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Finding The Right Conference & Events Job – How To Improve Your Chances
How to improve your chances of landing the right job in the UK conference and events industry
If you’re looking for a new job in the UK conference and events sector then it may take you a lot of time and effort to find exactly the right move. This business sector is extremely buoyant at the moment so there are a lot of full time and freelance positions out there. But, finding them isn’t always as easy as you might think.
It’s often difficult to find the right role when you have specialist skills. So many traditional methods of finding a job cater for the general market – so you can spend a lot of time searching for suitable jobs for which you actually want to apply. And, then you have to go out and get one!
You can, however, make things a lot simpler if you do some general CV and interview preparation and think about where you are going to look for positions in the first place. There are three key rules to follow here:
Get Your CV Right
The first impression we make in a job application is when a recruiter reads our CV. So, it’s vital to make sure that your CV is accurate and that it markets your skills, experience and ability to do the position. Fail to do this and it’s unlikely that it will earn you an interview.
The first thing to do here is to get your basic details right. These include your name, date of birth, sex and qualifications. You may then want to give a brief synopsis of your skills to encourage the recruiter to read through the body of your CV. Then list your jobs. Give each job a heading that tells the recruiter where you worked, how long you worked there and what position you held. Remember that a short CV is far easier to read than a long one. So, give as much detail as you need to get your skills/experience across but don’t be tempted to write too much.
Another vital part of the CV process is your cover letter – you can use this to highlight elements of your experience that are relevant to the role. Again, this will encourage a recruiter to read further – it’s also wise here to keep the letter short and to the point. Finally, do remember that you don’t have to send out a standard generic CV for every job. A little care customising a CV to a particular role could open doors for you!
Plan Your Interview
It’s never too early to plan the finer details of how you will handle your interview when you get one. So, don’t think that you can only think about the interview process once you’ve found a suitable position. You can do a lot of the planning before you even get to that stage. Remember, the more prepared you are, the more likely you are to succeed.
For example, you don’t want to be worrying about what you will wear at the last minute. So, as soon as you start thinking about getting another job, start planning what you’ll wear for your interviews. You may already have suitable clothes – if so, make sure that they are dry cleaned and ready to go. You may be called to an interview at short notice so you don’t want to be caught out. If, however, you need to buy new clothes for interview then buy them early – if you have to go out and buy a suit at short notice then the one guarantee you have is that you won’t be able to find one you like!
It’s vital here that you look the part - most conference/events jobs will involve contact with the public so you will be expected to be smart and friendly. Simple things like having a neat haircut and being able to relate to your interviewer will go a long way to making the right impression.
You also need to make sure that you prepare yourself mentally and physically before your interviews start. Make sure that you are getting enough sleep – don’t think an early night the night before will be enough. You’ll feel sharper and more alert if you have had good restful sleep over a period of time.
Look In The Right Places
You’re now ready to start looking for suitable positions. You can save yourself a lot of time and effort here by finding a source of jobs that are targeted to the UK conferences and events sector rather than by just looking in a general way.
One of the great things about looking for a job nowadays is that you can use technology to help you. Developments in web technology, in particular, have made it far simpler to source and apply for jobs in all kinds of sectors. And, in recent years web sites have moved away from offering general lists of jobs that cover all kinds of sectors and have developed into specialist areas.
As you can imagine, this will make your job search a whole lot easier. If you can visit a site that solely offers opportunities in conference and events companies then you can identify suitable jobs quickly and make sure you apply ahead of the field. You also don’t have to waste time searching for conference/events positions – some large general job sites contain thousands of jobs at any given time and most of them won’t interest you.
If you visit a niche conference and events site such as UK Conference Jobs (www.ukconferencejobs.com), however, you’ll gain an instant advantage as all of the positions advertised on the site will be relevant to your skills and experience. This specialist conference and events recruitment site has a simple to use job search function so you can immediately assess the jobs suitable to you. And, if nothing is quite right when you first search, then you can register with the site to receive targeted job alerts as soon as new jobs are posted.
Follow these rules and you’ll make sure that you give yourself the best chance of finding and getting the right job at the right time. And, don’t forget your research before you attend any interview – take some time to find out everything that you can about the position you’re applying for and the company itself. Nowadays, even a quick Internet search can help you learn about the history of a company and how it works. Any interviewer will be impressed if you show that you have done some research before you meet them. Good Luck!