Event Planner Resumes & Guide

Are you on the hunt for a new Event Planner position? The first step in landing a new role is to make sure your resume is up to par. To do this, check out the Event Planner resume samples and pick your favorite one to use as a template.

This guide will not only break down Event Planner resumes that have been proven to be effective, but it will also give you a step-by-step guide to writing a resume that gives you an edge in today's job market. If you follow this carefully, you will have interviews lined up in no time!

Event Planner Resume Examples

You can download this Event Planner Resume Samples for free at the bottom of this page in .PDF

The Event Planner Resume Guide:

Resume Sections:

  1. Contact information
  2. Profile Summary
  3. Work History
  4. Achievements
  5. Education
  6. Skill Section
  7. Certification & Licensing
  8. Extras: Languages/Awards/Publications/Volunteering/hobbies
  9. > Professional information

1. Contact Information

  • First Name and Last Name
  • Email
  • Physical Address
  • LinkedIn Profile / Portfolio Link

2. Professional Summary / Career Objective:

1 – 3 sentences giving a broad overview of your background, years of experience as an Event Planner, the types of events you have planned, and the number of attendees you have hosted events for.

3. Employment History:

Showcase your employment history. Include the company name, your title, the dates of employment, and a list of your daily responsibilities for each of the previous positions you have held.

4. Education/ Certifications/ Coursework/ Training:

Most employers aren’t looking for a specific academic degree, but if you have one, or if you have taken any individual training courses, include those here.

5. Key Skills:

List of essential skills that you possess that align with the job descriptions you are applying for.

What Do Hiring Managers Look for?

You are probably wondering, ‘What exactly do hiring managers look for when they are looking at Event Planner resumes?’

To see if you are a good fit, the first thing hiring managers look for is how many years you have been an Event Planner. As with most positions, hiring managers have ideal seniority in mind when they are recruiting, ranging from entry-level to seasoned experts. Even though hiring managers can count the years listed in your past employment, it is also necessary to put the number of years you have been an Event Planner in your resume objective, as well.

Next, hiring managers will want to know the types of events you have experience planning. This could include corporate events, like conferences, meetings, training seminars, and luncheons. This could also include private events, like weddings, family reunions, and live performance shows. On the other hand, this might also include functions for non-profit and professional organizations, like fundraisers and charity events. Include the types of events you have experience within both the objective section and in each position description.

The next thing hiring managers will be looking for is the number of people you have experience hosting events for. There is a big difference between a wedding for 20 and a national conference for 2k. The number of attendees often dictates the complexity of the planning and hiring managers will want to know that you can handle the capacity of their typical events. Include the number of attendees in both your profile/objective section, and in each position description.

Lastly, indicate if you have any areas of specialty. While you may have planned all types of events in the past, most Event Planners have an area they are particularly good at, whether its managing F&B vendors or setting up complex registration systems. You can include your specialties in your professional objective as well as in your cover letter.

Event Planner Resume Objectives

Your career objective is the first thing an employer will read on your resume and is an appetizer to get them ready for what’s to come. Since hiring managers are on a tight schedule, and don’t spend a lot of time looking at each resume, you need to draw them in quickly with a clear, concise, and competent professional resume objective.

The goal of your resume profile/objective is to give the reader a broad overview of your past work experience, your areas of specialty, and most importantly, why you would be the perfect fit for their role.

Start your objective with your title, such as ‘Event Planner’ or ‘Director of Events’, followed by your years of experience in the industry. Next, indicate the types of events that you have planned and the number of attendees you have hosted. Lastly, include any areas of specialty that you have.

To give you an idea of what your resume objective should look like, we have provided some Event Planner career objective examples below:

“Process-oriented and personable Director of Events with 15 years of experience planning and executing corporate events ranging from 5 to 600 attendees. Areas of specialty include seminars, employee training, and executive meetings.“
“Proactive and organized Event Planner with 6 years of experience planning, managing, and executing events in the private sector ranging from 20 to 100 attendees. Areas of specialty include weddings, birthday parties, and fundraisers.“

Even Planner Job Duties & Responsibilities

After finishing your resume objective, you are ready to move on to your professional experience section. If you are going with a chronological resume format, you will start with your most recent position at the top.

For each position, include the name of the company you worked for, your position title, your dates of employment (including month and year), and a list of daily responsibilities. It is also a good idea to give a short explanation of the company you worked for at the top of each position description.

To get the ball rolling, we have included a list of Event Planner responsibilities that you can add to your professional experience section.

Samples

  • Facilitating requirement-gathering meetings with event stakeholders to determine the needs and logistics of an event
  • Developing and maintaining a strategic network of subcontractors and vendors, including Food & Beverage (F&B), Audio/Visual (A/V), Marketing, Security, and Hosts
  • Managing all aspects of the event planning process, from end to end, including ideation, venue identification, menu development, marketing, budget administration, registration, and execution
  • Qualifying and registering sponsors, including drafting proposals and budgets
  • Negotiating contracts with suppliers and vendors
  • Utilizing Project Management software to manage, track, and analyze the event planning process
  • Facilitating post-event surveys and assessments

List of Key Skills

Just like with your objective section, a list of key skills is a quick way to show employers that you have what it takes to be successful in their role.

This section should mimic the responsibilities listed in the job descriptions you are applying for. Make sure to pay special attention to how things are worded on job postings, and replicate that language in your key skills section. This will help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems.

To get you started, we have included a list of Event Planner key skills below.

Event Planner Key Skills

Functional Skills:
Event PlanningProfessional NetworkingVendor Management
Budget AdministrationProject ManagementDocumentation
Analytics & ReportingSupplier CoordinationCustomer Service
Technical Skills
MS OfficePowerPointExcel
OutlookQuickBooksMS Project

To give your key skills section some additional weight, you may choose to list ‘Beginner, ‘Proficient’, or ‘Expert’ next to each of the listed skills.

Quantify Your Resume

Employers love reading numbers on a resume. Numbers make your experience feel more tangible. When writing your resume, if you can answer the questions, “How much?” or How many?”, you should include that number. For example:

  • How many people attended your events?
  • How large was your event budget?
  • How many suppliers and vendors do you have relationships with?
  • How many sponsors did you have at your event?

Soft Skills for an Event Planner

As an Event Planner, your soft skills are often more than important than your functional abilities. If you aren’t sure what soft skills are, they relate to your personality and work ethic. They are the things that people innately possess, rather than things that people learn.

As an Event Planner, most of your responsibilities involve dealing with people. This means you need to be personable and professional, above all. To show employers that you have the soft skills they are looking for, try incorporating these into your profile, key skills, and cover letter sections:

  • Resourceful
  • Analytical
  • Friendly
  • Outgoing
  • Organized
  • Sensitive
  • Process-Oriented
  • Proactive
  • Positive
  • Approachable

Action Verbs for your Event Planner Resume

When writing your professional experience section, don’t make your employment history sound like a passive, boring list of tasks. Instead, help employers envision you performing your job by using these Event Planner-specific action verbs:

NetworkingPlanningOrdering
ConstructingRegisteringResearching
NegotiatingBudgetingReconciling
DocumentingCustomizingPrepairing
CoordinatingInvoicingManaging
FulfillingMaintainingPromoting
MarketingRecognizingCreating
DelegatingAssigningRecommending
ImplementingHostingHolding

Finalizing your Resume

Great work! You are almost ready to start sending your Event Planner resume out. But first, there are a few last things we need to do.
To make sure there isn’t anything critical missing, check this resume checklist. Sometimes the most obvious things get left out!

Next, figure out where to post your resume. The most common options are Monster, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, and Indeed.

Last, proofread! Don’t be afraid to have a friend or colleague review your resume for you. MS Word doesn’t always catch everything, and you never want to make a bad first impression with incorrect spelling or grammar.

Okay, your resume is good to go! Save it in both .doc and .pdf file format, send it out, and get ready to put your interview suit on.
Event Planner Cover Letters & Thank You Notes

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