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I have worked as an Event Planner for a major university for over a decade. I plan university events, including alumni get-togethers at sporting events, annual employee celebrations, donor fund-raising events, student-parent visitation events, and student orientation events.
Planning an event usually involves a number of steps, from the initial concept to meeting with major event participants and leaders to coordinating with catering staff and logistics coordinators.
As a university event planner, I oversee the entire project from start to finish. When a department decides they want an event, they submit a requisition to me and I schedule a meeting with their event leaders to develop an event concept plan. I work with them on the event theme, the highlights of the event, menu planning, event site, and identifying the participants. Throughout the entire process, I meet with the departmental liaison on a regular basis to make sure we are meeting scheduled milestones leading up to the event date.
Probably the biggest misconception about event planning is that it is all about parties. In reality, I plan many events that have nothing to do with parties at all. Frequently, I plan what would be the equivalent of corporate meetings.
Event planning involves a great deal of attention to detail and a great deal of hard work. It is common for me to work long hours in the days leading up to a major event, coordinating with caterers, facilities equipment managers and decorators. For smaller meetings and events, I meet with caterers and department leaders several times to make sure all of the details have been covered and addressed.
I find working as an event planner very satisfying. In the past, I worked at administrative office jobs, but was bored sitting around doing the same thing all the time. As an event planner, I get to do different things all the time. Although I spend time in my office doing paperwork and writing out specific plans for each event and documenting the process, I also get to spend lots of time meeting with people, going to different event sites and being very physically active.
If there were one thing I could change about my job it would be the amount of paperwork I have to attend to daily. Since I work for a university, there are specific protocols I have to follow to make sure everything I do is documented.
For example, when I have a meeting, I have to take minutes and then follow-up every conversation with an email to all of the meeting participants. I also have to document how much time I spend on every single activity I engage in so that the so department of the project I am working on gets charged accordingly. This can be very tedious at times.
I actually got started as an event planner completely by accident. I was working in Human Resources and they needed someone to help with the annual employee holiday party and I stepped up to help. I found that I really enjoyed working on the event and did as much as I could to participate in the process.
When the position opened up for the event planner, it happened to come through our department first, so I went ahead and applied and was delighted the supervisor remembered me participating in the employee holiday party planning. He was so impressed with my enthusiasm and I had helped friends and family plan large events in the past (weddings, family reunions, etc.) he took a chance and hired me. It also helped I am an avid cook and enjoy entertaining a great deal.
One of the things I have really learned is necessary for this job is excellent communication skills. I have to be able to help department managers make major decisions about what kind of event they want and nail down all the details so I can deliver the exact event experience they desire.
Often, this means that I have to be able to tactfully guide them in their decision-making process and make sure that their choices meet with university guidelines about acceptable activities; for example, our university does not allow dancing or alcoholic beverages at university-sponsored events, which can occasionally be an issue for student or alumni events.
Probably the most stressful part of my job is dealing with department managers who want an event but who keep changing their plans. They do not understand the amount of coordination that is required to plan a large event.
For example, they may keep changing what they want on printed materials, such as invitations or program hand-outs, or they may repeatedly change their minds about what menu items they want for the event. With each change, additional time is needed to meet with the other departments or vendors that provide services. Additionally, it costs extra money to make changes and can have a huge impact on the event budget.
In many cases, I am held responsible for managing the event budget, so it can be difficult to tell a manager that they cannot make wanted changes simply because their budget will not allow it.
Although I got into event planning by accident, I have taken many business and hospitality college courses along the way to improve my skills. For anyone wanting to become an event planner, I suggest at least an Associate degree in some aspect of the hospitality industry.
Additionally, I think basic accounting is helpful, because you will be required to work with budgets and should have a good understanding of fiscal management. Other skills that are mandatory for success as an event planner include excellent communication skills, time management skills and project planning abilities.
I love what I do for a living. I make over $70,000 a year and have four weeks of vacation every year. One of those weeks is during the winter break, when the university shuts down. While that may seem like a huge salary in most of the United States, where I live it is not actually super-high. I would love to make more money, but it is enough for my needs at this time in my life.
If I could see into the future and write my own ticket, I would branch out and have my own event planning service. I would love to work with large companies planning corporate events and also offer services for weddings, family reunions and other events. I would also love to have a full-service event planning business that includes catering, party equipment rentals, photography, and music.
JustJobs.com is ajob search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Event planning business image from Shutterstock
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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