This post continues our interview with thirty-two year-old Karyn, who is a Mentor Field Instructor for Second Nature, a sophisticated wilderness therapy treatment program for teens. 

Alex:  What personality traits and skills do you think it takes to be successful in your job?

Karyn:  I think it’s important to be outgoing, a good listener, patient, fun-loving, giving, caring, adventurous, supportive and kind.  Actually many of the people who I work with do not have backgrounds in either wilderness or therapy! I think the profession is pretty open to people of all skill sets and interests.

Alex:  What challenges have you faced, and how have you managed setbacks in this job?

Karyn:  Probably the biggest challenge I have faced is not knowing with happens to our students when they leave our program. It can be emotionally draining to work with the same student for several weeks, and then they leave. I can only hope they don’t return to their negative coping patterns and find a successful aftercare treatment (usually boarding school). We very rarely hear back personally as instructors as to how the kids are doing. Other challenges include routine stuff – I get tired of our staple foods like beans and rice and pasta and oatmeal, and I’ve learned some creative recipes from few ingredients. Finally the weather can be tiresome sometimes – Georgia in the summertime with its heat and bugs is not the most comfortable place for a northern girl to be!

Alex:  What's the compensation like for those who are successful in your job? Explain the trajectory once one breaks in.

Karyn:  Compensation tends to be on a daily rate – the averages of various companies are something like $90 - $175/ day (working about 200 days/year). Most companies include health care, and mine has a 401K package and quarterly bonuses. A few bonuses – this is not generally seasonal work – most companies are year round. Because of a fairly high turnover rate, it’s fairly easy to work your way up in the field to become a senior level instructor relatively quickly. Another advantage of the pay is that you are not able to spend any money while you work in the woods, so the smaller dollars go a little farther.

Thanks, Karyn!