The Benefits
If your goal for the summer is to pull down loads of cash, then summer camp
work may not be the place for you. Because camps provide room and
board, their salaries are typically low. Friendly Pines, however,
tries to stay in the upper tier of pay in order to attract the best candidates.
Because counselors don't have any housing or food expenses,
spend most of their time at camp, and since they receive the bulk of
their salary on the last day of work; staff members find they're able to
pocket the majority of their summer pay.
The real benefits of working as a camp counselor are not monetary, but are life-benefits like a sense of satisfaction and personal growth. As a camp counselor you'll be instantly launched into hero status in the eyes of the campers. At camp you are a role model, and this is a responsibility we do not shrug off. Rather, we embrace it and use it to make a lasting difference in a camper's life. A child's summer will be filled with memories. She may not remember who rented her a video in June or who super-sized his fries in July, but they will remember their camp counselor and the creative, growing, fun weeks at camp that he or she helped to create. If that counselor is a good one, they will strive to be just like him. That's an awesome responsibility and the rewards are priceless.
Without exception, former counselors cite their summers at Friendly Pines as the
most important and influential in their lives. They benefited from
the experience as much as their campers. Unquestionably, working
at a summer camp promotes remarkable personal growth. You're given
a huge responsibility with relatively little minute-to-minute supervision.
Therefore, you're expected to make quick, sound, judgments that will preserve
a safe and wholesome camp environment. You'll become intimately trained
in teamwork. Your work ethic and value system will be forged and
tested. Your aspirations will be either refashioned or crystallized
as your worldview is expanded to include a whole new set of possibilities.
To help your prospective future employers, (most of whom never went to camp as a child,) understand the value of your experience as a camp counselor, we provide each counselor
who successfully completes the summer with a letter of recommendation
that will specifically address his/her performance and present a concise
and persuasive argument of how the experience at Friendly Pines Camp makes
him/her a strong candidate for any position.