This week’s guest blog is from one of the top recruiters in the world of summer camp, Alyson Lee Goldstein of Camp Starlight:

It’s officially 2012!  And that means the countdown to camp is even closer! As we look ahead to the summer, we realize that there is still a lot to do before our campers arrive! Although we have a great number of staff returning for another summer, one of the great parts about working year round is the fact that we get to meet almost all the new staff we hire before camp! How do we do this? We travel to THEM! This winter, we have over 10 trips planned to meet and interview potential counselors! Around the world in 90 days! As for the next 3 months, we are on the road to Toronto Canada, Manchester England, Puebla Mexico as well as Kansas State and University of Kansas.  From there, we jet off to camp fairs at Indiana University (Alyson’s alma mater) and Purdue (Patrick’s alma mater and where we first met him!). After that we head to the Pacific Northwest to go to Oregon State University, University of Oregon and University of Washington in Seattle. Also on the docket is a spring trip to University of Texas and a stop-over in Ohio if we aren’t filled by then!
We love the idea of meeting our staff in a face to face interview, and when we speak to them and they get excited you can just feel the energy. For so many, you know automatically it’s going to be a great fit! The veteran staff love when we stop by their campus and are always there to lend help and plan mini reunions. We have also found that we have been able to get a few more staff members to commit to another summer after a stop at their college (and a personal reminder of camp life!). It’s a great way to see old friends, reconnect with counselors from previous summers, and meet some of our new staff. We find this works so well for us, and we can feel the buzz already in those places as they get ready for our arrival!