How to Hire an Event Planner (Job Description, Pay, & More)

According to Allied Market Research, the events industry will grow to $1,522.9 billion by 2028. Further, 80.4 percent of event organizers identify in-person events as their organization’s most impactful marketing channel, per Bizzabo.

Perfectly executed events that leave a lasting impression don’t happen by accident—it takes an expert event planner whose skills go far beyond coordinating dates and venues. This professional knows how to craft experiences that leave guests talking, and we can help you find the right one to guide your events team.

In this blog post, we’ll dig deeper into how to hire a skilled event planner.

Who Is Your Ideal Event Planner?

An event planner is also sometimes referred to as an event coordinator, event manager, or event organizer. Regardless of the official title, the ideal professional in this role has specialized skills for ensuring trade shows, conventions, and seminars are correctly planned and executed with equal parts precision and creativity.

This professional’s primary objective is to ensure everything runs smoothly from the idea generation to the time everyone leaves the event. Most importantly, an event organizer makes sure everyone makes meaningful connections, learns what is intended, has a good time, and leaves with a favorable impression of the host company.

Why Hire an Event Planner?

When holding any kind of event, whether a banquet or a trade show, meticulous planning is crucial to its success. Think about past events you’ve attended and how they affected your view of the company, good or neutral, depending on the organization and execution of the event.

Working with a professional recruiting partner, if you don’t have an internal recruiting team, will help you find the right talent to create exceptional experiences for your guests and keep people talking about your company in glowing terms.

What Types of Events Will Your Event Planner Manage?

We’ve already mentioned some top types of events, and you probably know of plenty yourself, but your company might need to hold several other events, including the following:

Galas
Banquets
Weddings
Retirement parties
Charity fundraisers
Seminars
Training sessions
Product launches
Award ceremonies
Merger celebrations

As you can see, there are more opportunities to hold events—and the need for a talented events manager—than you might have realized. You can keep your new hire busy helping your company thrive.

How to Hire an Event Planner

To hire a skilled event manager, you’ll need to know the following:

How to write an event planner job description
Day-to-day responsibilities and tasks
Standard qualifications, skills, and education
Average compensation

What to Include in Your Event Planner Job Description

Now that you realize how invaluable event planners are and that you need one on your team, it’s time to start planning to attract and hire the right person for the job.

A well-crafted and thorough job description that includes job responsibilities is invaluable for any role, and it is certainly something to focus on when seeking a top event organizer.

An event planner’s job description should include the following skills and responsibilities:

Meet with and effectively and efficiently communicate with executive staff, team members, clients, and guests.
Design an event, either igniting or carrying out the idea, and ensuring everyone stays on the same page until the event successfully ends.
Examine company or external client budgets and work within that budget.
Determine the types of events the client needs and the types of offerings available during the event.
Find, visit, and inspect locations for the event to identify and secure the best spot for various functions, such as trade booths, dining, and multimedia presentations.
Decorate the venue with posters for the client and get everything set up for meetings, dining, learning, and more.
Schedule lunches, restroom availability, and a place for guests to step outside for air or to stretch their legs.
Network and leverage contacts, such as vendors, to provide the client with the most cost-effective options.
Utilize logistics abilities to schedule the place, time, and overall itinerary from setup to breakdown.
Plan for parking and transportation needs for guests.
Attend the event and ensure that things run smoothly. No one will understand the logistics of each event like the event manager, so attendance is highly encouraged, if not mandatory.

Professionals in this field will have all these exceptional traits and more as long as they have received the proper education, have trained in the field, and are passionate about their work.

Qualifications and Education for Event Planners

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), event planners typically need a bachelor’s degree in an area such as communications, business, marketing, or social science.

Key skills for event managers include the following:

Communication
Negotiation
Interpersonal
Organizational
Problem-solving

Event organizers receive training and gain experience in situations that prepare them to stay calm and resourceful when things don’t go as planned.

When hiring an event planner, search for someone who has proven experience as an organizer or events planner, an impressive portfolio of relevant work, excellent time management skills, persuasive sales abilities, sterling references from satisfied clients, and the bandwidth and willingness to manage multiple projects independently.

Daily Responsibilities of an Event Planner

A standard day for an event coordinator begins with checking their project list and schedule. Once they determine the day’s itinerary, they review client meetings, schedule new client meetings, make venue inspection appointments, and lay out other tasks they want to accomplish to keep all events and projects on track for success.

Job Outlook for Event Organizers

Per the BLS, there are approximately 16,600 openings for event coordinators projected each year for the coming decade. That means that there will likely be an increasing number of professionals choosing to pursue this field.

Pay for Event Managers

As of May 2021, the median annual salary for event organizers was $49,470, with the lowest 10 percent earning $30,170 and the highest 10 percent earning more than $96,230.

Do You Need Help Finding and Hiring the Perfect Event Planner?

We hope this blog post helps you understand how to hire an event planner and what you’ll need from them. Our team at Insight Global can help you understand this position and its specialized needs if you need more assistance. We can work with you to find and hire event organizers and other marketing professionals.