During hiring season, it's easy to lose time switching between tools. Staff records live in one place, applicants in another, and positions somewhere else entirely.

Staff Placement brings those pieces together so you can build your staffing plan, assign roles, and make hiring decisions from a single workspace.

Before you start, make sure your positions are already created in Campminder. You'll also want to know which program areas or departments you're filling this season — that's how you'll organize your groups.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

Know when to use Staff Placement vs. the ATS or Staff Management
Set up your placement workspace with positions and groups
Place staff into roles and hire them directly from the placement board
Use the Hiring Dashboard to see your staffing picture at a glance

Video Demo: Get to Know Staff Placement

When to Use Each Staffing Tool: Knowing Where to Go

Staff Placement is one of three staffing tools. Knowing which to use saves time.

Use Staff Placement when you want to:

See applicants and hired staff in the same view
View open and filled positions side by side
Assign staff to roles and hire them directly

Use the Applicant Tracking System when you need to:

Update applicant statuses
Move candidates through hiring stages

💡 Tip: If you're changing applicant statuses in bulk, the ATS is the faster path.

Use Staff Management when you need to:

Manage contracts
Update pay rates
Make bulk changes to hired staff

💡 Tip: Once someone is hired through Staff Placement, they're immediately available in Staff Management for contracts and onboarding. No manual record update needed.

🎯 Try it now: Think about where you are in your season. Are you assigning roles, managing applicants, or handling contracts? Confirm which tool you're starting in before moving on.

Permissions: Control Who Can Access Staffing Tools

Staffing permissions are all-or-nothing. A user either has full access to Staff Placement and the ATS, or none at all.

Navigate to Staff > Staff Placement or Staff > Applicant Tracking System > Hiring Pipelines.
Click the lock icon in the upper right to open the User Permissions panel.
Find any user and check the box to enable access, or uncheck it to remove access.

💡Tip: click on the gif below to enlarge

📋 Note: Users can update permissions for others, but not for themselves.

To add a new user and grant access:

Navigate to Admin > Logins and Permissions > Users.
Create the user account. They'll appear in the staffing permissions list automatically.
If the new user is a User Admin, staffing access is enabled automatically. For all other users, toggle access on manually using the lock icon steps above.

🎯 Try it now: Go to Staff > Staff Placement, open the lock icon panel, and confirm the right people on your team have access toggled on. Come back when you've checked it.

Positions: Choose What You're Filling This Season

When you first open Staff Placement, you'll select which positions to include. This is your active roster for the season — not every position your camp has ever created.

Navigate to Staff > Staff Placement.
Select the positions you are actively filling this season. This list is generated from positions already created in Campminder.

Note: To create new positions, navigate to Campminder > Admin > Staff Setup > Positions.

💡Tip: click on the gif below to enlarge

💡Tip: Keep your list focused. You can always update your position selection later — start with what you know you're filling now.
Click the Confirm and Continue button to load the positions into your placement workspace.

📖 Related: Staff Position Types and Positions

Groups: Organize Positions by Program Area or Department

Groups let you organize your positions the way your camp operates. Most camps use program areas or departments — Athletics, Waterfront, Arts, Leadership Team.

Click the Add New Group button and enter a clear group name.
Select which positions belong in that group.
Define how many staff you need for each position and choose a color to visually distinguish the group.
Click Save Changes.

💡 Tip: If you already group staff by program area, use that same structure here. It will feel natural for your team.

🎯 Try it now: Go to Staff > Staff Placement and create your first group using a real program area name from your camp. Add at least one position and set your headcount. Come back when it's saved.

Placing Staff: Build Your Staffing Plan

Once your positions and groups are set up, you're ready to start placing staff. Your Available Staff list includes everyone eligible for the season — returning staff and new applicants.

Use the search bar to find staff by name, or filter the list by Stage, Status, Position, Division, Assigned To, or Availability using the filter panel on the right side of the screen.
Click and drag a staff member into the appropriate group and position.

💡Tip: click on the gif below to enlarge
Repeat as needed across groups.

📋Note:

Staff remain in the Available Staff list after being placed — treat it as a well you can draw from more than once.
You can place the same person in multiple groups if they're filling multiple roles.
Each group includes position anchors so you can jump to a specific role without scrolling.

Adjust Staff Placement

To remove someone from a group, click the X on their card or drag them out.
To move someone between groups, drag them from one group to another.

🏕️Camps in Action

A director at a mid-sized overnight camp was filling Waterfront and Athletics simultaneously.

Rather than working through one group at a time, she filtered the Available Staff list by Stage (offered) and Position (lifeguard) to surface only the relevant applicants, then dragged them into position one by one. When a staff member was cross-trained in both areas, she placed him in both groups without removing him from the list. The whole board was filled in one session.

🎯 Try it now: Go to Staff > Staff Placement, find two or three staff members using the filter panel, and drag them into a group. Come back when you've made at least one placement.

Hiring: Make It Official from the Placement Board

Placement and hiring are two separate actions. You can plan and rearrange placements without making anything official until you're ready.

When you’re ready to hire:

Locate the staff member’s card within their assigned position.
Click and hold the Hire button to confirm.
Review and confirm the hiring details.
The person’s Campminder record is updated — their status changes to Hired and their position is assigned.
Their card in Staff Placement updates to reflect the official position instead of Applied Position.

💡 Tip: You don't need to navigate to the person record or any reporting tool. Staff Placement handles the update automatically.

After hiring, the system updates:

The staff member's status is set to Hired.
Their position is officially assigned in Campminder.
They're immediately available in Staff Management for contracts and onboarding.

🎯 Try it now: Find a placed staff member you're ready to hire, click and hold the Hire button, and confirm the details. Come back when it's done.

Hiring Dashboard: See Your Staffing Picture at a Glance

The Hiring Dashboard gives you a centralized view of where your staffing season stands — without manually counting or exporting reports.

Navigate to Staff > Hiring Dashboard using the wave icon on the right side of your page.