How to Start a Career as an Event Coordinator

Thinking of getting into event coordination? Want to know what the job is really like?

Today we’ll be digging into how you can become an event coordinator, the skills you’ll need, and the future of the industry.

What Skills Do You Need to Become an Event Coordinator?

You won’t need a degree in biochemistry or mechanical engineering to get your first job in event management. In fact, for many roles you won’t even need specific industry experience – more on that later.

What you do need for event coordination is soft skills and lots of them. The job of an event coordinator is all about making sure things go smoothly. That doesn’t just mean always being on top of your timetable – although that helps – but knowing how to solve problems when they occur.

What do you do when the caterers pull out at the last minute because of a medical emergency? Do you have a list of contacts on hand? What happens when you find out there’s a safety issue with the venue? Did you think to check that ahead of time?

Fundamentally, the role demands three non-negotiable skills. You need to be an excellent communicator, you need to be able to think ahead and prepare for potential problems, and you need to be able to make good judgments under stressful situations.

If you’re at the start of your career that might sound challenging but there is a path to learning these skills.

How to become an Event Coordinator?

We said earlier that for many roles you don’t even need industry experience and this is more or less the truth with one massive caveat.

You still need something to back up your soft skills. It doesn’t have to be experience in event coordination specifically but it does need to show that you’re the kind of person who can keep organised, who can communicate, who’s not afraid to take initiative where needed but who can also be trusted to make responsible decisions.

All told, if you’re looking to get into event coordination as your first job then it’ll be a steep learning curve and most companies will be reluctant to hire you. You could run your own company but that requires a budget or investor backing, both of which will be near impossible to get if this is your first serious role.

So how do you learn the job? How do you get the experience you need?

Well, there are two options. The first is to build up some experience volunteering at charity events. This can be incredibly fulfilling in its own right and it’s a great sign on a CV because it shows genuine dedication and care. You’re not just in it for the money, this is something you do out of passion.

Your other option is to find another job that will provide some or all of the experience needed. Industries like sales, marketing, public relations, etc are all excellent examples. That said, virtually any management role is a good start.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that you can know everything going into the job. If there’s one last fundamental skill it takes to be a really good events coordinator it’s adaptability.

When you encounter a problem you don’t just fix it. You think on it. You prepare for the next time it happens. You work out what you could have done differently.

When all’s said and done, the job of an event coordinator is about learning how to spin a hundred plates at once. That’s not something you pick up over night. It’s a skill that takes time and dedication to develop. Expect to stumble along the way and prepare to pick yourself up.

The Future of Event Coordination

It’s worth noting that event coordination is a rapidly evolving industry and, in many ways, it always has been.

Trends change. Tastes change. Technology changes.

Event coordination often sits at the nexus of these three forces. Take wedding planning, for example. These days a wedding planner has to know social media inside and out. They have to know what’s popular on Pinterest in the wedding niche and they have to know how to contact and communicate with different services.

And that’s a fairly simple example. The music industry is much the same but with an even greater dependence on platforms and trends.

So how can you stay up-to-date with the future of the industry? How can you make sure you’re always on top of the latest trends?

The answer is community and networking. The best events coordinators don’t just communicate with clients and services – they talk to each other. They share tips on best practises and they even collaborate on large projects. Finding friends building contacts is at the heart of modern event coordination. That network is the stable foundation on which you’ll build your career.