Working Holidays in the USA

burntheladle

I'm an australian, thinking of trying to do a working holiday in the USA in the next few years, after I've finished uni.

I've had a quick google, and it seems like there are lots and lots of options. Camp counsellor (which is what most appeals, tbh - I think I would really value that experience, particularly at a special needs camp), work placement programs...

Are all these companies reputable? Are there things I should particularly watch out for? What do I need to know? They say they provide "pocket money" - is this a reasonable amount of money (ie, you could save it while you were at the camp and then use it to travel on afterwards), or will it just cover basic expenditure?

It looks like some only take recent graduates, can you do this sort of thing more than once?

Has anyone had experience with this sort of thing? I don't know anyone who's done anything like this, I have no idea what questions to ask...

Smurph

My brother was a camp counselor for 3 summers in a row I think, he loved it. I'm from the US but that camp always had plenty of international counselors from all over the world. Do not look at it as a way to make any money though, I think he only ever got like $1000 for the whole summer. I'm not so sure about the "Pocket Money" thing though, I think he would just get one big check at the end and would need to bring his own money to spend on days off. And you will spend a couple hundred bucks doing stuff on your days off. It's more of a vacation though, you will have a blast if you do it.

Terrendos

I spent 7 weeks teaching at my local Boy Scout summer camp. It's mostly for older Scouts under 18 from local troops who could use a thousand bucks and don't mind sleeping in a tent 6 nights a week. It wasn't much money, but again it was only 7 weeks and I basically got all but two of my meals every week paid for.

If you were going to fly over here, I wouldn't expect to make a whole lot of money. I had a lot of fun though, aside from having to grill my students for news from the outside world (no internet or TV and the closest newspaper stand is a 6 mile walk) and the lack of air conditioning.