Camp cook job search on the Summer Camp Jobs website

The Summer Camp Jobs website gave me many of my initial leads for summer work. I found the website last summer while searching for websites that specialize in summer camp jobs.

As a basic website, Summer Camp Jobs doesn't feature any of the extended capabilities that other sites have. All you can do is to browse the listings. You can't post your resume, for instance, or expect a camp director to contact you through the website.

The nice thing about Summer Camp Jobs is that you the listings are segregated by the 50 U.S. states and 12 Canadian provinces. I checked the pages for California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington often.

After an initial burst of job listings in early winter, new postings to the California page dried up. I was still able to identify about one dozen Northern California camps that were looking for food service staff through the website.

I found the best strategy was to click over to the camp website once I located a potential employer. Camp websites often list their specific job openings, along with the camp philosophy and mission.

This is important because it's important to make sure that you and the camp are a good fit. Many camps look for employees who do more than punch the time clock. They want enthusiastic workers -- even in the kitchen -- who're excited about working at a summer camp.