The Camp Augusta Application Process
We look to hire unique, authentic, and interesting individuals – and our application process reflects that! Below is a brief outline of the entire application and hiring process, starting with the interest form and ending at staff training.
Not everyone’s application process will be the same. This page gives an overview of what one application could look like. In reality there may be more calls and less writing, or vice versa. Each applicant is different and the application process can be too!
Ready to jump right in?
Want to learn a little more about the application process?
Read on for a more detailed look at each of the steps mentioned above and some general FAQs.
We make it easy to get started on an application – just fill out a quick form and we will reach out within 48 hours!
The interest form is the best way to get in touch with us. We won’t have you fill in a bunch of extraneous information, just the basics to get us started. In addition to contact info, we would love to know the role you are interested in and some of your experience working with children.
After you submit an interest form, someone from Camp Augusta will give you a call – so don’t be afraid to pick up an unknown number if you recently submitted an interest form!
The Interest form is not a required step. If you know you want to apply, feel free to start answering the 6 application questions and send your responses to our hiring team at applications@campaugusta.org. This will expedite your application process and hopefully get you hired sooner!
Talk with a member of the hiring team to get all your questions, concerns and curiosities addressed! Ask us anything!
When we get an interest form in, someone from our hiring team reaches out to prospective candidates within 48 hours, often much quicker.
These calls are not an interview and are a great time to ask and all questions you may have about working at Camp Augusta. Whether you have a question about living expenses, the weather, or spiders – we are happy to answer.
The Augustan on the other end of the line will double-check that you have a good idea on what to expect during the hiring process and send you on your way to Round One!
Let us get to know the real you by submitting a written application that answers unique, thought-provoking questions.
Camp Augusta’s application process uses a primarily written format. Our Round One consists of six questions that every applicant answers, no matter what role they are applying for.
We love love love in-depth, heartfelt, and personable writing. We don’t need the writing to be meticulously edited (although spell-check is great) and are seeking to gain a sense of you as a person more than vetting your writing abilities.
The more you speak from your heart and spirit here, the better your chances are. Applications are commonly 4-6 pages, with the bulk of it being questions 1 (at least a full page) and 2. Less than 3 full pages / 2000 words means you’re probably not going deep enough…
A note on AI: We ask these questions to know you. AI does not know you – it speaks generally [and quite obviously] to these questions. We are looking for specific examples and stories of your life, and to hear your voice. Please feel free to use spell-check in your review. Otherwise, please do not use AI in writing your responses.
The six questions:
- Who are you? Include some of the good, the bad and the ugly of your life experiences, and how they shaped who you are. There are nearly 8 Billion people in the world and you are one of them. Who are you? (Answer in at least a full page, with specifics that dive deep into passions/dreams/goals etc. – you ‘beyond the resume’)
- What do you want to learn, and what do you need to learn in terms of your mind, body, heart, and spirit? (two different questions, eight total parts)
- Tell me about the people that you are most connected to in your life and how those connections contribute to you as a human?
- Tell us about your experience working with youth – ages, contexts, role, etc. What role do children play in your present and future? What role have they played in your past?
- What have been the 3 biggest turning-point decisions/moments in your life? Things that have changed the course of events for you.
- What is it about this specific camp that makes Camp Augusta right for you and us? What excites you? What concerns you? What questions do you have? There are over 12,000 camps. We are one. Why us? The more you read the site and really speak from your heart and spirit here, the better your chances are.
If you’re applying for a kitchen position, please use this application.
After the intro-call, we prefer to have this Round One back to us in about three days on either a Google Doc or Microsoft Word document. When you’re all set, you’ll email it to applications@campaugusta.org. From there, your application is sent to a member of the hiring team for review!
We do an in-depth read of what you send us and use our years of knowledge to help determine if you’ll find success here.
After you submit your app, it goes to an app reviewer on the hiring team. This person will read every single word you write and do their best to determine if we are a good match.
Camp Augusta has been running for over twenty years and we have gotten to really learn not just the characteristics that help staff thrive, but the factors that make the summer harder. The app reviewer does their best to take the human we meet on paper and imagine them on our grounds. Are we a good fit for them? Are they a good fit for us? Three months is a long time to spend somewhere you’re unhappy, so we only proceed with applicants we are optimistic about and excited to more from.
Your round two application was crafted just for you! No two people have the same set of questions.
After a member from the hiring team reads your app, you will get a call from your application reviewer to get to know you and give you the opportunity to ask us any questions. After that, they will craft a Round Two entirely on what they are still wanting to know about you! No two people get the same sets of questions.
The Round Two part of the application could be in written format, video interview, or a combination of the two depending on the individual application circumstances.
A Round Two usually consists of up to one-dozen questions – give or take a couple based on how thorough the Round One was. The questions might be asking you to elaborate on something you mentioned in your Round One, run through a hypothetical scenario, or satisfy our curiosity about who your zombie-apocalypse survival team is.
We do another thorough read of everything you send us. You worked hard on your writing and we love to read it – no skimming applications here!
Just like with the Round One review period, the hiring team is doing their best to form you the human in their mind and beam you into a hypothetical summer. We are hoping to see someone capable, self-assured, and gleefully covered in Oatmeal – the signs of a match made in camp-heaven.
Please note that with the Round Two being specifically crafted to help us fill in any remaining gaps, this is usually where the writing portion ends. However, there have been cases where the Round Two brings about a new question of its own and you may be asked to answer some additional questions.
Meet with Augusta’s director Randy for a remote interview.
The final step in the hiring process is a video interview with Camp Augusta’s director, Randy.
Before the interview, Randy reads both your Round One and Round Two so he can get to know you a little. The interview itself is commonly over two hours long and spans topics from things mentioned in your Round One and Two answers, to favorite books and movies, to simply just wanting to chat.
Randy has been Augusta’s director for nearly twenty years and is a fairly open book. Have a curiosity about Augusta? Ask him!
Welcome to the team!
We’re not crying, you’re crying!
Okay fine. We are crying.
But only because we know we just hired someone really stinking cool. Thank you for taking the time to share with us about yourself and for putting thoughtful reflection into your writing.
There is a lot to be done before the summer starts and to avoid a last minute crunch, you’ll begin onboarding straight away.
Jump-start staff training and summer shenanigans by completing our onboarding course.
Camp Augusta’s onboarding process is a little like reading the textbook before coming to class. You will be introduced to all things Camp Augusta, from program areas to communication philosophies. The material is a mix of ‘manuals’ to read, videos to watch, and writing prompts to respond to – it’s a bit like an online course.
There is a lot of information covered in onboarding with the goal being to have a somewhat foundational understanding of Camp Augusta that we can build on during Staff Training.
Get ready for camp by spending over three weeks bonding with the staff team and prepping for a magical summer.
Camp Augusta has the longest training in camping, which is about 25 days jam packed with learning various clinics, philosophies, and some good old fashioned fun. We truly use every minute of those 25 days.
All housing, food, and other living expenses are provided from the moment you step into the woods of Camp Augusta. During training, you’ll rotate cabins with other Augustans and spend the days in training with our 50-person staff team. By the end, we will be a fully fledged community ready to take on the summer together.
Application FAQs
How long does the application process take?
How long the application process takes really depends on the applicant! We’ve hired people in as little as 48 hours, and tend to hire most somewhere between 6-10 days.
We try to respond to every email and interest form within 48 hours MAX and are often much quicker (seriously reach out if you haven’t heard from us in a few days). The majority of that 6-10 day period is your time to write the Round One and Round Two (if written), which means the quicker that the written portions are turned in, the quicker the application process will be (and vice versa).
Is the application process a lot of work?
The application process includes quite a bit of writing and personal reflection and when hired, the onboarding process is an additional bundle of reading, writing, reflection, and conversations. So, whether or not you consider it ‘work’, we are looking for a level of effort and time-spent with both our application and subsequent onboarding process.
Consider the written Round One and Round Two to be a journal-like entry as something to be looked back on, whether or not you spend the summer with Camp Augusta. If your writing is a joy in and of itself; if you’re sharing your heart, mind, and spirit, we will be THRILLED to read every single word you send us.
When will I know if I have the job or not?
We do rolling hires, meaning we hire candidates as they come in, not when we have a big pool of resumes. You are considered right away and we let applicants know after the interview when we are offering them a position. If we are not looking like a great fit for each other, we will let applicants go after Round One or Round Two so we don’t waste anyone’s time. Applicants who are no longer interested are free to withdraw at anytime and although we certainly appreciate a heads-up, there are no hard feelings when applicants choose not to proceed.
Why do you wait so long for an interview?
Most businesses prefer to get to know candidates quickly through interviews, and while we certainly are looking forward to chatting, we prefer letting applicants think and reflect over our questions a bit more, without the pressure of needing to respond in the moment. When answering a question like, ‘Who are you?’ or ‘What were three pivotal moments in your life and why?’, having space and time to reflect offers truer-bluer wonderful responses.
Why are some of your application questions so personal?
We are seeking to get to know applicants as whole, living, breathing individuals – not just bullet points as a resume. Unlike other jobs where you can clock-in/clock-out/decompress, you’ll be clocking-in at Camp Augusta for days (and weeks) on end. We all have tough moments and bad days, but to have a successful summer, we want those good moments to far outweigh the bad, and thus, we do our best to see into the future at where those good and bad moments may come from. Plus, our staff members happen to be some of the coolest humans on this planet and we thoroughly enjoy getting to know them. So spin us the yarn of what makes you you, with all the twists and turns that led to you filling out an application for our lovely little camp!
Have A Different Question About Camp Augusta?
We’d love to hear from you!
applications@campaugusta.org