Events management

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Conference centre manager
• Event manager
• Hotel manager
• Outdoor activities/education manager
• Public house manager
• Restaurant manager

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Charity fundraiser
• Holiday representative
• Marketing executive
• Museum/gallery exhibitions officer
• Public relations officer
• Sales promotion account executive
• Talent agent
• Theme park manager
• Tourism officer
• Warehouse manager

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Events management has a lot of desirable but competitive roles which value experience equally as high as the degree itself, so it’s vital to get this experience alongside your studies to try and standout.

Some courses have placement modules or integrated practical event projects which can help with this. However, events management students shouldn't rely on this. Gaining real world experience in the hospitality or tourism sector would be desirable for prospective employers. Many events organisations look for casual staff to help at their events, and this can be a good way to develop customer-facing skills and build up contacts in the sector.

Any role which demonstrates you can work hard and think on your feet is useful. Extra-curricular activities at university can also give you valuable experience, for example, organising the end of term ball or a fundraiser for a university society.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

Large hotel chains, conference venues and wedding organisers all offer opportunities for events management graduates. Some courses give students the chance to specialise in festival or cultural and arts events, so museums, large galleries and festival organisers are possible sources of vacancies.

Graduates can also find work in events management companies and charities, which organise large scale fundraising events. Working for an events management company or marketing agency can lead to lots of short-term contract work in a variety of other sectors, for example in higher education for graduation ceremonies or university open days.

Find information on employers in hospitality and events management, leisure, sport and tourism, charity and voluntary work and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

As well as developing project management and organisational skills, a degree in events management equips you with both business and creative skills to take an event from the ideas stage to realisation.

You will develop the skills such as:

• event organisation, planning and delivering, from conception to final delivery
• budgeting, managing resources and finances
• marketing and communication, to promote your events
• working as a part of a team and ability to manage people.

Further study

Most people working in events management have an events management degree or do a Masters in the subject if their first degree was unrelated.

Only a small number of events management graduates go on to further study. Generally, there is no requirement to continue to postgraduate level, as employers place a greater value on experience in this area of work.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses in event management.

What do events management graduates do?

30% of events management graduates work as events managers and organisers. Advertising and marketing associate professionals (9%), sales and retail assistants (5%) and business sales executives (4%) are also among the top five jobs reported.

Find out what other events management graduates are doing 15 months after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.