Your Event Career

Boost Your Resume with Event Planner Certification Programs!

Guess what? Your career options aren’t just limited to professional party planning when you take a planning course! Sure, many choose to become full-time planners after receiving their certification. But it’s not the only career path available!

Your certifications can open up more opportunities for you. They shouldn’t restrict your career prospects! If you’re looking for extra encouragement, we’re here to give it to you! Read on to find out how event planning certification programs can give your resume a remarkable boost!

The events you’ll plan:

The industry of event planning is broad. It covers a range of events from small-scale holiday parties to full-blown music festivals! But most people attain their general event planning certification before deciding to specialize their skills. That being said, you should feel confident to plan an array of events with just a general event planning course!

If you do choose to specialize further, there’s no shortage of available courses out there. Wedding planning, corporate event planning, and live events are the most obvious “specializations”. Wedding planning itself is a billion dollar industry in the US. Luxury weddings and destination weddings are skyrocketing in popularity!

As for corporate events? Events within the company, between companies, and even between industries are huge endeavors. As with live events, the larger the scale, the more time, resources, and manpower are necessary to execute it. Balancing larger budgets and details becomes more difficult without proper training. When running a big production, you must anticipate what could go wrong even if you’ve never encountered that situation yourself. Studying common planning blunders readies you to respond in case you’re trapped in a sticky situation.

You can plan virtually any event under the sun! However, as the size of the celebrations increase, there are more factors to consider. Having great communication and organization skills allows you to keep on top of your duties.

The planning skills you’ll learn:

Event planning is one of those occupations where the skills are highly transferable. You can apply the skills you learn in both professional and personal contexts. There’s no better way to boost your resume than to highlight your hard and soft skills. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of event planner skills:

• Interpersonal: You’ll learn how to be savvy when dealing with clients as well as your vendors and suppliers. All these types of relationships require a different approach.
• Networking: Networking with other industry pros and experts will increase your career prospects. You’ll also learn more insider secrets of the trade to operate a more efficient business!
• Organization: Sticking to budgets and timelines is tough on its own. But you’ll also have to coordinate with vendors to get them to do so too! You’ll learn how to do all this simultaneously. Starting from a year in advance to the day of.
• Creativity: Most times, your creativity will find its outlet when you’re in a pinch.
• Business: Becoming a business owner takes more than a shiny new sign and an office space. The mechanics of running a business and making it profitable aren’t always clear to the untrained.
• Adaptability: You’re constantly working with new people, new trends, and unavoidable last-minute obstacles. You’ll need to be quick on your feet and ultra-flexible.
• Working under pressure: Budget and time restraints are two of the biggest catalysts. If you’re not on top of them, they can swallow you whole!
• Attention to detail: Planners must learn how to plan stunning events while the layperson just wants to have all the technical aspects in place. The key’s in the details!

Who you can work for:

As we mentioned at the beginning, you aren’t just limited to planning careers. In fact, many careers both within and outside the wedding planning industry can benefit from event planning courses. Careers in the industry include…

• Event Decorator
• Caterer
• Day-of Coordinators
• Venue Manager
• Promoter

And other industries? Marketing, charity fundraising, and the entire hospitality sector are just some fields you’ll be prepared to enter depending on the exact planning course you graduate from.

But what if you decide down the line that you do want to become an event planner? Some people immediate start shopping around the different planning companies in their area. While you can certainly do that, you have another option. You can be your own boss!

What’s more empowering than being self-employed? You can determine your own salary and choose your own clients. Not to mention, being able to define your business to best suit your skills. If you know that planning corporate conferences aren’t your thing—don’t sweat it! Working for yourself means that you don’t have to answer to anyone else. You call the shots.

But also know that whether or not your business succeeds or fails, it’s all on you. You have to invest in your business with your own time, money, and resources. We can’t guarantee that an event planning certification will mean smooth sailing for you. But you’re not alone! You’ll be qualified to join associations who have resources readily available for you to use. Hey, we’re not going to downplay the amount of necessary hard work. But rest assured, you’ll know exactly where to start!

The silver lining to all your blood, sweat, and tears? The feeling of accomplishment! You gathered those resources, planned everything from beginning to end, and you get to see your clients overjoyed at the end of a successful event! Especially for personally significant events such as weddings, you get a front row seat to observing your clients be happy to spend the rest of their lives together.

How else do you think your event planner certification program can boost your resume?

Check out this list of wedding planning lifestyle perks!

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