Experience for College, Work & Life
While many teens slog away their summers bussing tables, painting houses, babysitting, or walking dogs, the smart ones enjoy their summer while gaining valuable experience as camp counselors.
WHY CONSIDER A SUMMER CAMP JOB?
1. College Applications
If you are in the college application stage, you know that there are many factors to consider when applying for schools. Most US college admissions teams apply a scoring system to vet the thousands of applications they must consider each year. Your GPA and test scores are run through this scoring system, of course; however, real-life experience backed by letters and anecdotes from teachers, colleagues, or employers are what really help you stand out from the crowd — especially when grades might be a hindrance. Admissions officers remember the stories that demonstrate a prospective student’s passion for a course of study, not necessarily their verbal or written skills.
The admissions team is tasked with coordinating a well-balanced student body, so they want to understand what makes you light up and how you might gel with other students and instructors. Vetting may be performed by a robot, but well-rounded classes are designed by humans.
2. College Credit
If you are already enrolled in a college or university, a camp counselor job can be an excellent opportunity to get a few extra credits towards your diploma—while getting regular pay plus housing and utilities, meals, and internet. If your school doesn’t offer credit for your summer camp job, ask about hours towards your internship program. Although many schools only require internship hours during your last semester, the savvy, career-minded student will apply for summer internships every year. When you choose a summer internship or a career-related summer job, you are broadening your opportunities post-college and are better able to discern which roles or careers are best suited to you when it’s time to start working full time.
The Emagination Camp Counselor Program provides professional, committee-approved, real-world curricula for their technology and coding courses. New counselors arrive with basic tech or software knowledge, and leave with public speaking experience, solid tech skills, classroom management tools, and real-life practice in creative problem solving.
Emagination Camp counselor, Langston Gering shared this insight: “I was able to use my Emagination summer camp counselor experience for college credit. Other counselors that I talk to may not have been able to get college credit, but are now working at Google, Apple, and other top performing companies. In my opinion their experience at Emagination was a step up for getting those positions, because the people who can teach coding or engineering to young kids obviously know their stuff, are good communicators, and can adapt to any situation. Emagination counselors are set up for success. Even if you don’t get [college] credit, the experience is valuable.”
“Emagination counselors are set up for success. Even if you don’t get [college] credit, the experience is valuable.” — Langston Gering, Emagination Camp Counselor
3. On-the-Job Experience & Networking
According to Sam Kirk, founder of Youth About Business, the “inability to effectively communicate,” is the number one struggle for hiring managers in “Corporate America.”
Sure, not everyone loves public speaking, but the one-on-one relationships counselors build with campers makes teaching fun and engaging. The Emagination Camp Counselor Program gives applicants the right tools to manage a classroom, but at no time will any one counselor manage more than 10 kids at a time. Their counselor team receives ongoing support throughout each camp session, and is always ready to offer advice and encouragement when needed.
Lack of experience is the biggest challenge for undergraduates applying for jobs, internships, or graduate programs. Universities build co-op programs and internships into the curriculum for practical experience and valuable knowledge; however, guidance counselors and department directors lament that not enough students take advantage of these programs, or wait until their senior year to apply for internships.
We spoke with Professor & Director of Game Design & Development at Quinnipiac University, Dr. Elena Bertozzi, to gain her perspective on the challenges facing undergraduates looking for careers in gaming. She said, “Internships in the game industry are quite competitive, so generally people can’t get an internship until their junior or senior year — or very active students in their sophomore year. This is a very competitive industry, so it’s up to students to jump on opportunities for growth and development.”
“Internships in the game industry are quite competitive, so generally people can’t get an internship until their junior or senior year ... it’s up to students to jump on opportunities for growth and development.” — Dr. Elena Bertozzi, Professor & Director of Game Design & Development at Quinnipiac University
In addition to experience, the counselors at Emagination create lasting friendships among their peers. Camp counselors continue to connect, share resources, and alert colleagues when positions open up at their place of work. Referrals from your camp friends give hiring managers a level of pre-qualification that you can’t get anywhere else. They also make it easier for hiring managers by providing reliable insight into your skill set, personality, and ability to fit into the company culture. Emagination camp counselor alums have helped each other land hard-to-get interviews and careers at Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, Snap, Epic Games, and Google.
Alums have helped each other land hard-to-get interviews and careers at Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, Snap, Epic Games, and Google.
Are you ready and willing to launch a career in teaching, IT, computer science, engineering, robotics, graphic design, or game design and development?
Apply to be a camp counselor at Emagination Tech Camps today, and get paid to gain invaluable experience and jumpstart your career.
Learn more at emaginationtechcamps.com/summer-tech-camp-jobs
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