With Seasonal Recruitment, Timing is Everything

We hear many camp directors say that camp recruitment is a year-round marathon. While some may have success starting recruitment early, our data shows that it’s likely not the best use of your time. 

In 2021, 87% of CampHire placements were made between April and June. That’s 174 hires in just 90 days. In addition, we found that nearly half of the staff who committed before April ended up backing out, resulting in a mad scramble to find last minute replacements. Talk about spinning your wheels! 

Recruitment can be exhausting, so do yourself a favor and work smarter, not harder. To reduce burnout, we recommend that you strategically align your hiring activity with candidate market trends. What does that mean? Simply put, focus your recruitment efforts around the times candidates are looking for summer jobs, which for most, starts in the spring. Use the extra time over the winter to write your job descriptions, tune up your contracts, and define your marketing budget. Then come April, you will be ready to go, just in time to hit the career fair circuit. 

What We Do: At CampHire we leverage a phased approach to job promotion, starting with the most critical roles first. Our season kicks off with Nurses and Chefs which historically have been the most competitive jobs to recruit. We test the waters in February and adjust our strategy based on what we observe in the talent market. We then layer in specialty roles, and ramp up with counselors around April.