as a football coach”, perhaps go for something along the lines of:
“Yes, I worked as a football coach for 3 years. It was an after-school program on Thursdays where I was responsible for coming up with drills and activities to improve the general footballing skills of a group of 15 kids aged 7-10. So thankfully I’ve had experience working with large groups over a number of different age groups”.
In this scenario, you have not only answered the original question but have also answered some natural questions they may have been asked next, such as “How old were the kids?”, “How many kids were you responsible for?” etc.
Remember, answer in-depth and give as much positive information about yourself as possible.
Talk about Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
The final tip we have for nailing your summer camp interview is to talk about Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills.
If you’ve never heard of these terms before, we will briefly explain them a little for you.
Hard skills are physical skills you’ve been taught that can enhance your employability as a summer camp counselor. Some examples of hard skills are: High ropes training, Football coaching licence, First-aid qualifications etc.
These are skills that you have trained for. Crucially, though, and this will set you apart from the other applicants, you need to showcase your soft skills too.
Soft skills are intangible qualities that are harder to learn and take a long time to develop. Some examples of soft skills are: Empathy; Patience; Nurturing etc.
It could be argued that these soft skills are far more important for summer camp counselors than hard skills. Yes, being a trained lifeguard looks impressive on your CV/resume, but at the end of the day if you don’t have the patience to teach really nervous kids to swim, then your qualifications are futile.
Anybody (roughly speaking) can gain qualifications for their CV/resume, but not everybody can balance those qualifications with soft skills too.
Why is this important? If a summer camp director receives 5 applications for a lifeguard position, chances are that each applicant will have experience lifeguarding from home and may have even taught children to swim - therefore, every applicant has the same hard skills.
How you need to stand apart from the rest is by demonstrating which soft skills you have developed over the year - they are the factors that will convince the summer camp director!
Top tip: Mention the actual terms ‘Hard skills and soft skills’ and explain them during your interview, using your skills as an example. You never know, you actually teach your interviewer some new terms in the process.
The kind of fun you can expect once you nail your summer camp interview
There we have it folks, a round-up of our best tips for nailing your summer camp interview. You may be nervous or a little apprehensive going into your interview, but by putting these tips in practice, you’re sure to get your dream summer camp placement!
