Today marks the unofficial kick-off of our new staff hiring season. We’ve actually been hiring new staff for a few weeks now. This is on top of a great returning staff that we are putting the finishing touches on as well as a great group of Counselors in Training. While we have already hired new staff members, tonight is the yearly kick-off event for us. From 6-8:30pm, we’ll have a table set-up at the Summer Opportunities Fair at the University of Chicago (In the Quadrangle Club).
Truth be told, we haven’t hired all that many staff from UofC over the years, but we go every year for a few reasons. We enjoy talking to prospective staff, the fair is free of charge, and Andy and I usually visit Medici, a restaurant best known as President Obama’s local pizza place in Hyde Park. Most importantly, the Summer Opportunities Fair is our version of spring training. We get a chance to polish up our staff fair skills before hitting the road later this month.
Along with our returning staff, some of whom are back for year #2, others back for #20, we put a lot of energy into recruiting the new staff that we hire. We believe that having a great crew of new staff is vital to North Star’s success. Having a balance of returners and new staff means that we’re able to keep a stronghold on great traditions and North Star values while injecting each summer with fresh ideas and energy. Things like Glen’s Game and Espionage are a few of many NSC favorites and that were brought to camp by people who didn’t grow up at North Star (Glen Miller & Julie Schmitt Gersch). We truly believe that new staff are vital to a healthy camp culture and a healthy camp culture will lead to new staff who love and respect camp as much as our returners.
In the coming months, we’ll visit over a dozen college campuses throughout the Midwest. We’re putting the finishing touches on a schedule that will take us to old favorites like Western Illinois University, Winona State and UW-La Crosse. We’re also excited about some prospective new stops like The Ohio State University, Ohio U, and The University of Missouri. We have seen the benefits of meeting face to face with as many new staff as possible. Beyond the interviews, we call references, conduct criminal background checks and do a significant amount of due diligence on each new staff member that we hire.
Putting a staff together is like assembling a puzzle and we eagerly
approach this process. It’s also a lot of fun to meet and interview the
men and women who are going to make a big difference at camp this
summer. We’ll introduce you to all of our returning and new staff in the
coming weeks and as we move towards the summer of 2015. Keep an eye on
The Siren for new about where we’re headed and updates from the road.
