It's good news now that you are officially breaking into the professional world of Event Management, and it can be a pretty extremely exciting time in your life.
Below are some bits of advice that can help you to make the most of your budding career in this fast-paced industry.
1. Join Clubs or Professional Groups
When you are new to any industry, one very fantastic way to meet people is by joining clubs or organizations where your peers or prospective colleagues are hanging out. For Event planning and management, the story is not different, so joining organizations will help you to connect both on the road and in your community.
These clubs, groups or professional organizations give you a chance to ask questions, learn more about the industry and discover your interests. Within these groups you can gain access to valuable resources and connections at the beginning of your career.
2. Gain a Variety of Experience
Many planners start out in one type of event planning niche and they don’t take the time to broaden their horizons early on. For example, someone could be very interested in event planning within Corporate World, but it's not bad if you decide to broaden your horizon and pick up an interest in events planning, say in the sports industry.
You may think you’ll never be interested in some aspect of the industry, but you never know what might be of interest later on in life. This is what makes event management so wonderful! The list of opportunities is endless and the more diverse your experience, the more prepared you will be to take your career in any direction you choose.
3. Intern Within Your Niche
This may sound a bit contradictory to number 2, but I promise it is just as important. Once you spend time exploring and gaining knowledge, you should find a high quality, hands-on learning experience within your niche. This might be an internship or even an entry-level job, but you want to find something that will propel you towards becoming a leader in your sector of the market.
4. Build Quality Relationships
You hear it time and time again, but you never know who you might meet and who they might become. The boy sitting on your right at that trainee program could end up becoming your business partner one day. That Lecturer, who teaches your 8 a.m. lecture, might serve on the board at an organization where you’d like to work in the future.
You just never know where your path might lead, so make connections early on in your college experience and foster those relationships as you move into your professional career. This will pay huge dividends in the future.
5. Keep an Open Mind to Feedback
Constructive criticism early on might seem like something you can ignore or worry about in the future, but you should start paying attention to your strengths and weaknesses now in order to improve for the future. Being self aware and working towards improving yourself professionally can go a long way when it comes to getting a job, working on an event team or hiring employees.
Feedback can sometime be tough to swallow, but it will make you a better employee and leader down the road. No one is perfect and we can all learn from our mistakes. Take each bit of criticism as an opportunity to improve!
6. Never Stop Learning
Just when you thought you were done with school! Learning can come in diverse ways and manners these days and it truly never stops for a high-quality event planner.
The business world is constantly evolving, so doing your best to stay educated and knowledgeable will make you attractive to potential clients and employers.
Some of my favorite ways to learn are through watching webinars on interesting topics, reading books on subjects such as marketing or social media and subscribing to blogs that stay on the front line of the industry.
Parting Shots
The tips above are the best encouragement and perspective I can provide to you as a future Event Manager. Take your time and know that you have made an awesome choice to join this fabulous industry.
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