Experience, experience, experience

“When I first entered the industry, I found that employers valued experience over education,” says winner Dominic Richards, director, Zentive Agency. “Luckily, I had a year’s placement in the industry and had undertaken additional events work during university but even that sometimes wasn’t enough.”

Ellie Armitt, event manager at Bray Leino Events, ‘stumbled’ into the industry after a few years working in marketing where she had been fortunate enough to gain some event management experience. “However, I’ve come to realise that experience in events is what employers look for and there are certain aspects that you only learn through hands-on experience,” she adds.

For those looking to start a career within events, Richards recommends ‘as much exposure to the events world as possible’ while a student, ‘either through job placements, internships or volunteering.’

It’s a catch-22 situation for many, however, with few work experience opportunities seemingly available for students. There also remains a lack of awareness of the opportunities in the events industry among school-leavers.

Megan Earl, conference and events manager, HTS, says: “I’m not convinced those studying at colleges and universities, especially not those just leaving school, know enough about hospitality and events as a career option.” She would like to see more engagement from the events sector before graduates try and enter it. “

For many careers, the doors open after you leave education, but for events it felt like a lot closed and I found my own way in. That may have been just my experience, but I doubt it.” Earl is not alone in this view.

Benedicta Asante, founder, Events 101, said the biggest barrier for her to entering the industry was ‘unrealistic expectations of experience’. “The industry is very much tight-knit meaning that someone without a network would find it difficult to break into,” she adds, recommending newcomers attend industry events and meet event professionals to build those networks before they enter the industry. Even when graduates and jobseekers manage to land their first roles in events, winners found there was a lack of support and guidance available in the early stages.

“Although there are a lot of online resources out there, I think there could be better support for event professionals early on in their career. There are several mentorship programmes which are great, but a dedicated forum or foundation would be really helpful for those starting off,” says Richards.

Iulia Zorzoana, events executive at The Meetings Industry Association (mia), says even with experience working in events she struggled to find her way back into the events industry after a Covid-enforced break.

This motivated her to help others: “Very often it is hard to find your way around the industry during the early stages. That is why I am proud to be involved in the development and promotion of the mia Student Membership, aimed at students and apprentices of all levels and aimed at promoting different roles within the industry and helping individuals find their way around this complex and amazing industry.”

Becky Carter, who worked her way to event director less than two years after joining Bray Leino Events and now manages her own team, agrees the ‘huge industry’ can feel daunting, so she has this last tip for emerging event professionals.

“The best advice I would give to anyone joining the industry is to throw yourself into it and gain as much direct experience across different sectors as possible. This was the best thing I did for my career as it allowed me to diversify my skill set and gain a broad list of friends and contacts around the industry.”

To further support event industry newcomers build networks, learn from industry heavyweights and forge career paths, The Meetings Show, in partnership with Event First Steps, will be running a Next Generation Programme at this year’s show. Find more information and apply here.