Are you detail-oriented, extremely organized, and thrive in fast-paced situations? Then you’ve clicked on the right article.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the job outlook for event planners and coordinators is projected to grow rapidly in the next ten years. You may be thinking, how does one break into that field? The event planning experts at Eventbrite put together this awesome infographic breaking it down in 4 easy steps:
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1. Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
No brainer, right? Consider majoring in a field like Hospitality/Tourism Management or Marketing to put you in the same playing field as your peers. It also wouldn’t hurt to look into a concentration in Accounting or Event Design either, to give you a leg up.
2. Get Experience
This step is key in your event planning journey. Whatever you end up majoring in, it’s extremely crucial to get an internship while you’re in college. Balancing an internship with your main coursework is a true testament to how well you manage your time. Getting an internship or part-time job in the field allows you to gain some hands-on experience on what it’s really like being an event planner. It doesn’t hurt the network along the way, either!
3. Develop Essential Skills
Most job descriptions for an event coordinator will have the following skills listed as necessary: self-starter, calm under pressure, detail-oriented, problem-solving, and good communication skills just to name a few. While some of these skills you can learn during schools such as basic spreadsheets and database knowledge, the other soft skills listed can only be taught during real-life experiences through part-time jobs and internships.
4. Earn Certification
While some event planning experts will argue that earning a certification is not necessary for your journey, it can’t hurt to get either. Some of the certifications you can obtain to help you stand out are Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) for meetings and convention planning or other certs through the American Association of Certified Wedding Planners if that’s the route you decide to take. In the end, the real on-the-job experience is far more important to employers than a certification.
Consider this roadmap a great way to get in the right mindset for how to become an event planner.
