Staff Recruiting in Full Swing!

Staff Recruiting in Full Swing!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

It has been so pretty at camp, we've started early getting all of our play toys out! The only thing missing is YOU! The buzz is building at camp, and some unseasonably warm weather has us all daydreaming about those lazy summer camp days when all of you will return to the Heavenly World! One of the questions we get asked most often is "what do you do at camp during the off-season?!" When folks think about it, they realize that camp just doesn't "happen." We like to allow for spontaneous events, but camp takes careful planning, and nothing is more important than the staff we hire.

Some camps rely heavily on overseas recruiting agencies, and others fill their ranks with former campers. Although we love it when the latter works out, our former campers must fulfill the same rigorous criteria that all of our staff applicants do. At Illahee, we are blessed with a rich group of families that send campers year after year, so we don't have to do much recruiting to fill our camper ranks. And, we are lucky too that we have a 60-70% return rate among our counselors. But, we hire over 120 folks to work at Illahee each summer, and that leaves 50-60 great people that we must find, evaluate, interview, and check out to make sure that they are the BEST person to fill that position!

As our campers, most of our counselors come through referral by a current or previous staff member or family. This is ideal, as these folks come prescreened by a person who loves and cares for Illahee. We then do a phone interview, check at least three references by phone, and then re-interview each person. Finally, each new and returning staff member undergoes an annual background check. Why do we go to these lengths when hiring our staff? Because, Illahee's success as a camp falls directly on the shoulders of the great women who will be working with our campers.

Laurie and Gretchen will be on the road in February visitng a lot of these applicants at different schools. If you have someone who you think will make a GREAT staff person, contact Gretchen or Laurie.

In other news, we are also working on getting things together for our spring mailing with all of those forms to get ready for camp. BUT, hold the press! This year, we will be offering online activity registration and form submittal! It is sure to make things simpler and more efficient, so stay tuned! We can't wait for camp! 2006 is sure to be the BEST SUMMER EVER!

Is it Already a New Year!?

Is it Already a New Year!?

Monday, January 23, 2006

Wow! It's hard to believe that we are breezing through January, well into a new year! The best part of that is that camp is right around the corner! We have the BEST summer EVER shaping up with lots of contracts already in from returning staff members, and also plenty of new folks who are going to be GREAT! We are getting ready to enter the start of our recruiting season for staff members with a number of college dates for Laurie and Gretchen. We feel strongly that our amazing staff is what sets Illahee apart from other camps, and we interview each prospect carefully and personally. Our job is made much easier because 95% of our staff are referred by counselors who have already done a great job at camp in previous years. Many of them were campers themselves, and they can't wait to give back to a new generation of Illahee girls what they enjoyed themselves not so long ago!

We have been hopping in the office! Once the new year rolls around, we turn our attention to camp, and getting thngs ready for you to arrive! Besides hiring an amazing staff, we are busy looking at all of the items in the mailing that will go out to get you ready for camp. This year, this mailing will be much thinner as we are going to initiate on-line sign-ups for activities as well as for Ship Store orders and travel information and the like. This will prevent us from having to rekey information for activity sign-ups for almost 900 campers, help us with hiring the right staff for the activities everyone is interested in, maintain better inventory for all of that great camp apparel, and hopefully assign activities more quickly and easily. Keep your fingers crossed! Who would have thought camp could be so high-tech? Don't worry, all of this happens behind the scenes and is just one of the reasons Illahee is the BEST camp around!