how to become an event planner

Become an Event Planner: The Ultimate Career Guide



Ready to Start Your Event Planning Career?

If you've worked your way through The 10 Steps to Becoming an Event Planner on this site, then you'll have learned that most people trying to break into the events industry go about it in entirely the wrong way.

If you want to become an event planner, you can't just take a course, graduate, and start applying for entry-level positions.

Unlike most professions, a career in event planning does not require qualifications—and the majority of employers won't really care if you've taken an event planning course or not.

Unfortunately, most other websites about becoming an event planner are just trying to sell you courses—that you might not even need. So how can you rely on them to give honest and impartial career advice?

The truth is, employers in the events industry are looking for people with the right skills, personal qualities, and—above all else—experience.

Getting hired in this industry doesn’t involve blindly sending out resumes enquiring about work experience. It is all about networking, contacts, and relationships.

This site's companion book, Become an Event Planner: Secrets for Getting Hired from Employers, Recruiters, and Event Professionals is straight-talking, no-nonsense, career guide that aims to show job seekers the right way to go about it—with practical steps and action points to follow.


become an event planner book by matthew james

What You'll Learn

Unlike other websites, this site does not have a vested interest in trying to sell you event planning courses. The aim of the companion book is to give you accurate, relevant, and unbiased career advice—so that you can make an informed decision about whether taking an event planning course is right for you or not. And if not, how to take your first steps to becoming a professional event planner.

Topics covered in the book include:


    Event Planning Courses

  • How to decide if an event planning course is right for you
  • How to differentiate between credible and less trustworthy event planning courses
  • How to choose the most relevant event planning course
  • Whether you should take an event management degree course
  • Which essential topics must be covered by any good event planning course
  • Which unnecessary 'filler' modules to be wary of
  • How long you should study for


    Experience

  • The experience employers will be looking for on your resume
  • How to get that experience when starting from scratch
  • How to use volunteer and amateur experience to impress employers
  • How you should—and shouldn't—approach employers for work experience
  • How to handle internships and unpaid work experience opportunities
  • How to get experience while still getting paid


    Skills & Qualities

  • The attitude you need and the approach you must take
  • The personal qualities that employers are looking for in you
  • The core skills that employers are looking for you to demonstrate
  • How to communicate those skills & qualities through your experience
  • How to pitch yourself to potential employers


    Networking, Resumes, and Interviews

  • How to network, make contacts, and develop relationships in the events industry
  • How to approach and get noticed by employers
  • How to present your experience on a resume in the right way—inc sample resume
  • The preparation you must do for an interview
  • What to say and do in interviews—and what not to
  • What you need to demonstrate once you get an opportunity



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Secrets for Getting Hired | From the Pros

Read Bios

The career advice and information offered in the book is based on interviews with 19 leading employers, recruiters, and experienced event professionals—representing all the main sectors of the industry.

Become an Event Planner: Secrets for Getting Hired from Employers, Recruiters, and Event Professionals is about giving you the inside track on exactly what employers are looking for; to help you stand out from all the other job-seekers still passively sending out resumes and pleading to be given a chance.

chad hudson
bill jones
charlotte saynor
christoper lee
martin turner
charlotte woolseley brinton
sharyn scott
nathan homan
lisa simmons
marie davishieser
jennifer miller
rachel vingness
liz sinclair
nicola mosley
dori rodriguez
grace nacchia
fiona lawlor
farida haqiqi
matt james

Bonus Content

Have you ever read the biographies of successful event planners and wondered how they got started? They always say something like, “he began his career organizing events for MTV”, or “she started her own events company in 2002.” It always sounds so easy doesn’t it? Like one day, you just become an event planner. Simple.

The reality is that biographies never mention how they got their foot in the door, the junior or support roles they took at the beginning of their career, or, perhaps most significantly, how exactly—with no experience—they got that very first opportunity that set them on the right path.

Throughout the book, I’ve included a number of case studies that chart—in detail—the route that some of the contributors took to get into the events industry. In particular, I’ve focused on the very early stages of their career; highlighting the effort they put in, the sacrifices they made, and what they did right—with takeaway tips for you to learn from.

It’s a common misconception that to get a job in events, you have to keep sending out resumes until you get a break. The case studies in this book show that not only do you rarely go straight into a job planning events, but that you often have to be proactive in creating opportunities for yourself along the way.

Case studies in the book include:



My Route into the Industry




Starting in Charity Events....
Matt James
From college drop-out, to organizing events for Elton John

Matt James
Owner
Leftfield Productions
Starting in Catering....
Charlotte Wolseley Brinton
From selling printer cartridges, to working on events for HRH Charles, Prince of Wales

Charlotte Wolseley Brinton
Former Head of Events
Rhubarb Food Design
Starting in Hotel Conference & Banqueting....
Nathan Homan
From casual banqueting staff, to co-founding an award-winning special events agency

Nathan Homan
Former Assistant Banqueting Manager / Banqueting Operations Manager
The Dorchester / Four Seasons Hotel
Starting as Event Support Staff....
Lisa Simmons
From temping for an event staffing agency, to working as a senior corporate event manager for Goldman Sachs

Lisa Simmons
Project Manager EAME Events
Goldman Sachs
Starting in Venue Management....
Grace Nacchia
From managing event bookings at a castle in Italy, to producing events for IBM, Shell, and Ferrari throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East

Grace Nacchia
Event Director
George P. Johnson
Starting in Travel....
Martin Turner
From working in a hardware store, to running global meetings and incentive travel programs

Martin Turner
Former Global Head of Events
Credit Suisse
Starting as an Intern....
Charlotte Saynor
From an unpaid internship in publicity, to producing The X Factor USA launch

Charlotte Saynor
Former Vice President of Brands and Events / Former European Head of Events
FremantleMedia Enterprises / Apple
Starting in Project Management....
Sharyn Scott
From sales promotions at Christian Dior, to Global Head of Events for an international law firm

Sharyn Scott
Former Global Head of Events
Linklaters
Starting as a Volunteer....
Marie Davidheiser
From volunteering at the American Film Institute, to producing the reveal of the largest LEGO model ever built in Times Square

Marie Davidheiser
managing director / former Senior Vice President, Director of Operations
iris new york / Jack Morton Worldwide



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buy on amazon
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buy on amazon uk

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amazon canada logo
booktopia logo
loot logo
waterstones logo
WH Smiths logo
foyles logo
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