A new summer job alternative for student will have them turning in their aprons for acorns, suits for sweaty outdoor activities and computers for crickets.

The University of Kansas is scheduled to host a summer camp fair on Feb. 23 at the fourth floor lobby of the Kansas Union. Twelve camps from across the United States are scheduled to be in attendance, which is standard for the first year, said Molly Cunningham, internship adviser for the Center for Career Services.

“The Career Center in general is trying to coordinate events of all kinds to meet the needs of students,” Cunningham said.

Jennifer Jordan, director of the Business Career Services, said she suggests supplementing a camp job with an applied internship in finance or accounting. She said that the internship should teach skills that relate to a student’s career goals.

She said being a camp counselor was a great opportunity for freshmen and sophomores to use when outlining their leadership skills on a resumé. But it might not be the most beneficial.

“A finance or accounting employer will probably value a specific finance or accounting internship more than a camp job,” Jordan said.

Students who worked at camps have mixed reactions.

Greg Levy, former camp counselor and Nashville, Tenn., junior, said he thought an internship would be more beneficial.

“I am a huge advocate of summer camps because I think they are awesome. But when it comes close to getting out of college and joining the real world, it is going to be more beneficial to have an internship on your resume,” he said.

Leah Raful, Omaha, Neb., junior, is leaving her camp job of four years because she needs to take classes this summer. She had no regrets about spending her time at camp instead of having an internship.

“Camp positions show that you can plan daily activities, hold leadership positions and be responsible for others,” she said. “It shows employers that you have responsibility and that you had it at a young age.”

While a lot of people had jobs as sales associates or waiters, camp jobs also show the ability to work as a team with 80 or 90 other staff members, Raful said.

In the past, summer camps have been invited to the second day of the all majors career fair, which was aimed at summer jobs.

Many camps could not afford the $500 to $1,000 fee organizations had to pay to attend the all majors career fair. As an alternative, the University will charge camps only $30 to attend the summer camps fair.

“We found that the majority of people attending the summer jobs fair were camps,” Cunningham said. “We wanted to try something different to give them a more financial alternative and to set apart the camp experience from other jobs.”

Though anyone can attend the summer camp fair, it is mostly aimed at underclassmen. Cunningham said it could be an alternative to students who didn’t qualify for an internship or hadn’t found an internship or other summer employment.

Cunningham said it would depend on a student’s overall career goals if she would suggest they go to camp for a summer rather than have an internship.

“If someone wants to become a teacher this would be valuable,” she said. “Summer camps experiences are great for helping to shape you as a person.”

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Summer Camps

The following summer camps will be at the summer camp fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m on Wednesday, February 23 at the fourth floor lobby in the Kansas Union:

Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

Camp Birchwood

Camp Champions

Camp Laurel

Camp Sabra

Camp Shawnee/Camp Fire USA

Camp Wood YMCA

Horizon Camp and Retreat Center

Philmont Scout Ranch

Rock Springs 4-H Center

Tall Oaks Conference Center

YouthFront Camps

Source: University Career Center