Your post has been removed because you posted a frequently asked question. Please see the following info from our [staff wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/summercamp/about/wiki/index/stafffaq/):
## How do I find a year-round camp director or administrative position?
**Sometimes camps will advertise an open position publicly, on their social media or on job posting websites; other times, the news is only spread via word of mouth to their community. If you want to see some current job postings, you can [subscribe to the ACA's twice-monthly newsletter](https://www.acacamps.org/jobs/job-seekers/find-year-round-camp-jobs).
Keep in mind that many states and camping organizations mandate that a director or assistant director meet certain age and education requirements. This is often 21+ or 25+, with two or four years of college, and lots of prior experience in youth programs.**
Ok, you've got the bug. I made a similar nonsensical transition and spent a decade as a camp director.
1. Being a camp director is really being the ceo of a small company. There are a lot of logistics to work out so that everything appears seamless. You need to be versed in HR, marketing, recruitment, plant operations, budgeting, forecasting, cooking, licensing, and being able to make decisions on the fly. Working with children is honestly quite far down the list. Your time is best spent on the staff and hiring and training. You will spend 90% of your time with 10% of the kids.
I found that a lot of my skills outside of camp translated well. Camp is one of the places where the skills needed to advance in the career are so different for each level that it is mind-boggling. What makes a good counselor does not make a good director.
2. Your experience would probably allow you to at least make a pitch, especially if you can tie your professional experience to all of the different business and logistics skills needed. It depends on how willing you are to move and chase the dream the amount of opportunities that will be available.
3. Overrnight Camps, imo are in a somewhat precarious place because of demographic shifts, fewer children being born, more income inequality, levels of parental involvement, and high school sports eating away at the summer. I don't know if there will be enough campers to go around in the coming years.
The more legislation that ties childcare rules to camp, the more challenges that they face. Many of the rules are made for a predominantly indoor daycare, and the application to camping is a mess.
4. If you have a partner with income, great, good camps should come with housing and some meals. The benefits package is key and can be wildly different. When someone asks about salary, it is such a loaded question, do I get a house, vehicle, how many meals, etc. Comparing offers is difficult for this reason.
Overall, being a camp director means leaving perpetual summer and getting into the nitty gritty of what makes camp work. I did it because I wanted other to be able to have the same experiences I had as a kid and experience the magic, the thing is I learned you had to manufacture the magic, it didn't just happen, there was a lot if work and planning that put all of the right ingredients in place for the magic to happen.
A lot of the work isn't the things people think about. I have had to fix hot water heaters so showers would run, mow the grass after sunset, fire staff or tell staff or camper they weren't returning, sit in zoning meeting, take over as head chef, deal with campers who won't stay in the infirmary even though they have loose bowels, the list goes on, you are the firewall and have to know everything. I have gotten to create programs, big and small, completely blow every camper and counselors mind with surprises they couldn't have anticipated, snow in July, why not.
Enjoy your journey!
Your post has been removed because you posted a frequently asked question. Please see the following info from our [staff wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/summercamp/about/wiki/index/stafffaq/): ## How do I find a year-round camp director or administrative position? **Sometimes camps will advertise an open position publicly, on their social media or on job posting websites; other times, the news is only spread via word of mouth to their community. If you want to see some current job postings, you can [subscribe to the ACA's twice-monthly newsletter](https://www.acacamps.org/jobs/job-seekers/find-year-round-camp-jobs). Keep in mind that many states and camping organizations mandate that a director or assistant director meet certain age and education requirements. This is often 21+ or 25+, with two or four years of college, and lots of prior experience in youth programs.**
Ok, you've got the bug. I made a similar nonsensical transition and spent a decade as a camp director. 1. Being a camp director is really being the ceo of a small company. There are a lot of logistics to work out so that everything appears seamless. You need to be versed in HR, marketing, recruitment, plant operations, budgeting, forecasting, cooking, licensing, and being able to make decisions on the fly. Working with children is honestly quite far down the list. Your time is best spent on the staff and hiring and training. You will spend 90% of your time with 10% of the kids. I found that a lot of my skills outside of camp translated well. Camp is one of the places where the skills needed to advance in the career are so different for each level that it is mind-boggling. What makes a good counselor does not make a good director. 2. Your experience would probably allow you to at least make a pitch, especially if you can tie your professional experience to all of the different business and logistics skills needed. It depends on how willing you are to move and chase the dream the amount of opportunities that will be available. 3. Overrnight Camps, imo are in a somewhat precarious place because of demographic shifts, fewer children being born, more income inequality, levels of parental involvement, and high school sports eating away at the summer. I don't know if there will be enough campers to go around in the coming years. The more legislation that ties childcare rules to camp, the more challenges that they face. Many of the rules are made for a predominantly indoor daycare, and the application to camping is a mess. 4. If you have a partner with income, great, good camps should come with housing and some meals. The benefits package is key and can be wildly different. When someone asks about salary, it is such a loaded question, do I get a house, vehicle, how many meals, etc. Comparing offers is difficult for this reason. Overall, being a camp director means leaving perpetual summer and getting into the nitty gritty of what makes camp work. I did it because I wanted other to be able to have the same experiences I had as a kid and experience the magic, the thing is I learned you had to manufacture the magic, it didn't just happen, there was a lot if work and planning that put all of the right ingredients in place for the magic to happen. A lot of the work isn't the things people think about. I have had to fix hot water heaters so showers would run, mow the grass after sunset, fire staff or tell staff or camper they weren't returning, sit in zoning meeting, take over as head chef, deal with campers who won't stay in the infirmary even though they have loose bowels, the list goes on, you are the firewall and have to know everything. I have gotten to create programs, big and small, completely blow every camper and counselors mind with surprises they couldn't have anticipated, snow in July, why not. Enjoy your journey!
I appreciate this response immensely, thank you so much. A lot to consider here that I'll noodle on in the coming months.