Career Series; Working in Events

Source

Industry: Corporate Events

Job Title: Senior Project Executive

Brief description of job role and industry:

Hardly a day will pass where you don’t come across something an events manager somewhere has done, whether it be a pop up stand in a shopping centre or an international festival. Working in events has endless possibilities and career paths dependant on the type of events you want to work in. The industry is split into two sections; private events (working for individuals for example wedding planning), and corporate events (working for businesses). In corporate events you can either work corporate side (at the actual brand’s company) or agency side (working for a company who works with a variety of brands/clients).

I work for an events agency based in London and have always been agency side, (just because I prefer that side of the industry) so my job can be different to someone who works privately or on the corporate side. There are pros and cons to all sides so it’s important to investigate these and work out which one suits you best.

My job role involves assisting the more senior members of the team of larger projects and managing smaller projects on my own. I organise events both in the UK and worldwide for anything from 2 to 500 people. Nothing is out of limits, if our client wants it (and they can afford it) that’s what they’ll get. We always strive to be innovative, creative and put on unforgettable events for every budget.

I work on conferences, incentives, incentive travel, hospitality, road shows, weddings, parties, team building and just about everything else you can possibly think of! In my role, I am involved in research, venue finding, budget negotiations, proposal writing, creating costings, contracting, on site events management and everything in between for every single event!

An average day consists of...

My job is rarely the same two days in a row. I could be flying out somewhere in the world to find venues for our events, sat in the office writing a contract or on the phone begging a hotel to reduce their rates!

On an average day I will come in, go through my emails and write my to-do list for the day, prioritising tasks that I need to do urgently. We work to tight deadlines so I spend a lot of my day chasing hotels and venues throughout the world for information and prices so I can write my proposals! Projects I’m currently working on include an Indian wedding for 1500 people, a conference in Malta for 200 people, a conference in South Africa for 100 people and lots of smaller UK events!

We have to constantly be on the ball, creative, organised and have the best attention to detail. Missing something vital in a contract can cost a lot of money! In fact, when you're dealing wit six figure budgets, any mistake can cost some serious money. 

It's a very high pressure environment with tight deadlines coming thick and fast. The industry moves so quickly it's my job to know where the best places are, the new hotels, new bars, up and coming destinations over the world. Our clients want the best so they'll have the best!

Career progression

An entry level job in events would start as an Events Assistant and depending on the company size there’s usually about 4 or 5 levels of progression throughout your career. It’s not a job that you particularly get promoted quickly as it’s very much down to experience. It’s definitely a ‘learn on the job’ kind of role!

Qualifications/experience required

Whilst I did study Events Management at University for four years, a degree isn’t essential to work in this industry. Events degrees are fairly new so many people working in events don’t have them (and don’t rate them!).

Experience is essential for working in this industry. I learnt more in the first week of my first role than I did in the whole time I was at Uni. The more experience you have, the better!

Best tip to crack the industry

Passion. In the events industry you work long hours, for not great money and sometimes difficult clients with difficult briefs. You have to really love it to be able to find the passion and creativity it takes to come up with and put on an event. Even without much experience or many qualifications, if you show an employer in the events industry you’re insanely passionate you’ll go far!

Best thing about my job

It’s different every day, I get to travel and experience things I would never be able to do on my own and I can be creative beyond my own imaginations. We do get spoilt a lot in this industry with events hosted by venues and hotels nearly every night of the week and free/reduced rate nights away and holidays. Well obviously we have to see the hotels we propose to our clients...

Worst thing about my job

It’s not as glamorous as everyone thinks! Yes you might be in the best hotel in Cannes, but you’re the first up at around 6.00am and the last to go to bed at 3.00am (you can work out how many hours sleep that gives you), and rarely see the outside of the conference room! You’re also required to work a lot of weekends and you definitely don’t get paid by the hour!


I hope you've enjoyed finding out a bit more about working in events, please feel free to contact me if you're looking for any more information! 

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