program coordinator

camp manager

camp counselor

office assistant

administrative assistant

STEM Camp

I worked at STEM camp for three years, and for the first two, I would have given it five stars. My coworkers were great, the campers were well-behaved, and it was just a solid, positive place to be every morning.

However, this most recent summer was a completely different story. We got new coordinators who tried to run the camp like it was a corporate job, which just doesn't work in a camp setting. The environment became pretty toxic; instead of supporting the staff, the coordinators were caught up in rumours about different counselors. It felt like a "do as I say, not as I do" situation where the counselors were stuck doing the coordinators' actual responsibilities while they just sat around and watched us work.

To make things more frustrating, they brought in a new position that was supposed to help us handle kids with behavioural issues. Instead of actually supporting the counselors with the campers, that employee spent the whole summer trying to be the “boss” of the staff and breathing down our necks.

Basically, the job itself is fun, but your experience depends 100% on who is running your specific location. If you luck out and get a good leadership team, you’ll have the best summer ever. If you get coordinators like the ones I had last year… honestly, good luck. You’re going to need it.

This is a really bad employer that asks the candidate to participate in unethical practices; it is not proper for them to ask for your social insurance info if they have not given an offer of employment (so NEVER give out that information, and especially not on an online application, that can be easily hacked). The leadership enjoys participating in 'cancel culture' so watch your back as they will easily find someway to cancel you. The leadership is also lacking, as no one owns up to their faults and or signs off on emails properly (communications courses would be of value for the leadership team to take as clearly you do not sign off emails without a valediction (and especially if they've started the email with a salutation). I guess English is no longer taught in school. Anyway, if I were you, I'd stay far away from this employer as they have a lot to learn on how to respect candidates/employees. 

I started out as a camp counsellor and made my way up to camp lead throughout my years in university. It’s a great place to work throughout the summer! If you love working with kids, enjoy stem subjects and working full time, while still having time in the evenings and weekends for yourself, this job is for you! The management is very easy to work with and they are accountable. Another bonus is that there is always a chance for you to further your knowledge in stem subjects that are not your strong suit. Science and mathematics is where I thrive but I’ve been able to learn so much in the computer science / coding aspect of the camp. Overall, it’s a great place to work! 

Most management was competent, nice, and very helpful. The CEO is disorganized and harder to deal with. If he ever becomes your direct supervisor he will be rude and condescending. He has expectations that are never voiced leaving you having been belittled and in a hostile environment, to only later learn what his expectations are from other management members.  If handled by any other management the environment is laid-back and very positive. Easy work if you're good with people or kids. You will probably only get paid minimum wage, but that is fair compensation for the amount of work required for the position. Very little to no advancement opportunities as this is a seasonal company. Good summer job for students and an overall positive experience, if you're not directly managed by the CEO.

You really have to enjoy working with children for this job to be worth it. It can be very stressful handling up to 40 children with 6 other camp counselors, especially when it comes to ones who do not listen, misbehave, or try to run away (it did happen once). The short timeline of the job makes it pretty much impossible to fire anyone, which gave some people at my work place incentive to show up severely late every day, sit on their phone in front of the kids, and take excessive breaks. That was the most frustrating thing to handle, and I expect that my case is not uncommon. However, building connections with the campers did make up for it a bit.

A typical day looked like checking in at 9am (my particular shift) and filling out the attendance sheet. The kids would be divided into senior and junior kids and the staff would be in 2 teams alternating with the older and younger kids every week. It was always fun to do the activities along with kids as the company always had extra material provided and the staff including me were meticulous with the usage. The day would end at 5 or until the last kid leaves which was 5:30 on day. Overall, fun experience. 

Stem camp didn’t hire proper management for their camp positions. They advertised themselves as an all-abilities camp but unfortunately were not provided ANY training, yet a lot of the children needed extra help, which is the camps fault not theirs. A lot of kids would have breakdowns and we had improper training. Our management were just fresh out of high school, and would not help either. Camp is ran by high schoolers, the oldest we had was 20 years old. The expirements are kinda cool though. 

I was involved in a four month placement with Stem Camp in Woodstck, ON. I was involved in warehouse supervisory duties with this company. All of the staff I had the pleasure of working with and meeting were professional and a joy to be around. The management team was very supportive all of the way through my term and co-op placement. I learned many skills that I will be able to utilize for my future career opportunities.

The camp effectively gives staff a fee days of "training" (the only training is how to make sure the company isn't liable for anything) and then you're thrown headfirst into camp. As the lead counsellor, I was the only person on staff with hands experience with working with youth and running camps. Most other counsellors were learning on the fly on how to do things. Insufficient and inadequate materials were provided for conducting activities with youth. 

When I first arrived, I would greet the campers who would come in. me and the other councilers would teach the campers fun science based activeits. Campers were sort of hard to keep an eye on but mostly well behaved. I had no problem with them. I learn some how to build some STEM projects and improved my fuure parental skills from learning how to desl with kids. Hardest part of the job for me was constantly keeping an eye on the childern.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Program coordinator 15 salaries reported	$19.57 per hour
Camp manager 14 salaries reported	$19.60 per hour
Camp counselor 48 salaries reported	$17.59 per hour
Office assistant 10 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
Administrative assistant 5 salaries reported	$42,500 per year

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