# How to hire camp counselors: recruiting, screening and keeping good staff Source: https://backpr.com/resources/hiring-camp-counselors. Last updated: 2026-10-19. By the BackPR team. Published October 19, 2026. Counselors spend more time with campers than anyone else on your team, so hiring them is one of the most important jobs you do all year. Here's how to find good counselors, check them carefully, train them and keep them through the last week of summer. ### 1. Work out how many people you need Start from your expected enrollment and your state's staff ratios, not from last year's headcount. Use the [staff ratio calculator](https://backpr.com/tools/staff-ratio-calculator) to see how many staff must be with children at each hour, then add people for breaks, days off, specialists and sick days. Example: if you expect 60 campers and your ratio is 1 staff member for every 10 children, you need 6 counselors with campers at all times. With breaks and a day off each week, you might hire 8. Start recruiting in winter if you can, and invite back last year's counselors you'd hire again before you recruit anyone new. ### 2. Write a clear job description A good job description helps the right people apply and the wrong ones skip it. Be honest about the hours, the heat and the energy the job takes. Start from our [counselor job description template](https://backpr.com/resources/templates/counselor-job-description). Include: - Dates, including training week, and daily hours - Pay, plus housing and meals for overnight camps - What a day looks like: leading a group, running activities, meals and pickup - Requirements: minimum age, experience with children and any certifications, such as lifeguarding or first aid - That the job requires a background check and references - Physical demands, such as being outdoors all day - How to apply, and the deadline ### 3. Recruit where counselors are Start with people who already know your camp, then widen out. - Former campers and counselors-in-training who are now old enough to work - Returning staff, who can also refer friends. Consider a referral bonus for each new hire who finishes the summer. - Colleges, especially education, recreation, social work, nursing and sports programs. Contact career offices and professors early. - Teachers and school staff on summer break - High schools, for junior counselor roles - Churches, youth sports leagues and community centers - Local job boards and your own families' networks ### 4. Screen applications Use one application for everyone, so you can compare people fairly. Ask for work and volunteer history with children, availability for every date including training, certifications and at least three references. - Look for real experience with children: babysitting, coaching, teaching, tutoring or youth groups. - Ask why they want the job. Short, specific answers beat long, general ones. - Note gaps or vague answers to ask about in the interview. - Reply to every applicant quickly. Good candidates take other jobs. ### 5. Interview with the same questions Ask every candidate the same questions and score the answers the same way, so you hire on what you heard rather than on a feeling. Our [counselor interview questions](https://backpr.com/resources/templates/counselor-interview-questions) are grouped by topic, with what a good answer shows. - Ask about real situations: "Tell me about a time you helped a child who was upset." - Ask what they would do: "A camper tells you another counselor made them uncomfortable. What do you do?" A good answer is to tell the director right away, not to keep it quiet or look into it alone. - Ask about boundaries: contact with campers on social media, being alone with one child and giving campers rides. - Consider a group interview or a short activity with other candidates. You'll see how people lead, follow and include others. - Watch for warning signs: wanting time alone with children, pushing back on rules about contact with campers, a vague job history or blaming every past employer. ### 6. Run background checks Each state has its own rules for which checks staff who work with children need, who runs them and how often they're repeated. Check your state's rules in our [state-by-state library](https://backpr.com/resources/states), and ask your licensing office and insurer. Finish checks before anyone works with children. - Depending on your state, checks may include state and national criminal history (often with fingerprints), sex offender registries and child abuse and neglect registries. - Get written permission from each candidate before you run a check. If you use a screening company, federal and state rules apply to how you ask for permission and what you tell a candidate when a report affects your decision. Ask the screening company to walk you through it. - Screen volunteers and junior counselors who work with children the same way you screen staff. - Decide in advance how you'll handle a result that isn't clear, and treat every candidate the same way. - Keep results confidential and stored securely. - Repeat checks on the schedule your state requires, including for returning staff. ### 7. Check references References tell you how someone actually behaves with children. Call at least two, and make one of them someone who supervised the candidate with kids. Questions to ask: - "How did they work with children? Can you give me an example?" - "Were they on time and reliable?" - "How did they take feedback?" - "Did you ever have concerns about how they behaved with children?" - "Would you hire them again to work with children?" - Listen for hesitation. A reference who won't answer a direct question is telling you something. ### 8. Make the offer and finish the paperwork - Send a written offer with dates, pay, training week and what happens if someone leaves early. - Collect new-hire tax and work eligibility forms, copies of certifications and signed copies of your staff policies. - Check wage rules. Pay rules for camp staff can be complicated, especially for overnight camps and staff under 18, so ask an accountant or employment lawyer. - Share your staff handbook before training week, so staff arrive knowing the basics. - Keep in touch between the offer and the first day. A short message every few weeks keeps new hires connected to camp. ### 9. Use training week well Training is where a group of new hires becomes a team. Plan it hour by hour, and practice more than you lecture. Use our [staff training checklist](https://backpr.com/resources/templates/staff-training-checklist) so every topic is covered and every staff member signs off. - Your camp's mission, daily schedule and the rules staff must never break - Child protection: boundaries, no one-on-one time out of sight of others and how to report suspected abuse as your state requires - Emergency drills on site: fire, severe weather, lockdown and a missing child - Pickup: checking the authorized pickup list and what to do when an adult isn't on it - Allergies, medications and first aid, including where supplies are kept - Behavior guidance: role-play hard moments, such as a homesick camper or a fight - Confidentiality: what staff can and can't share, including on social media ### 10. Keep ratios on the ground A ratio on paper doesn't help if three counselors take a break at the same time. Plan the daily schedule so enough staff are with children every hour. - Count only staff who are actually supervising children, not staff on break or doing other tasks. - Stagger breaks, and have a floater who covers them. - Plan extra staff for swimming, field trips and bus rides. - Keep a list of screened backup staff for sick days. - Check whether your state counts junior counselors and volunteers toward the ratio. ### 11. Keep counselors all summer Losing counselors in the middle of summer is costly and hard on campers. Small things keep people coming back. - Pay on time, every time, and share schedules weeks in advance. - Protect real breaks and days off. - Check in with each counselor every week. Ask what's hard and fix what you can. - Notice good work out loud, in front of others. - Pair new counselors with experienced ones. - Consider a bonus for finishing the season. Example: $200 for staying through the last day. - Ask for feedback at the end of the summer, and invite the counselors you'd hire again back early. ### How BackPR helps BackPR collects staff applications, references and documents, and moves candidates from applied to hired. Once they're hired, counselors see only their own rosters on their phones, with medical notes and pickup lists, and staff roles control what each person can see. Staff clock in and out, with records you can export for payroll. BackPR is free for registered nonprofits: no subscription and no BackPR fees. Other camps get pricing by quote.