Work at the Villages

"I love working here because it’s...unlike anything else"

I love working here because it’s...unlike anything else. If you go to a country, it's not locals' job to help teach you the language. But with our immersion environment, it *is* every staff member’s job. I fell in love with our immersion model as a camper and…I get to give the next generation of language learners that experience, too.

We have a variety of positions to choose from! From teachers and counselors to being behind the scenes cooking and baking international foods, we have a position for you at the Villages.

Village positions:‍

Camp Counselor*

• Junior counselors (ages 16-18)
• Counselors (18+)

Camp Teachers*

• Credit Teacher (B.A. or international equivalent required)
• Two-Week Facilitator (B.A. or international equivalent required)

Culinary Arts

• Camp Chef (18+)
• Assistant Camp Chef (18+)
• Camp Cook (18+)
• International Camp Cook (18+)
• Baker (18+)
• Kitchen Helpers (16+)

Health & Wellness

• Camp Nurse
• Intern

*J-1 Visa eligible positions

When applying for a position with us, please only apply for one position per Village. If you are interested in more than one role with that Village, you can note that on your application. You may be interested in joining us at more than one Village; if that’s the case, apply for a position at each Village. For those interested in Village-specific and culinary arts positions, please apply for your Village and culinary arts positions of choice.

Note: French Lac du Bois and French Les Voyageurs are separate Villages. If you are interested in one over the other, or both, you must apply to the individual Village (treat them as if they are different languages).

All summer positions are open by January 1, so we encourage you to apply as early as possible to increase your chances of being hired. International applicants, we recommend applying prior to May to ensure we can get your visa and documents in order for your first day. Based on Village needs, we may continue hiring until the program's start date. If you’re applying for a seasonal culinary arts position, we can accept applications until mid-August.

Each Village has its own schedule, depending on the Village and position you’re interested in, the timeline can vary. Some Villages have sessions all summer while others only in the first or second half. Generally, the schedule will be similar to the following:

• Arabic: July-August
• Chinese: June-July
• Culinary Arts: June-August
• Danish: June-July
• Finnish: June-July
• French (Lac du Bois): June-August
• French (Les Voyageurs): June-July
• German: June-August
• Health & Wellness: June-August
• Italian: July-August
• Japanese: June-August
• Korean: July-August
• Norwegian: June-July
• Portuguese: June-July
• Russian: July-August
• Spanish: June-July
• Swedish: July-August

Your length of employment may vary based on the position you’re interested in. Our typical summer schedule will run anywhere from 10 to 12 weeks in total.

Counselors, teachers and leadership: You can expect to spend roughly two to five weeks with us, including orientation. This does vary, however, if you’re interested in working the whole summer with the same Village or across Villages. If you are invited to interview with a Village that holds sessions the whole summer and would like to work the entire time, discuss this during the interview with the dean.

Culinary arts and transportation: Typically, staff in this category are hired for the whole summer, with some flexibility. While we do have a standard timeframe that staff are with us, we welcome anyone who wants to join us for the whole summer.

• Chef** (6-13 weeks)
• Assistant Chef** (5-12 weeks)
• Cooks/bakers/kitchen helpers** (1-6 weeks)
• Transportation staff (2-5 weeks)

**These positions have the ability to move across Villages. Example: you may start as a Kitchen Helper in our Spanish Village and move to a Kitchen Helper in our Russian Village later in the summer.

Nurses: Nurses are usually hired for at least two weeks and can work up to an entire summer.

Health interns: Staff in this category are usually hired for 5-7 weeks but may be hired for the whole summer if they choose.

We appreciate your excitement, but our hiring process requires completing our online application; therefore, we cannot consider an applicant based solely on a resume or CV. If you have questions on your application, reach out to clvhr@cord.edu.

Our Cross-Cultural Health Internship runs during our summer programs, but most of our summer or school-year, short-term positions can also meet the requirements of many internship programs. Please see the job summary on the application, apply for the position you are interested in and indicate your interest in an internship in the application.

Some of our programs do accept volunteers. The dean of the Village will be able to request a volunteer through human resources and their program director to ensure we are meeting the federal standards of what a volunteer is and can do. If you do not have a connection to a Village and want to volunteer, please email clvhr@cord.edu for assistance.

Absolutely! We love welcoming international staff to the Villages to share their language and culture with villagers and staff. The position you are interested in will determine the kind of visa you will need to apply for:

J-1 Visa: authorizes our camp counselors and teachers to join us. If you are interested in teaching at our Language Training Center, you are also eligible to apply for a J-1 Visa. Learn more from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unfortunately, our J-1 Visa does not authorize us to hire nursing or medical personnel from outside the United States.

Greenheart Exchange: allows us to bring international culinary arts team members on-site. Learn more.

Because the visa application process can be lengthy, we encourage all international applicants to apply as soon as possible to ensure we have ample time to get all documents in order prior to arrival at camp.

All of our Villages have cabins for villagers and staff (room and board are included in your employment offer). Cabins are assigned by gender, and we do have gender-neutral cabins available at our Japanese, Chinese, French, Russian, German and Swedish Villages. Most positions do require living and sleeping in a cabin with villagers of the same gender. Positions that do not have this requirement do require living with staff of the same gender. If you are joining us in Bemidji, you'll be staying in one of our eight authentic year-round Village. The following Villages are based at leased locations in Minnesota: Japanese and Chinese. Part of your daily schedule will include working together with villagers to assist in the upkeep of your assigned cabin and facilities.

Emotional resilience and cognitive abilities to carry out job responsibilities, ability to establish and maintain appropriate professional relationships, interpersonal skills to interact effectively with individuals and groups respecting social and cultural diversity and to maintain appropriate boundaries.

Ability to assist villagers in an emergency (fire, evacuation, illness, injury); possess strength, physical ability, and endurance to maintain constant supervision of villagers; observe villager behavior, assess its appropriateness and apply appropriate behavior-management techniques; possess visual and auditory ability to identify and respond to environmental and other hazards related to the cabin group.

All positions are equally important to the success of Concordia Language Villages programs. It is of prime importance that all candidates enjoy working with and have the ability to supervise young people (minors, ages 0-18) in the close proximity of the Village setting. Please read carefully to fully understand the qualifications and responsibilities of each position.

General Responsibilities for All Positions

• Be familiar with and abide by specific policies set forth in the “Personnel Policies,” which are designated by Concordia Language Villages administration and individual Village deans.
• Read and become familiar with the responsibilities for your specific area of assignment.
• After receiving your onboarding tasks, please read all information thoroughly and complete your onboarding tasks before arriving at the Village.
• Be advised the entire staff of each Village is under the direction of and is responsible to the dean. While some positions are supervised by other staff, the dean retains ultimate authority and responsibility for the Village.
• All positions involve teaching language and culture, with the exception of summer support positions (e.g. culinary arts, healthcare, transportation).
• Report to orientation prior to your first session as designated by your employment offer.
• Assist with setting up the Village, preparing for the next session and maintaining the Village throughout the session.
• Speak the target language with villagers and staff members as much as possible.
• Live in community living arrangements, assigned according to gender; nearly all positions include living and sleeping in a cabin or other housing unit with villagers (participants) of the same gender; positions that do not include living with villagers do include living with other staff members of the same gender.
• Model standards for behavior and be sensitive to the health and welfare of the villagers.
• Work outdoors for a significant part of each day.
• Remain one day after your final session for cleanup, inventory and evaluation of the program.
• Be at least 16 years of age to be considered for a staff position.
• Be at least 18 years of age to be considered for a staff position if you are not a United States citizen.