The events placement year

At the end of the second year International Event Management students have the option to take a year’s placement in the events industry – an excellent opportunity to gain experience. The School of Sport and Service Management’s Employability Hub help find the placement, as well as providing support in developing CVs and interview skills.

Josie Pether spent her placement year with Vivid Event Group as and Event and Marketing Assistant:

“Vivid Event Group is a dynamic event agency that delivers emotive brand experiences and live events to clients ranging from conferences, award shows, Christmas and summer parties, and team building. Their clients are mostly corporate and based in London and include; Barclays, Rothschild, Mitsui Groupand Starcom Media Vest.

“Some of the events I was involved with during my placement were: Christmas parties at the Natural History Museum, client receptions at the Aqua at the Shard and the V&A Museum, an awards ceremony at Aqua Regents Street and team building events in Brighton and London.

“I was involved in both the account management and the operational organisation of events. This included forming business and building relationships with clients, creating bespoke event proposals and being given creative reign to recommend ideas to put forward to clients. By the time I left I had my own client base that gave me briefs for events and I was working on some of the company’s key accounts. I was given responsibility to run my own events and I would manage them right through to the post event feedback including.

“As a small company, I also gained an understanding of how an event agency is run in its entirety. I had a role in marketing and managed the company’s social media pages and contributed to blogs and white papers alongside my daily tasks as well as issuing my own contracts and invoices for clients and suppliers. I also helped the company to gain the ISO 9001:2008 quality accreditation, creating a staff handbook of the company’s operational management procedures and a quality manual.

“Whilst on placement I vastly increased my knowledge of the event industry and have gained contacts with many venues and suppliers which will be helpful when looking for a job when I graduate. I feel that having practical experience will set me apart from other candidates. I was actually offered a job at my placement company and am currently working part-time as an event manager with them alongside my studies.

“Before my placement, I was a confident person, however did get nervous speaking to people I didn’t know in a professional environment. After completing my placement I feel my confidence has grown and I now feel comfortable speaking to senior level professionals. I now feel confident in my ability to be an event manager and in getting a job when I graduate.”