“Camp job” covers several genuinely different roles. Choosing the right one matters more than most applicants realise — it shapes your daily routine, your responsibility level and your whole season.
The cabin counselor
The classic camp role. You live in a cabin with a group of campers and you are their primary adult for the session: wake-up, meals, activities, evening program, bedtime. You also typically assist with or teach activities during the day.
- Best for: people who genuinely love working with children and want the deepest version of the camp experience.
- Reality check: the least privacy of any role. You are “on” whenever your campers are awake.
- What you gain: the strongest bonds, the biggest leadership growth, and the campers who write to you for years.
The activity specialist
You are hired to run a programme area — tennis, waterfront, arts, music, riding — teaching different groups through the scheduled day. Depending on the camp you may also have cabin duties, or live in staff housing with a lighter supervision load.
- Best for: coaches, athletes, artists and musicians with a strong teachable skill.
- Reality check: you teach the same skill many times a day to very mixed abilities — your patience for beginners matters as much as your own level.
- What you gain: real coaching experience, often better pay for certified specialists, and a clear professional line on your CV. This is the route most of our tennis and sports placements take — see which activities are in demand.
Support staff
Kitchen and dining, maintenance and grounds, housekeeping, office, drivers, camp photographers and videographers. Camps cannot run without them, and international support staff share the same staff lounge, days off and community as everyone else.
- Best for: applicants who prefer defined shifts, are building English confidence, or want the camp summer without round-the-clock child responsibility.
- Reality check: less camper contact means the role feels more like a job and less like the movies — some love that, some miss the campers.
- What you gain: the full international summer with clearer boundaries, and often more predictable free time.
Leadership roles: where camp becomes a career
Return for multiple seasons and camp opens up: senior counselor, programme director, department head. Our founder’s own path ran from tennis instructor to tennis program director to senior director across 14 years — and several of our placements are now multi-season staff. First-year applicants should not chase these; second-year staff should absolutely ask about them.
Side by side
| Cabin counselor | Activity specialist | Support staff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child contact | Constant | High, in sessions | Low |
| Privacy | Least | Moderate | Most |
| Key requirement | Love of working with kids | A teachable skill | Reliability |
| Schedule | Camp rhythm, all day | Activity blocks | Defined shifts |
| Typical pay | Standard scale | Standard to higher for certified specialists | Role-dependent |
All residential roles include free food, accommodation and airport pickup, and the weekly 48 hours off — the salary arithmetic in our earnings guide applies across the board.
How to choose honestly
- Energy: does nine weeks of constant company excite you or exhaust you?
- Skill: do you have an activity you can teach, or is your strength reliability and hard work?
- Goal: coaching CV → specialist. Leadership and childcare experience → cabin counselor. The international summer itself → any role that gets you there.
In your screening interview we place you honestly — putting a reluctant applicant in a cabin role helps nobody, least of all the campers.
Find your fit
Tell us about yourself and we will recommend the role that matches, or read the full getting-hired guide first.
Ready to take the next step?
Robinhood Overseas has placed 75+ Indian staffers at camps abroad since 2019. Tell us your skill and we will tell you honestly which program fits.