Short-Term Opportunities
There are many easily found packages for those with money to spend: visit any good travel agent. For those who need to work their way across there are basically two routes:
- Work over here and spend over there – see David Leppard, The Directory of Summer Jobs in Britain, available from Vacation Work Publications, 9 Park End Street, Oxford (annually).
- Work overseas and spend time and money in the USA – see David Leppard, The Directory of Jobs and Careers Abroad, also available from Vacation Work Publications, or Roger Jones, Getting a Job Abroad (How To Books, 7th edition 2003). Susan Griffith covers the ins and outs of working overseas, including the USA, in Working Your Way Around the World (8th edition) 1997. For a guide specifically geared to the USA see Roger Jones, Getting a Job in America (How To Books, 7th edition 2003).
The most usual and still highly popular jobs in the USA are:
It is quite possible to arrange jobs unaided by specialists, but it’s likely to be more convoluted, time-consuming and risky. You can find information on US summer jobs in:
- US newspapers
- US magazines
- via US contacts
- by writing to US branches of groups you may deal with over here, such as the YMCA, YHA, Scouts.
If you do get a job this way you’ll have to pay your own ticket (which might be a financial blow) but you’ll get to keep your final pay: it’ll be yours, which wouldn’t be the case if you’ve used a broker (like Camp
America). You may be able to negotiate a better deal than you’ll get if you go through an agency. But you may be ripped off, exploited, sacked or worse. You take the risk (and it may well pay off).
If you’ve little room for manoeuvre you may have to go through an intermediary. At least that way your papers will certainly be in order. The leading intermediaries are Camp America and BUNAC – The British Universities North American Club.
Summer Camps
If you are a student, a teacher or a nurse and are over 18 then Camp America or BUNAC may be able to help you arrange a 9-week job in the USA teaching sports, arts and crafts, or camping and other outdoor skills in US summer camps. Jobs in camp maintenance are also available.
Being A Camp Counsellor
This is a demanding job, but for the right people summer camps can be both challenging and fun, an incredibly rewarding way to experience a slice of American life. Specialist counsellors need specific qualifications and experience in a particular field or activity, such as swimming or archery. General counsellors need experience with children in a leadership role. Counsellors are assigned to a cabin of about six children and, along with other counsellors, take responsibility for their welfare. The camp will expect counsellors to set a good example, ensuring that the children keep themselves and their cabin (or tent) clean, that they follow the camp routine and have a great but safe time. The children may experience homesickness or other personal problems and the camp counsellor needs to be a mature friend (like a big brother or sister) as well as an impartial adviser. Earning their respect can be difficult, so it is vital counsellors are sure of their own strengths and weaknesses beforehand. Applicants need to be flexible, adaptable and positive enough to adapt to living and working abroad, which may include working in camps isolated from the rest of the world, with a limited social life given there will be few evenings off; plus rules and regulations to be kept (curfews and no alcohol), dealing with difficult children, coming to terms with the ‘rah-rah’ atmosphere of many camps and the mosquitos and other creepy-crawlies. You may also find that not only is the setting a little more isolated than you thought, but the job involves doing over and beyond what was initially expected.