EVENT MANAGEMENT: IMPROVED EMPLOYABILITY

According to information currently available, the event management sector is expanding quickly, and numerous local and large-scale events and productions are being planned globally (Arcodia and Barker, 2014, p. 2). As a result, it is a field that is not only fascinating and attractive but also rich in employment possibilities. Events management, in general, is a branch of business administration that develops and successfully executes performances, festivals, and events in accordance with client specifications that are intended to appeal to a certain group of visitors or audiences (Getz, 2013, p. 9). It is the core of many other industries, which involves events hosting of diverse semantics and stature. Individual functions and parties such as birthday and wedding parties have increasingly become issues of social importance that require professional management. Similarly, mega events including celebrity shows, international exhibitions and conferences, as well as product launches require professional touch, along with achieving set goals (Bowdin, 2012, p. 14).
As a result of the changing nature of the event management industry and the dynamic needs of clients and their target audience, the professionals working in this industry are supposed to possess requisite knowledge and skills to enable them meet, if not exceed, the ever-increasing expectations and demands (Raj et al, 2013, p. 28). The industry demands significant amount of effort, commitment and hard work; with such qualities, one is bound to attain limitless success both professionally and in earnings. Based on the understanding of the essence of professionalism in the industry, this paper will discuss the subject of enhancing employability in event management industry. In particular, it will focus on self-reflection on my strengths and weaknesses, as well as identify potential professional growth areas in this industry in line with industry expectations. Thereafter, it will analyze my current capabilities vis-à-vis industry expectations and provide a career plan outlining the action required to attain my career goals. A CV and Cover Letter will also be provided to support the self-reflection.
Strengths and Weaknesses and Potential Areas of Professional Growth
The event management world has tremendously changed in the recent past due to a number of factors such as drastic technological advancements and enhanced customers' expectations among others. Different kinds of settings and expectations require that a professional in the industry must possess certain core and strong qualities in order to be successful and achieve a competitive edge (Getz, 2013, p. 38). My career goal is to be a highly-acclaimed event manager in an esteemed organization where I can tremendously use my knowledge and skills to enhance the organization's reputation in the industry. To achieve this goal, I will seek to leverage on my strengths and overcome my weaknesses. I have inherent and acquired strengths that can enable me to succeed in the industry. The first major strength is my excellent interpersonal skills; it is an important skill in this industry since the professionals are expected to work with and as a team in most instances in order to deliver desirable results (Bladen, 2012, p. 36). Apart from being naturally sociable person, I have learnt through my interactions with other people and through my training to employ skills like listening that enhances interpersonal engagements. Interpersonal skills are important in understanding colleagues and also in fully comprehending clients' needs and thereby finding appropriate ways of fulfilling their needs (Junek, Lockstone and Mair, 2009, p.121). I appreciate the fact that as an event management professional I should continuously strive to improve their interpersonal skills in order to communicate effectively and manage their teams.
The second major strength that I possess for a career in event management is flexibility. Arcodia and Barker (2014, p. 7) explain that since nothing is fixed in events organization and everything tend to be in flux state, professionals in the industry must learn to be flexible in order to take the expected and unexpected changes in stride and to deliver accordingly. Over the years, I have learnt to be flexible in my decisions and actions, particularly by leaving room for unexpected eventualities. I am often ready to face any form of circumstance and to constantly think on my feet. Related to the strength of flexibility, being energetic is also my strong point. Organization and managing events can be very demanding, and therefore, the professionals in the industry must be full of passion and energy (Bladen, 2012, p. 51). I have demonstrated energy and enthusiasm in my previous roles by loving to deal with challenges and tasks with zeal, and I believe this trait will be advanced as I engage in more events management tasks.
Passion and enthusiasm is often considered an inherent strength that only some people possess; in this context, it is believed that only some people may be enthusiastic and passionate about events management, and thereby they are more likely to succeed compared to those without this qualities for the industry (Leonie et al, 2013). I consider that I am enthusiastic and passionate about events management; since my childhood, I always liked attending events, shows and exhibitions, and took note of what were done right and what needed to be changed. I was able to nurture these qualities over the years and I am presently happy to be pursuing a course in a field that I am passionate about. Getz (2013, p. 50) observes that those who are passionate about events management tend to be more productive and are able to overcome challenges that they may encounter while planning and managing events. Also, I possess great time management skills; events management is largely a multitasking profession, and those directly involved in it must have multitasking abilities (Bowdin, 2012, p. 19). I am able to prioritize things at work and therefore capable of being more productive and obtain desired results within a limited period.
The fact that events management is highly dynamic is incontestable. I possess the innovativeness and creativity skills necessary in providing solutions to the emerging problems. Being innovative and creative in events management industry is mandatory; every professional in the industry should be able to think broadly and sometimes "out-of-the-box" in order to meet the ever-changing and increasing industry needs and demands (Raj et al, 2013, p. 31). Having these skills will ensure that challenges and problems are not an issue to the professional because they will have an innate ability of resolving them creatively. In addition, I have keen eye for details, which is an important strength enabling a professional to always delve into situations and look at both the small and big details with the aim of getting everything right (Bladen, 2012, p. 63). Failure to have a keen observation sense in the events management can lead to disastrous outcomes because small mistakes can easily blow up. It is for this reason that I have sought to improve my skills in paying attention to details so as to make sure that everything is accurately and properly organized.
The final major strengths that I possess for a career in events management is strong leadership skills and superior organizational abilities. Through the leadership roles that I held in elementary and high school, as well as at my community youth group, I was able to advance my leadership abilities. Junek, Lockstone and Mair (2009, p.124) explains that events management professionals must not only have innate leadership qualities, but must enhance them through practice in order to have a strong basis upon which they can guide their teams to achieve set events goals. I am able to effectively integrate my leadership skills with my superior organizational abilities to seamlessly choreograph various patterns to deliver a successful event. I am, however, aware of the need to continue learning organizational skills in order to improve and be able to run events as a professional in a smooth manner.
While I possess tremendous strengths that can guarantee me a successful career in event management, I am aware of some of my weaknesses that can derail my ability to achieve great success in the profession. The first weakness is that I can sometimes be impatient, especially with people who are less competent or skilled. Considering that events management requires "perfection" from the start to the end because it is an end product for the clients, it has little room for inexperienced or less-skilled professionals as they can adversely affect the outcomes thus ruining the agreement and overall business with customers (Arcodia and Barker, 2014, p. 10). I understand the need for utmost perfection in event planning and execution, especially in respect to ensuring that I meet the clients' demands and their audience' expectations; therefore, I may have difficult time dealing with inexperienced staff whose performance may fall short of my standards. This challenge can be addressed by ensuring that all professionals have earned requisite certifications and possess the required finesse to understand and perform as per the clients' needs (Bowdin, 2012, p. 37). In cases where I have control over hiring, I will ensure I get staff with proper combination of skills and have previously demonstrated effective and efficient events management ability.
Besides, despite possessing exemplary organizational skills, I lack adequate experience in financial management and I thus consider it as my weakness at the moment. Leonie (2013) argues that although it appears obvious that it is easy to allocate and utilize resources for a particular event, it is often more likely that the event managers may under-estimate or over-estimate the required resources thereby resulting to wastage of resources or inadequate resources that fail to meet all the events' needs. He attributes this challenge to insufficient financial management proficiency or due to lack of hands-on experience. It is a weakness that I will easily overcome because financial management skills are easily acquired through training and hands-on experience. Apart from paying attention to the financial management courses contained in my degree programme syllabus, I plan to enroll in an intermediate accounting program to augment my accounting and financial management skills. Moreover, I will seek to enhance my financial management abilities when during my internship by asking to be assigned more accounting and finance roles.
Expectations of Events Management Career
Along with leveraging on my strengths and weaknesses to enhance my employability and eventually achieve my career goal, I will also seek to meet the key expectations of events management career. The first expectation is the focus of making people happy; events managers have a role of making sure that their guests are enjoying themselves and providing great feedback (Getz, 2013, p. 84). Therefore, whether am organizing a birthday or wedding party, or a funeral, I should strive to meet my clients needs by working round the clock to exceed their expectations. Considering the ever-changing and increasing demands and expectations of events industry, creativity is another major expectation (Bladen, 2012, p. 66). I will work to be more creative, especially in regard to solving problems and coming up with new ideas aimed at providing better services at cheaper costs. The other expectation of this career is exceptional interactions and collaboration with diverse people including the media, clients, participants, and suppliers among others (Junek, Lockstone and Mair, 2009, p.126). Leveraging on my great interpersonal skills, I will work to cultivate constructive interactions with all the people and organizations I encounter in course of my work.
Additionally, achieving and sustaining a competitive edge is the other major expectation of this industry; it is a highly competitive industry both for business and employment since many players provide identical services (Arcodia and Barker, 2014, p. 13). In order to attain and maintain competitiveness, I will be seeking to be innovative by introducing new things in the market, as well as modifying some of the services offered by competitors so as to produce unique products that set our company apart from competition. I am also aware of the expectations of a regularly disrupted social life; most events are held over the weekends and during holidays and therefore the event managers and planners tend to be involved in ensuring they deliver for their clients, while they themselves do not get time to enjoy the moments (Bowdin, 2012, p. 49). To overcome this challenge, I will maximize on the available free time to spend with my family and friends in order to compensate for the time I will be engaged with clients' events. I am further aware of the extremely challenging expectation of the industry because it is fast-paced. Through cultivation of broader networks of events management professionals and continuous personal development on industry's skills, I will have the capacity and ability of overcoming the challenges and creating an exciting work environment.
Career Plan Recommendations to Achieve Career Goal
It is evident that pursuing a career in events management is both exciting and challenging. The self-reflection exercise has provided critical insights into; who I am in terms of strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas of professional growth. Also, it has provided insights of the expectations of the events management career. Based on these insights, the following career plan recommendations are made to achieve my career goal:
Build and enhance employability throughout university studies to gain relevant knowledge through taking up additional trainings such as accounting, along with the core course.
Seek to gain hands-on experience through participation in internship, as well as planning for campus events, and family and friends events such as weddings and birthday parties.
Get a casual work during vacation times in order to earn experience and prove to my future employer that I was dedicated and motivated to work in the industry.
To do professional development hours including working in community events in order to get real-world events chances of events planning.












Bibliography
Arcodia, C and Barker, T. (2014). The Employability Prospects of Graduates in Event
Management: Using Data from Job Advertisements. Available at: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_10174/ca_tb_jobads.pdf?Expires=1499084471&Signature=ds3UPoTK5lwTArNh0mIxNhC0qVWYWmdzyNlq7Cg-J8TFUM56W6jSTmHYVkPpDraUYJJpHdROE25heK1Vx~11FiH7FUPSVajwM1e-~CygwwVebj3colxycXGPlHrnuRLClnInQL2tP4jFGKukjSn6e-D2eW49IeZkydQvMy5RfV~ZnN4QAkSK7997po~xXbAmVewi0MYXYFW3jFAceBUcDgGWt00RZSTCLhExhcYv9ChUJ44A20NmuOTel69YLB4GLHZg~Wwz~kpdLf962MQp265IsK5rWYvPFOmIzICxelssRKUrGvR~lvSwYFHHDoWH9OXZ5kjCzovJ1rh98sVkYQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJKNBJ4MJBJNC6NLQ [Accessed: 2 July, 2017].
Bladen, C. (2012). Events management: An introduction. New York : Routledge, 2012.
Bowdin, G. A. J. (2012). Events management. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Getz, D. (2013). Event Management & Event Tourism. Cognizant Communication Corp.
Junek, O., Lockstone, L. and Mair, J. (2009), "Two perspectives on event management
employment: student and employer insights into the skills required to get the job done!", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 120-129
Leonie, L et al. (2013). "Emerging knowledge and innovation in event management",
International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Vol. 4 Issue: 3
Raj, R et al. (2013). Events Management: Principles and Practice. SAGE Publications.