It’s a harsh reality: No matter how skilled in event management you are, you won’t get your dream job if your event planner resume doesn’t stand out.
Plus, with over 115,000 people in the event planning industry, you have some competition to match.
But when so much of your event planning work has to be experienced to be understood, how can you prove your prowess in writing?
The key is to make the typical elements of an effective resume work to reflect your skills.
Here’s a checklist of the essential elements to include on your event planner resume so you can stand out from other applicants. Plus, some event planner resume examples for inspiration.
7 Best practices for a top-quality event planner resume
1. Start with a stunning summary section
2. Highlight your event planning accomplishments, not a list of duties
3. Keep the education section short and sweet
4. Include relevant event management certifications
5. Add your most sought-after event management skills
6. Tailor your event planner resume to the job spec
7. Incorporate keywords and phrases
First things first, what should you include in an event planner resume?
Let’s break down the key components of a successful event planner’s resume:
- Personal summary (resume objective): This should include brief overview of you as a professional, highlighting your key event planning skills and career goals. It also includes your intentions for applying to the specific position.
- Work experience: A run-through of your previous event planning or related field roles. This includes the companies you worked for, your job title, dates of employment, and, most importantly, your responsibilities.
- Skills: A list of your abilities applicable to event planning. These could include technical skills (such as using event management software or budgeting) or soft skills (like communication or attention to detail). Think about any transferable talents you may have, including team-building, problem-solving, etc.
- Professional achievements: An overview of successful events you’ve coordinated and other notable achievements, such as exceeding event attendance targets or receiving positive guest feedback.
- Education: A summary of your educational background, starting with your most recent degree or qualification. Add any current qualifications you’re working toward.
- Certifications: A recap of any professional qualifications that enhance your event planner skills, like event management or hospitality certifications.
- References: A list of people who can vouch for your experience and abilities as an event planner. Most resumes include ‘references available on request,’ meaning that you can put the hiring manager in touch with your references if you get shortlisted.
Here’s how all these elements come together in an actual event planner resume example:
Personal summary
A skilled and results-driven event planner with five years of experience in the events and hospitality industry. Proven track record of exceeding guest expectations and planning and executing successful events within budget. Applying for this position to develop event management skills and support a growing organization with its events.
Work experience
Event Planner, Test Events: 03/03/2024–Present
- Responsible for event planning, management, and execution
- Managing an event support team
- Measuring performance and tracking success to ensure events meet guest expectations
Event Planner Assistant, 123 Events: 03/04/2022–03/03/2024
- Assisting the event planner with the planning and execution of events for clients across a variety of industries
Skills
- Event planning and coordination
- Building supplier relationships
- Event marketing strategy development
Professional achievements
- Increase attendance to an annual conference by 30% year-on-year, resulting in record-breaking ticket sales of $200,000
Education
- Bachelor of Business Administration, University of Southern Indiana: 2015–2018
- High School Diploma, Southern Indiana High School: 2014–2018
Certifications
- Event Planning Certificate Program (EPCP), Event Planning Association: 06/2022
References
Available on request.
12 Event planner resume examples and templates
With these requirements in mind, let’s look at some of the different resume formats based on specific event planner roles.
Please bear in mind! These are all simple templates that act as a starting point; they’re not ready to be used as is. Flesh them out with your own experiences and qualifications to create effective resumes for your event planner job applications.
Entry-level event planning roles
Entry-level event planner roles typically involve more hands-on tasks and responsibilities than senior roles. Finding a venue, ordering items from suppliers, and handling logistics are some examples.
Even if you don’t have a much experience in event planning, it’s important to touch on logistics skills you may be able to apply to event planning.
1. Entry-level event planner
If you’re creating an entry-level event planner resume, it’s unlikely you have a wealth of event planning experience. Instead, your resume should focus on transferable skills that can apply to event planning. These skills are highly desirable for hiring managers!
You should also outline any relevant experience, education, and reason for pursuing an events career.
💡Pro Tip: Have you been involved in successful event production? Add some examples with stats to show it, like how the Laugh Out Lounge comedy event organizers sold 2,880 tickets with Eventbrite-driven channels.
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2. Event production assistant
An event production assistant primarily focuses on the technical aspects of event planning, such as ensuring that lighting, sound, and staging run smoothly. Your resume should cover:
- Transferable event production skills — like organization, time management, and any technical production skills
- Experience in a similar role (or an unrelated role that has transferable event production skills)
- Relatable education or professional certifications
💡Pro Tip: Add examples to back up your skills to show hiring managers exactly how you apply your skill set to real-world situations.
3. Event planner assistant
As well as transferable skills and experience, an event planner assistant resume should show how you’ve supported event planners. If you don’t have event planning experience, talk about how you’ve supported managers or leaders in other roles.
💡Pro Tip: Show hiring managers that you know how stressful event planning is that you can handle the process and even have ideas and skills to make it smoother!
4. Venue operations assistant
Outline your skills and experience in operations to show event managers how you can support them with the following:
- Managing relationships with venues
- Handling event logistics
- Dealing with unexpected challenges
💡Pro Tip: Include a real-world experience when you’ve managed a booking or meeting venue and contributed to an event’s success.
Now, let’s take a look at the different types of senior event planner roles — and what to include in a senior resume.
Senior event planner roles
Senior event planners are generally responsible for overseeing the entire event planning process. This includes things like strategic planning, budget management, and team coordination to ensure a successful event.
5. Senior event planner
A senior event planner usually plans events for other individuals, such as weddings or parties. Your resume should focus on this experience, showing examples of successes in previous events, challenges you’ve overcome, and the event planning skills you’ll bring to the role.
💡Pro Tip: Add metrics to show the exact results of your event planning success. For example, ‘increased ticket sales by 30%.’
6. Event manager
Unlike event planners, event managers need a business mindset. They’re expected to drive for-profit or for-revenue events, so your resume should reflect that. Talk about your experience executing profitable events, as well as how you measure event performance and oversee event logistics.
💡Pro Tip: An event manager should also be skilled in people management. Touch on this in the resume to show hiring managers you’re confident and capable of managing a team.
7. Event director
An event director operates at a higher level than an event manager, guiding the vision and setting goals and metrics for event success. Your resume should cover the following experience:
- Handling the strategic direction of events
- Establishing budgets
- Aligning events with client objectives
💡Pro Tip: Event directors create and oversee event budgets, so touch on any experience you have with financial forecasting. Don’t forget to communicate your experience with idea generation and regulatory compliance.
Other types of event-planning roles
Now that we’ve covered entry-level and senior event planner roles, let’s look at resumes that are more specific to certain events.
8. Creative event planner
A creative event planner knows how to put on a show, planning unusual and inventive events like the Secret Movie Club or Drunk Theatre. Your resume should show hiring managers you have experience planning creative events and highlight your flair for thinking outside the box.
💡Pro Tip: Make your resume visual to demonstrate your creativity! Add an image or a pop of color to make it stand out.
9. Wedding planner
Your resume should show that you understand the importance of being trusted with planning one of the biggest days in a person’s life. Talk about any previous weddings you’ve planned, add quotes from the happy couples, and show that you can calmly deal with last-minute changes to ensure the wedding runs smoothly.
💡Pro Tip: Keep your resume professional but light. Weddings are a celebration, so you want the hiring manager to see you as someone who can plan a celebratory event!
10. Charity event planner
Organizing charity events often requires a different approach to event planning, with a focus on fundraising as a measure of success.
Show hiring managers that you understand the unique approach to the charity events process and why you’re applying for this role. Highlight your dedication to charity work and demonstrate why you’re passionate about being a charity event planner.
💡Pro Tip: Focus on why you want to work in the charity sector. Hiring managers will value this information, as events play an important role in a charity’s success. They need a dedicated team to bring these events to life and raise as much money as possible.
11. Large-scale event organizer
This role is very much about leadership and world-class organizational skills. Your resume should show that you can create a well-oiled process for organizing large events on time and within budget.
If you’re trying to get into large-scale events, include skills that prove you can handle this position:
- Managing a large team
- Completing risk assessments
- Working with health and safety
💡Pro Tip: Discuss how you manage conflicting priorities and deadlines — both of which are common when planning large events.
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12. Corporate event planner
Corporate event planners plan and execute professional business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) events, such as professional conferences like Klaviyo:BOS.
Your resume should show that you understand what it takes to plan and manage these types of events, such as handling professional communications, organizing corporate speakers, and ensuring that events align with business goals.
💡Pro Tip: Outline experience with contract management, which event planners may need to do when planning B2B corporate events.
7 Best practices for creating a top-quality event planner resume
Using one of our event resume templates? Awesome! Now, have a read through our best practices for fleshing them out.
1. Start with a stunning summary section
Employers want a quick rundown of who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and what you can bring. Include information that’s relevant to the job you’re seeking, and share specific results that you were able to achieve.
For an event planner or event manager, one line of your summary might be, ‘Planned and executed 15 premium-quality functions with budgets ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.’
2. Highlight your event planning accomplishments, not a list of duties
List your positions in reverse chronological order. Include the employer, job title, and dates you were employed, followed by your key accomplishments.
The idea is to be specific and results-focused. Something like ‘Partnered with local vendors to reduce the cost of events by 35%’ is better than “Partnered with local vendors.’ Likewise, ‘achieved a 98% attendee satisfaction rating’ is more impactful than ‘addressed attendee concerns.’
Remember, employers don’t know you yet, so it’s your responsibility to flaunt your capabilities and achievements. Confidence and self-belief are key.
3. Keep the education section short and sweet
The education section of your resume should be brief, listing the school, the degree, and the year attained. Follow up with a bullet point or two if you have something compelling to add, such as relevant coursework or if you had a leadership position in an organization and planned their events.
Although a bachelor’s degree isn’t necessarily required to become an event manager or event planner, it’s strongly recommended in a competitive space.
While many who go into event management or event planning careers may have degrees in areas like hospitality management or marketing, it’s not a deal breaker if you studied something else. Your job experience and personal characteristics are usually what usually carry the most weight.
4. Include relevant event management certifications
A popular way to differentiate your event management resume is with a relatable certification. In the case of an event planner or event manager, some certifications to consider include:
- Certified meeting professionals
- Certified special events professional
- An event sponsorship certification
- Certified professional in catering and events
- An event marketing certification
Certifications let prospective employers know you’re committed to keeping your skills fresh and possess strong industry knowledge.
5. Add your most sought-after event management skills
Many people like to add a skills section to their resumes. You can do this if you have a particular skill set — like budgeting, marketing, using event registration software, or managing social media ad management platforms. Avoid diluting your resume with obvious skills like Microsoft Word.
6. Tailor your event planner resume to the job spec
Tailoring resumes to each job spec is one of the best ways to appeal to hiring managers. Why? Because it shows exactly how your skill set applies to the job and why you’d be a good fit for the role.
Review the responsibilities and must-haves in the job spec, and add these to your resume. If you don’t have some required skills, talk about transferable skills from other areas of your experience.
Remember—you can use some of the templates in this article as your baseline, but tweak them to suit the specific job you’re applying for.
7. Incorporate keywords and phrases
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help employers create, post, and manage job listings —including vetting potential candidates.
These systems automatically review resumes, looking for work experience, skills, education, and certifications that apply to the role. It saves hiring managers time wading through endless applications, helping them narrow their pool of qualified applicants.
Include keywords and phrases that the recruiter’s system filters for to give yourself the best chance of making the cut.
Unfortunately, there’s no foolproof way to ensure you cover all the right words — but here are some ways to increase your chances:
- Carefully read the job description and note the key skills and responsibilities
- Incorporate these phrases into your resume naturally
- Use synonyms or variations of key phrases to increase the likelihood of matching ATS criteria
You can also use tools like Zety and VisualCV to automatically create resumes with keywords and phrases that match the job application.
Upgrade your event planning skills with Eventbrite
Crafting a successful event planner resume is tricky, especially when applying for multiple roles. Although it takes time, tailoring your resume for each application is the best way. With the right information, structure, and keywords, you’re in an excellent position to boost your chances of an interview.
Looking for a way to bolster your resume with event metrics and event planning success?
Eventbrite could be exactly what you need. Use Eventbrite’s Organizer to plan, manage, and execute events, tracking key metrics in real time — all of which are helpful when writing your resume.
