Looking for Event Management Internships?

How to Find Work Experience in the Events Industry

It takes more than just talent to forge yourself a career in the increasingly popular field of event management. Despite having all the right skills, personality traits and attitude, many well suited individuals are told to apply again when they have more experience in the field. Even university graduates who have done nothing but eat, sleep, and breath event management for three long years find that there is no substitute for experience. One way to gain this experience and to add value to any CV is to seek out, and complete an event management internship.

What’s an internship?

An internship is any formal or official program designed to give practical experience to beginners in an occupation or profession. They can last from a period of a few weeks to a year or more and are often unpaid or poorly paid.

Why work for free?

Event management internships shouldn’t be seen as ‘working for free’, as the experience and guidance you receive during your placement is of more value than a simple pay check. Look carefully when choosing your event management internship, and don’t be afraid to be bold about what you expect in return for your hard work. The experience should be mutually beneficial, with the employer gaining an enthusiastic addition to their workforce for little or nothing, and the intern enjoying hands on industry experience and event management skills passed down from a seasoned pro.

What makes a good event management internship?

Any organisation that takes on interns simply to cut down on their admin costs isn’t worth working for. In exchange for your hard work, you should expect to gain a range of new experiences and for your employer to take timeout of their own busy schedule to mentor and guide you. If you’re not learning new skills then you really are ‘working for free’.

As with any deal, the terms should be laid out clearly before each party accepts, so be sure you understand what’s expected of you, and what your employer will do for you in return.

Many of the larger organisations take on a quota of interns each year and have well designed structured internship programs. These will undoubtedly be more competitive but will give you the added bonus of having a well known name on your CV when you finish. Although finding an internship with a smaller organisation that doesn’t traditionally take on interns maybe more difficult and less structured, you may also find that you are able to get more involved with projects and have a greater chance of being offered full time employment when complete.

How to find your internship?

Two general rules apply when searching for an event management internship, start early, and be persistent. The enormous popularity of the industry means that any employer is likely to be receiving a large of number of CVs and cover letters asking pretty much the same thing. Why should they phone you back? Quite simply, they won’t. 

Be sure CVs are targeted to an individual (call to find out who that individual is if need be), and are accompanied by a short, ‘non waffle’ cover letter.

Make sure any CV is followed up with a phone call (between 1-2 weeks later) and make sure you know something about the company when you make that call. Stand up when you talk on the phone (an old sales trick to inject life into a conversation), sell yourself, and be memorable. Some sales people say that the best time to catch people is about 12.30, when they're in a good mood, relaxed and winding down as lunch time approaches. 

When you call many employers will not have read, or will have lost your original CV. Be prepared to send another and follow that one up with a phone call too.

You cannot approach too many companies, so don’t just apply to your favourite few. Hedge your bets, do your research and approach as many companies as you can. At the very least, all those follow up calls will be good practice for selling yourself in the future.

So how do you find companies to apply to? Well there will be those you have already heard of, and a quick google search will reveal a few more. Read event management related websites where you’ll find lots of companies offering their services. Check their websites and approach the most suitable.

Another approach is to find events that you’re interested in from any ‘what’s on’ guide, and to find out who the organisers are and to approach them that way.

One useful, albeit expensive resource is The White Book, a reference directory listing just about every organisation involved in the UK event industry. Although it costs some £90, this sum can be divided amongst friends and will provide you with an inexhaustible list of event related businesses to approach.

Finally, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of healthy nepotism to get ahead. The event industry is a people industry, and any link no matter how tenuous should be exploited. If you know someone who works in the event industry, or if you know someone who knows someone why not give them a call? At the very worst they can only say 'no', and if they have no need for an intern at present perhaps they know somebody who does.

Good Luck!

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