Event manager CV examples to help you build yours

An event manager is an individual who can plan and execute a wide variety of events. While sometimes also referred to as an event planner, we’ll focus here on the CV for an event manager specifically.

Event managers may manage events that are very small, like birthday parties with just a few families, or they may be as large as the Olympics. Regardless of the size, you need a wide variety of skills if you want to pull off an event that people enjoy. If you’re planning to apply for a job as an event manager, here’s how you can use an event manager CV sample and tips to do so.

Event managers primarily need to be incredible at multitasking and working under pressure. Events typically require a lot of work in a very short period, and that means you need to understand how you can pull off the event that your client wants from you. Here are a few of the types of events that you might plan:

• Fundraisers
• High school reunions
• Corporate events
• Event marketing
• Trade shows

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Your CV structure may depend on many different elements, but one of the most important ones is your CV format. If you have plenty of experience, the chronological format, which emphasises work history, is the right option. However, less experience might warrant the functional or combination format. Regardless of the CV format you choose, however, you’ll typically have these sections.

Contact information

The first element of your CV is typically the CV header. This is where you put your full name and contact information with your phone number, and any professional social media accounts you have, like LinkedIn or Instagram, or your own events management site.

Professional summary or career objective

The next section of your CV is usually your professional summary or career objective. This is a brief 2-3 sentence paragraph. The professional summary provides an overview of your years of experience and any certifications or awards you have.

If you have little to no work experience, you should write a career objective. A career objective is written the same as a professional statement, but then adds content about your career goals and what you are trying to accomplish with your CV.

Skills

Here are a few events-related skills you should consider for this section:

• Knowledge of budgets
• Excellent communication
• Detail-oriented nature
• Problem-solving skills
• Project management
• Staffing skills
• Audiovisual presentations
• Leadership
• Marketing plans
• Liaising with providers
• Organisational skills
• Public relations skills
• Time management
• Microsoft Office

Work history

In your work experience section, you should include all job titles you’ve held in the events industry and all experiences you’ve had where you routinely helped plan events within the past 10 years. Even if you were carrying out these duties in a different career field, they could still provide great evidence of event planning skills. Include the company name, your job title, and the start and end dates for each job you held. Also include two to three bullet points highlighting your most impressive achievements while you held that role.

Education

Add any schooling or training you’ve had for event planning in the education section, as well as your top academic credential (e.g., your college or university degree).

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Check out these additional tips when writing your event manager CV:

Do:

• Talk about previous events that you’ve successfully managed. Being able to show off events that worked well is an important part of your work history.
• Be on time for every appointment you make with a hiring manager. Timeliness is crucial for event coordinators, and being late won’t reflect well on your event planning skills.
• if you have supply chain relationships. You bring these relationships with you, which means the company will have them if they hire you.

Don’t:

• Talk poorly about any of your clients. It’s not generally considered professional and may put a company off from using your skills.
• Mention any events that didn’t go well. Remember, you want the hiring manager to hire you for your event planning experience, so don’t talk about jobs that failed.
• Discuss events you’ve planned in vague terms. In hospitality management, specificity is key, and you should have specific metrics to explain your events (e.g., “Managed job conference with 1000 participants”).