Hiring

EXPLO has a long and strong reputation for excellent professional development.  You will be doing real and important work.  No pushing papers,  grabbing coffee for someone, or observing from afar.  You will be doing it from day one.  

Our organizational model is designed for you to receive regular feedback so that you can quickly grow your skills.  Whether you are still in school and exploring where your own interests lie, in the early stages of your career trying to figure out if education is your field, or a seasoned instructor or industry practitioner who wants to improve their teaching practice, EXPLO will help you make progress.  Many of our former managers and administrators are now school, university, and non-profit leaders, but also leaders in medicine, law, engineering, marketing, business, and numerous other fields.  Many have told us years later that EXPLO is the place where they got their best professional development. 

Our salaries are very competitive. Room and board is covered for Student Advisor positions, and lunch is available for Instructors. And then there are the extras.  Student Advisors could find themselves supervising trips to theatrical performances, professional baseball games, top-flight museums, or even outdoor adventure trips.

At EXPLO, each day is packed with activity—for students and staff. Most weekdays consist of hands-on highly engaging academics where students are digging into projects, connecting with experts, conducting experiments, debating, creating, and discovering.  When not in workshops or electives, there is a full roster of activities, led by our residential staff, from sports to cooking, current events to nature walks, jam sessions to improv groups.  EXPLO leads the industry in the breadth of its organized student programming.

Evening events often include staff-organized themed events, and we encourage staff to bring their own interests to our community, showcasing their talents and helping our students discover a new passion.  On weekends staff lead off-campus trips to various locations—you might spend the day at the beach, take students to learn glassblowing, go rafting, ride a roller coaster, or check out the newest museum exhibit.

Staff members are contracted to work the entire duration of the program. We are in session for four weeks at Wellesley College, so you would be expected to work those four weeks plus a three-day orientation on campus.

The health and safety of all our students and faculty are our highest priorities. No matter what your role is, it will be your responsibility to help make EXPLO an environment in which students can learn and grow in a way appropriate for their age. Classes, activities, residential floors, and trips all need to make students feel physically, emotionally, and intellectually safe, even when being challenged. Enforcement of program guidelines concerning student conduct is essential to this objective.

The use of drugs or alcohol at EXPLO is strictly prohibited. Because each faculty member is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of our students, we must mandate a high standard for faculty concerning the use of drugs and alcohol. At no time should any faculty member on- or off-duty be under the influence of illegal or other non-medicinal drugs, or possess them on-campus. At no time should any faculty member be under the influence of alcohol on-duty or return to campus while under the influence after being off-duty. Consumption of alcohol by off-duty faculty over the age of 21 is restricted to off-campus locations only.

We take the commitment you’re making when you apply for a position seriously. Once you’ve accepted a position, EXPLO will incur obligations and make commitments to participants based on your being available at the program. Any sudden cancellation of your involvement could severely damage the program’s quality and cause irreparable economic loss to EXPLO. 

Please only apply for a position if you are prepared to make a commitment to work for EXPLO for the entire duration of the summer program. If you plan to look for full-time employment after the summer is over, it is possible that a potential employer may wish you to start during the summer. If this would prevent you from fulfilling the entirety of your responsibilities to EXPLO, you should not consider applying for a position at EXPLO at this time.

All correspondence regarding your application is sent via email. Emails may come from our program database, called Campsite, as well as from individuals within EXPLO (all with explo.org email addresses). It is important that you regularly check your inbox (and spam folder) for important updates, and that you reply to all communications in a timely fashion.

We ask that you submit professional references—such as teachers, professors, job or volunteer supervisors—who can speak to your potential to thrive as an EXPLO staff member. Examples of references we would not accept include personal references such as parents, friends, or peers.

While EXPLO does not directly sponsor visas, college students seeking employment as Student Advisor may be able to obtain CPT authorization through their college/university. Applicants are encouraged to inquire with their institution’s international student office to confirm eligibility before applying. Instructor candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

We make our best effort to move applications along as quickly as possible, and to keep candidates informed throughout the process. In some cases when we are considering multiple candidates for a role, the process may take several weeks or more. As a general rule, you can expect to hear from us regarding the status of your application within a few weeks of applying.  Initial communications will be via email.

In the spring, all EXPLO instructors are assigned a curriculum coach, who advises them on EXPLO’s teaching style, and on the lesson plans specific to their workshop and/or elective. This provides a wonderful chance to prepare class logistics, become familiar with course content, reflect on teaching style and strategy, and build excitement for a great summer of teaching!

The curriculum for all of our workshops and electives is written by EXPLO’s professional curriculum development team. If you are hired to teach a workshop and/or elective, we will provide you with a complete set of lesson plans outlining the activities for the workshop/elective, materials needed for each activity, etc. You will have a chance to familiarize yourself with the lesson plans, as well as to adapt them based on your own skills, expertise, and experience, in consultation with a curriculum coach.