According to the Bureau of Labor, the event planner job will grow 7% annually until 2033. That’s above the country’s average job growth for other occupations. The average rate of pay per hour is $27.36.
With that kind of job growth, the industry has room for new event planners.
That makes the job itself an excellent choice for people just starting or needing to change careers for one reason or another.
Being Your Own Boss
About one in 11 event planners in the United States operates independently. Still, with the industry’s growth, that number will likely rise over the next eight to 10 years.
Setting your hours, working with the clients you want to work with, and setting your own destiny are three terrific pluses to being an independent event planner.
The thing to remember, however, is that breaking into the industry will be challenging even with the forecast of excellent job growth. While being your own boss is a great perk, you should manage your expectations.
Being Creative
Whether you’ve hung out your shingle or joined an event planning firm, you get to apply a dose of creativity and self-expression to how you fulfill customers’ requests. No two event planners will tackle the same topic in the same way. Of course, you’ll have to accede to the customers’ wishes and demands, but you get the chance to work with them and discuss the best ways to fulfill them.
This collaboration ensures that the client’s vision is realized and allows you to infuse your unique style and expertise into each event. Combining their ideas with your professional insight can create memorable experiences that stand out. Adaptability and problem-solving become key as you navigate different themes, budgets, and expectations. The result is that each project is a fresh and exciting challenge.
Being Collaborative
Speaking of working with others, if that’s one of your strengths, you can leverage that even if you work for yourself. You’ll have to network and build relationships with many partners who can help you with your planned events. Some of those partners could include:
- Caterers
- Musicians
- Tradespeople
- People in the transportation business
- Sponsors
- Public speakers
- Various vendors, such as people or businesses that provide decorations, audio-visual services, and ticketing
- The media
By working with such varied industries and people, you’ll build your collection of skills, making you desirable to hire and/or promote within a business or get noticed as an independent event planner.
When you deal with people from different walks of life, you specifically hone your skills in interpersonal relations, communication styles, and sometimes even conflict resolution.
Being Able to Travel
As you become more well-known in the event planning milieu, you may have the opportunity to travel elsewhere to plan events. For example, you might be summoned to France to plan a conference on the Riviera if you work for an event planning company. You can do the same thing if you own your event planning company.
Traveling for event planning can be an exciting and rewarding experience. It allows you to work in diverse locations and cater to many clients.
Each destination presents unique challenges and opportunities, from navigating local regulations to incorporating regional traditions into your events. This exposure enhances your professional skills and helps you build a reputation as a versatile and in-demand planner.
The more successful events you execute in different locations, the more your credibility and client base will grow.
Having Great Variety
The job would be boring if all you organized were work conferences. In this job, you could plan:
- Weddings
- Conferences
- Cultural “coming-of-age” events
- Meet-and-greet parties
- Family reunions
- Retreats, religious or otherwise
- Galas
- Balls
- Team-building exercises
- Musical performances
- Almost anything else the customer can dream up
Being an event planner will keep you on your toes throughout each workday. One way to streamline everything is to stay on top of everything with event management software. For example, zkipster is a site that enables event planners to organize events.
Conclusion
Event planning is an exciting career that gives you terrific opportunities for growth, fun, and fulfillment, particularly if helping people or working in a group are part of your job preferences. You could develop a fabulous list of event planning tips and write a book about your experiences!