Event Planning Jobs Overview
Do your dinner parties look like rehearsal dinners? Do your casual get-togethers include seating plans? If you're known for going overboard with your party planning, consider making a career out of it by looking for event planning jobs.
Event planners organize and oversee events. They collaborate with their clients and with colleagues and managers if they work in-house. Responsibilities for event planner jobs can include:
- brainstorming event concepts and ideas, such as theme and location.
- preparing logistics, such as transportation and music.
- coordinating contracts for vendors, such as catering and florists.
- coordinating details with vendors, such as venue access and payment.
- conducting a test-run of the event in advance, such as a wedding rehearsal.
- overseeing administrative details, such as seating charts and guest lists.
- giving the hosts, speakers, and other parties involved advice and essential information.
- monitoring the event the day of and resolving unexpected issues.
- supervising clean-up and the return of rental items.
Salaries for Event Planning Jobs
The national median pay for event planner jobs is $21.21. You can use Monster's Salary Tool to find the median pay in your location. Some of the cities with the highest demand for events planners are New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
How to Find Event Planning Jobs That Fit You
Before you look for event planning jobs, consider the type of role you want. These are some common ones:
- Party planners: Party planners plan weddings, engagements, birthdays, and other parties. They may specialize in one type of party, such as weddings or kids' birthday parties, or do a variety.
- Corporate event planners: Corporate event planners organize conferences, meetings, company celebrations, and other work events. They can work for an event planning business or in-house as part of an event or marketing department.
- Fundraising events planners: Fundraising planners plan events to help nonprofit organizations, politicians, and others raise money for their causes.
- Venue planners: Venue planners work for a specific venue. They organize events for people and organizations renting space in the venue, such as a banquet hall in a hotel.
These are other factors to consider when choosing between different event planning jobs:
- If you prefer to take the lead and come up with creative ideas, working with individuals or small organizations can be more fulfilling. Corporate clients who have more experience holding events may have specific ideas of what they want and be less open to your input.
- Working with corporate clients can give you a more traditional schedule. Coordinating events for individuals often requires working during evenings and weekends.
- If you love variety, working for a business that plans events for clients can provide a wider range of work than organizing conferences and meetings in-house.
How to Apply to Event Planning Jobs
The most effective event planner resumes include numbers, such as the average number of:
- Events you plan.
- Event attendees.
- Clients you have.
- Revenue you brought in
Looking for more tips on how to write an effective event planning application? Check out Monster's event coordinator resume and cover letter for event coordinators.
If you're still struggling to put together a stellar job application after reading these tips and samples, get help from Monster's Professional Resume Writing Services. Once you have a compelling resume, upload it to Monster. Hiring managers and recruiters nationwide use Monster's database to search for candidates for new openings. Find a job faster by making your resume public.
How to Follow Up With an Employer
When it's been a week or two and you haven't heard back from an employer, following up on your application can move it into the interview stage. These are some tips for how to do so:
- Avoid getting in touch on Mondays and Fridays because these days are often busier, and they might miss your email or forget to respond.
- Follow up with the right person responsible for hiring for the position. A receptionist, HR assistant, or secretary can help you find out who to contact.
- Write a brief email to inquire about your application, summarize your top selling points, and thank the person for their time.
- After an interview, send a thank-you email within 24 hours to everyone who was present, and the person who set up the interview. Reiterate your interest in working for the company and what you can contribute.
- Follow up after a week or two if you don't hear back after an interview to inquire about the status of the hiring process.
Interviewing Tips for Event Planning Jobs
Are you ready for the first event you'll tackle: the interview? Interviews can be nerve-wracking because you don't know what to expect. Fortunately, most interviews follow predictable patterns. Preparing is just a matter of planning ahead for each step.
As an event planner, it's likely you'll meet the employer in person for at least one interview. Get ready by:
- Picking an appropriate outfit. Consider the industry and specialty of the event when deciding what to wear. For business events, dress more formally than if the company organizes kids' birthday parties, for example.
- Bringing a copy of your resume in a professional-looking folder.
- Preparing some small talk for walking to the interview room and when leaving post-interview. Ideally, this should be business-related, such as "What kind of events are you working on now?" or "How long have you worked here?" Save more formal questions for the interview.
- Practicing answers to most common interview questions, as well as questions specific to the job. As an event planner, expect questions related to your organizational skills, working with clients, the types of events you've planned, and how you handle common challenges on the job.
- Having a few questions ready for the interviewer.
- Preparing a brief, verbal thank you (in addition to the official follow-up you'll do next). This could be one or two sentences that you'll say at the conclusion of the interview.
How to RSVP to a Job Offer
When you get that job offer you've been waiting for, make sure to send a timely response. Even if you've changed your mind about the job, don't be that guest who doesn't RVSP — make sure to send a response within 24 hours.
In the initial response, you'll need to acknowledge and thank for the job offer. You can ask for time to think about it if you're not yet sure. In fact, having that discussion over the phone can lead to the employer asking about your concerns. Don't be surprised if they upgrade their offer — sometimes you don't even have to ask.
If you want to initiate a negotiation, have a plan. Use Monster's salary data as a starting point but consider your level of experience and what else you bring to the table. Other factors to consider include the size and financial status of the employer and the amount of the original offer. Use this information to decide on a reasonable number. The employer may or may not agree, but few employers will hold a negotiation against you as long as you're polite and reasonable.
Event Planning Jobs and Career Paths&
Event planners usually have a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, meeting and events management, communications, or a related field. Alternatively, they may have a degree in the type of events they plan, for example in nonprofit management or hospitality.
If you want to work for a smaller business, connections and personality may be more important than a degree. Previous experience in sales, marketing, or hospitality can also outweigh the need for a degree.
For high-level event planning, such as for large corporate clients, you may need a master's degree in event planning. This is especially true if the events are organized to bring in new clients or donors.
A natural career progression for event planners is to move up to a position as an event manager. Depending on the workplace, the next step after that may be director of events, or if you work for a smaller event company, the manager or director of the company. A large events company might have several managers or directors for different types of events or locations.
Similar Occupations to Event Planning Jobs
Widen your job search by looking for jobs similar to event planning. These are some related job titles to search for: