Event Planner
Resume Example

As an event planner, you’ll know that there’s always one more thing to sort out. Hopefully, the tips below can make sorting our your resume as painless as possible.

Keep reading to learn the best strategies for boosting your resume and your chances of landing your dream job.

Tip #1. The Right Resume Needs The Right Introduction

Vital to your chances of success, your resume introduction must be short but chock-full of key information about your past and present as well as your ambitions for the future.

Generally, resume introductions come in four forms: professional profiles, career objectives, resume summaries, and qualifications summaries. Each type seeks to attract the attention of the hiring manager but differs in how it does it.

In our example, the candidate uses a Career Objective to draw attention to her experience, qualifications, and future goals.

Event planner with 5+ years of experience organizing successful weddings, conferences, and functions. Possess a B.A. in Hospitality Management and expertise in event management software. Looking to leverage my knowledge and experience to transition into the high-end wedding planning domain.

Our candidate, right from the get-go, places her experience (over 5 years) front and center.

This is a solid foundation of experience for event management, and its prominent location on her resume makes it likely the first thing hiring managers will notice. Which is great because—as we all know—first impressions count.

The candidate’s educational background, while also important, is less significant for her because she already has a lot of experience under her belt. Thus, it comes next.

Notice how she mentions her expertise in event planning software:

This is a great place to put it—just where the hiring manager will see it—while leaving the more precise details for her skills section.

Last, the candidate rounds out her Career Objective by specifying her ambitions for the future.

Why did she do this?

First, it lets the hiring manager see if her ambitions match their own.

While you may worry that firms couldn’t care less about your aspirations, learning about them actually helps recruiters and managers find out whether your aims align with theirs.

Plus, touching upon your ambitions in your career objective shows that you’re a motivated candidate—one who isn’t content with ordinary job prospects.

This kind of drive is what many hiring managers are on the constant lookout for, so it doesn’t hurt to convey this attitude early on in the application process.

Tip #2. Let Data Do the Leg Work

One thing we’ve noticed over the years is that job applicants are great at showcasing their previous work experience but struggle to back up their claims.

It’s vital to do this, and one way to accomplish it is by including numbers. If you’re able to quantify your work experience throughout your resume, you’ll be landing interviews before you know it.

Our job applicant does a great job of doing this.

Check it out:

This is much more effective than what the candidate could have done:

“Consult with clients to plan perfect weddings.”

What did our candidate do better than this? She used data. By providing solid data, you’re giving your future boss cast-iron proof of your success. Better still, they can use it to see how it will benefit their bottom line.

After all, what ambitious wedding planner company wouldn’t want to hire someone who gets five-star ratings so often?

Data and figures are peppered throughout this resume:

Our candidate tells us that she gets sizeable discounts from site and equipment providers.

But, by reading between the lines, what this stat tells the hiring manager is not only that she can organize a successful event but also that she has impressive interpersonal skills that help her get discounts and make contacts.

Look at this second example:

Our candidate again uses statistics sensationally here to prove that she can satisfy her customers by helping them save money on their weddings—one of the most expensive and stressful life events any of us will ever experience.

Let’s face it, given the price of weddings nowadays, who wouldn’t want to come in under budget? And by providing unforgettable weddings at less-than-expected prices, our candidate proves that she can retain and grow market share.

The key takeaway of this tip? Throw lots of data at your potential employer. Deluge them in it. The more proof you provide that you will excel, the more hiring managers will beg you to sign on the dotted line.

Tip #3. Your Skills Section Should Help You Shine

Your skills section is one of the most valuable pieces of resume real estate.

Because it’s made up of words or short phrases, each item stands out.

Take a look at the candidate’s skills list:

At just 12 words long, it’s a short, sweet section. But it packs a lot of punch. You should put a lot of thought into each word, because your skills section will naturally catch the recruiter’s eye.

Looking at our candidate’s skills section, we can see that she has a good mix of hard and soft skills.

Hard skills are usually related to something you’ve learned and or picked up on the job (e.g., Microsoft Word capability, First Aid skills, or driving).

By contrast, soft skills relate to your personality (e.g., whether you’re organized, good with people, or calm under pressure).

Hard Skills

In the case of our candidate, she lists two essential pieces of event planning software that event management specialists use (Dean Evans EMS and AllSeated).

This does two things:

• It reassures her future boss that she knows her stuff
• It backs up her claim made earlier in her Career Objective (“expertise in event planning software”)

This second point is crucial: If you hint at a skill or experience in your resume introduction, provide further detail in the relevant section later on.

In life you have to tie up loose ends. It’s the same when you’re writing your resume.

Soft Skills

The other skills listed in this example resume are soft skills:

Adaptability
Collaboration
Time Management
Critical Thinking
Handling Pressure

They show that the candidate can adapt, work well with people, organize her time, think critically, and handle pressure, respectively.

Because soft skills are more subjective (i.e., less easy to prove), remember to expand on them elsewhere in your resume.

What this means is, for each soft skills you list, provide an example of you using it in your Work Experience section. Bonus points if you add some stats to give your claim extra oomph!

We hope that you now feel confident enough to create your own resume and get the perfect event planner job.

Check out our suite of free resume templates to improve the chances that employers put you on their interview list, or try out our new and improved resume builder if you’re really in a hurry!

Good luck, and happy job hunting!