Who are the Scouts?
The Scouts are a massive organization that spreads across the entire world and provides countless amazing experiences for youth, and their leaders!
From its humble roots of just 20 boys at a small camp in England, the Scouts have now expanded to over 162 countries and over 40 million members with a focus on fun, challenges, and adventures! Scouting offers individuals the opportunity to develop into well-rounded, self-confident, and active global citizens – and ideal candidates for our NYQUEST Canadian Camp Experience Program!
Scouts get hired! In our 10 years of our Work Abroad program, we have found that those with Scouts experience are more likely to be hired than any other candidate. We do work with some Scouts Canada camps, but our applicants who have Scouting backgrounds are also always quickly placed at all of the other types of camps as well! For this reason, we almost always end up accepting applicants that apply to our program who have Scouting backgrounds.
Are you a Scout in your home country? If so, please read on to know why we think Scouts make great summer camp counsellors!
Why are Scouts so great as Canadian summer camp counsellors?
SENSE OF ADVENTURE
It’s not a secret that most Scouts have a deep-rooted sense of adventure. Scouts usually offer a wide range of exciting activities for their members, including abseiling, rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, paragliding, and much more.
This sense of adventure doesn’t end at thrilling sports activities. Adventures with Scouts also include challenging yourself to try new things and accomplish goals such as hiking and backpacking expeditions, or completing the Duke of Edinburgh award!
These experiences and interests transfer over well to many of the Activity Specialist roles that camps hire international staff for, such as Climbing Instructors and Waterski/Wakeboard Staff.
TEAM PLAYERS
Scouts learn to work as a team in their Scout Patrols and Scout Troops. Their mission is to set goals and make important decisions together.
Being a team player is incredibly important for working at summer camp. Experience working in group settings and leading group activities help make Scouts some of the best camp counsellors out there!
APPRECIATION FOR THE OUTDOORS
One of the main focuses of the Scouts program is environmental/outdoor activities. Most of our applicants with Scouting backgrounds are already confident in many outdoor skills, such as fire building, orienteering, campsite setup, trip leading, and outdoor cooking.
In Canada, children usually learn these skills at summer camp from their camp counsellors and other camp staff. Many local Canadian camp staff will already be experts in these skills from attending camp as kids themselves. So, if a camp director sees that an international applicant can also teach these skills to campers, this definitely makes your application more competitive.
These outdoor leadership skills, in addition to this appreciation and respect for nature, are crucial for positions such as Canoe Trippers, and also come in handy for almost any other job at camp, since you will be spending so much time in the great Canadian wilderness this summer!
PERSONAL INTEGRITY
Part of the Scout program is to adhere to the Scout Law and the Scout Promise. These differ depending on which country you are in, but they involve duties such as always doing your best and helping others. Overall, Scouts take pride in upholding these extremely important values throughout everything they do in life.
As a camp counsellor, you are a role model for so many campers, and with their personal integrity and good character, Scouts end up making amazing lasting impressions on the lives of young people.
FOCUS ON FUN
Another reason why Scouts make such great summer camp counsellors, is because they are kid-focused and love to have fun! While Scouts are confident and responsible, they are also all about enjoying themselves and making activities as fun as possible.
Scouts are used to “learning by doing”, and this reflects in the way that they incorporate life lessons into their programs, games, and activities at camp. Scouts have the tools to make camp the fun educational environment that it should be.