Research, research, research

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There are so many different aspects to our industry. So many experts and incredible talent. Beyond planning agencies there are production companies, caterers, florists, prop makers, staffing agencies, entertainment companies and venues and that’s just the main ones. We’d suggest researching all these areas and drawing up a list of 25-50 companies within these sectors. Research them, read their websites, look at their socials. Who do you like the look of and who would you love to work for. Draw up a list of emails for each of these businesses as this can become your list to approach.

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Get to know the industry

Even if you’re not in it yet, start to create a map of the industry. Get to know the types of events you’d like to work on, the venues you love the style of and the roles there are. Looks at trends, formats, ideas. Really deep dive into it all, immerse yourself and discover your passion. The end result and the beautiful images of events are such a small part of the job - the planning, hard work behind the scenes and the admin make up a huge chunk. Obsess over behind the scenes, get to know the role you’re applying for. Become obsessed with your future job!

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Be active on socials.

Follow all the planners, businesses and brands you admire on socials, like their posts, engage with their stories, comment. Anything that helps you connect with people is valuable.

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Consider your approach email

We get a lot of emails and so many are very similar. Think about ways you can stand out - is it your copy that’s funny, engaged and personalised or perhaps it’s the style and design of your email, your CV or portfolio. Imagine as if the person you’re emailing gets at least 10 CVs a day - how would you stand out? And trust us when we say that a dear sir/madam/to who it may concern intro is unlikely to get a response. It’s easy enough to find out the right name of who you’re emailing and makes it so much more considered.

Do I need any qualifications?

In short no. There are some great courses out there though. We’d recommend the Bournemouth degree and also the Event Academy. But you have to weigh up the costs as it’s so expensive to go and study these days and investing in supporting yourself whilst doing an internship may give you more applicable skills. The best thing about the courses is that they set up placements and time in industry is invaluable. We have so many colleagues and contacts in the industry who didn’t go to uni and have had amazing success so it’s absolutely not a requirement. Even starting as a waiter or waitress with a staffing agency to start to see big events is super valuable as you start to see all the roles on site and even build contacts.

Experience is everything

If you’re trying to get into events, getting in front of people is key. Experience is everything and there’s so much you just learn on the job - it’s hard to teach. Therefore getting experience should be the number one goal. Volunteer to come on site for events, work for a week with an agency, buy someone in the team a coffee in exchange for a 15 min chat. Your primary goal should be getting face to face contact. We’d also suggest calling - especially the bigger companies. We get CVs daily but do you know how many phone calls we get -probably 1 a year! If you’re too scared to make a phone call, we’re sorry to say but events is not for you.

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