Meeting Planner & Event Manager

Kali A. "As an in-house meeting planner for a trade association, I am responsible for the three member meetings held annually in April, August, and December at various locations across the US. I manage all aspects of the meetings from pre-planning to on-site execution including: development of event budget, RFP creation and disbursement, site visit, venue selection, contract negotiation, marketing strategy and implementation, registration, shipping, food and beverage needs, audio/visual needs, auxiliary events, staffing coordination, and on-site logistics."

Education

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Required License(s) None required, but I have my CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and it certainly helped me get the job I have now.

Required Degree(s) Usually requires a college degree

Importance of GPA somewhat important

What do you need to do to maintain your license(s)?

You need to earn a certain amount of CEU (Continuing Education Credits) every 5 years to renew the CMP.

Kali's Highest Degree: Bachelor's degree
Kali's College Major: Business Administration - Marketing
Kali's College GPA Range: 3.6 - 3.9

Salary

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The most recent salary survey said the average was around $75,000.

It varies greatly depending on location, amount of experience, management level, etc.

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

I interned for the American Volleyball Coaches Association in college where I was assigned to the events. I fell in love with planning, so I decided that's what I wanted to do. The AVCA hired me full time after college. After 3 years there, I got my current job with AI. Employers are very focused on experience in this field. Skip the extra degree and do an internship where you get real event experience.

How important was networking to landing your position?

Somewhat important. Lexington is a smaller city so people are bound to have someone in common.

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

If I'm in the office, it's working at my desk answering emails, planning out event details, or on the phone with hotels or vendors. If it's an event week, we are on-site running everything. It's long hours but so much fun. If it's a site visit, I'm in a city alone touring hotels, restaurants, etc. Those are the most exciting since the local representatives show you the best the location has to offer!

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

Very close

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

In my current position and at my specific company, no.

What is the best thing about your job?

Traveling around the country and touring locations I would not be able to visit personally. Also, getting to execute experiences for other people and seeing their reactions—it's very rewarding to see it all come together.

What is the worst thing about your job?

A lot of planners complain about long hours. My current position is very fair about hours. Actual event days are long, but those are only 3 weeks a year. This job does tend to put you in high-stress environments and forces you to make quick decisions on your feet.

How demanding is your job?

My specific job is good with managing time. They know we work hard when we have to, so they are flexible at other times (not all companies are like that). If time is a big issue for you (maybe you have a family), I would suggest trying to find a small company that really cares about their employees and values what's important. Again, there is some stress with this job, mostly on-site. But if you have a good team around you and can be decisive in stressful moments, it's not bad.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

It depends on the company, I would say. I'm a single planner here, but some companies have teams of planners. In that case, you could move up to manage a team. Otherwise, you may have to move companies to achieve a higher title or better pay.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

Thinking on your feet Excellent customer service Being able to hide your emotions/stresses to look put together in front of attendees—it can be a mess behind the scenes but the attendees need to think everything is running smoothly. Aggressiveness in negotiating Attention to detail Organization Excellent communication skills

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

If you want to do something that is unique and challenging, this is a great field. The benefits and perks FAR outweigh the stresses.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

Yes

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Kali's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

Business Analyst

Tina P. "Business Analyst is a relatively new career path, and the scope of the job varies widely across different industries. As a Business Analyst in the technology sector, I help our tech team (developers and test analysts) build the right product. I'm essentially the 'middle man' between the tech team and the rest of the business. I often consult our product manager, sales team, and other business stakeholders to gather requirements, and then share them with the tech team. If any technical issues come up, I translate that to the business stakeholders in a way that they can easily understand."

Education

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Required License(s) None

Required Degree(s) None, but it would significantly help if you had a university degree (e.g., Bachelor of Arts) related to IT, business, or finance.

Importance of GPA somewhat important

Tina's Highest Degree: Bachelor's Degree (Bachelor of Arts)
Tina's College Major: Psychology and Criminology.
Tina's College GPA: We don't have GPA in New Zealand.

Salary

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NZD $50,000 - $100,000+ (about $36,000 - $73,000+).
Salary varies depending on your experience and which sector you're working in.

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

After graduating from university, I started my career as a Data Analyst. I didn't realize that a job like Business Analyst actually existed until I started full-time working and was researching for career development options. In my second job as a data/reporting analyst, I asked my manager for more work experience related to business analysis and was fortunate that he was supportive of this. I also started getting mentored by a Senior Business Analyst in our company. All that experience helped me land my first official role as a Business Analyst.

How important was networking to landing your position?

I didn't need any external network to land my first Business Analyst job. But I definitely couldn't have received the work experience I needed without my manager and mentor's support. If you're interested in working as a Business Analyst, I highly recommend that you approach your manager to ask for more work experience related to business analysis. Business Analyst skills are transferable, and you could gain experiences in so many different ways. If this isn't possible, then at least seek out an experienced Business Analyst, either within your company or outside, and ask them if they could mentor you. Many Business Analysts would be more than happy to help!

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

The beauty of working as Business Analyst is that your work varies a lot so you'll hardly ever be bored! A typical day for me is to start the day with a 'stand-up' meeting where each person from the tech team quickly shares what they've achieved yesterday, what they plan to work on today, and any impediment that's blocking their work. After then, my tasks vary. I might: Follow up with my product manager to clarify some requirements, Hassle our web designer for design mock-ups we need for upcoming work, Brainstorm with the tech team for solutions, Help the UX team to test our latest designs with external users, Tidy up business documentations, Facilitate a workshop to kick-off a new project, and the list goes on!

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

It's relatively close. You'll find that most Business Analyst job descriptions ask for you to elicit, analyze, and document requirements. And this is exactly what you do. But, HOW you do that can differ greatly between industries and companies.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

Aside from the usual gender inequality that happens everywhere else, being a woman hasn't affected me much as a Business Analyst. There's usually a good mixture of women and men among the Business Analysts, and I've always found great support from all my Business Analyst peers. The only thing I'd note is that as a Business Analyst, I'm often in meetings full of men and no other women. This could be because of the industries I've been in (i.e., technology, banking, energy), and the fact that I'm often in meetings with the management team that's usually dominated by males. In situations like that, I'm assertive and try to contribute as much as I can. I often forget about the gender ratio when I'm just being myself and my coworkers react to my personality and not my gender.

What is the best thing about your job?

Being able to connect and establish relationships with lots of different people across the business. And not having to do the same type of work every day.

What is the worst thing about your job?

My workload as a Business Analyst is usually not consistent. It's dependent on how many projects I'm involved in, and which stage the projects are at. Some days I have a million different tasks to do and close to having a meltdown. Other days I'm going insane with boredom and begging my manager for more work.

How demanding is your job?

The job can be mentally draining when I'm receiving conflicting requirements from different people; I try to manage relationships to keep everyone happy but nail down the final decision without wasting too much time. Fortunately, these don't happen too often!

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

Yes, since being a Business Analyst gives you so many transferable skills, there are so many career opportunities from here. But that's a problem in itself; there are too many options and many Business Analysts are not sure what they should move onto. The most common progression I've seen in Business Analysts I know are to either: Stay as a Business Analyst, and lead and mentor other Business Analysts, Become a project/product/delivery manager, or Become a Scrum Master or Agile coach. Those are only some examples of what a Business Analyst could move onto. For me, I flipped between wanting to move into project manager or business consultant roles. But now, I'm looking into product manager roles. I'd like to get involved in more strategic work. Outside of work, I love to blog and am planning to start my own business in web content consultancy soon.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

The most important thing you need as a successful Business Analyst is good communication skills. Once, I heard in a Business Analysts seminar that 80% of failed projects are due to misunderstood or missed requirements. Without good communication skills, it's impossible to nail down requirements effectively.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

Try to gain any work experience in: Interviewing stakeholders (i.e., anyone who cares about or will use the final product/solution) and eliciting requirements from them; Documenting and managing the requirements; Using the documents to either build the product/solution yourself, or share it with someone else who will build it (preferable); and Facilitating meetings and workshops. All of the above tasks will provide you with work experience for your future Business Analyst job. It'll also serve as a taster to see whether you'd even want to get into a Business Analyst career.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

Yes, definitely! I love my job as a Business Analyst, and I wouldn't change anything.

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Tina's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

Marketing and Advertising Coordinator

Sarah W. "I am a Marketing and Advertising Coordinator for an Outboard Motor Company. I always prefer to be a smaller company's one stop shop for anything marketing, rather than a person on a gigantic team in a large company. Every day is completely different for me. Somedays I'll be crunching numbers, some I'll be focusing on building social media, and some I'll be working on graphic design. If it relates to marketing, I've got to learn how to do it for my company."

Education

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Required License(s) none

Required Degree(s) I don't think I would have gotten an interview if I didn't have a 4 year degree.

Importance of GPA somewhat important

Sarah's Highest Degree: bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Science)
Sarah's College Major: Public Relations with a minor in Business
Sarahs College GPA Range: 3.6-3.9

Salary

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$75,000+
Sky is the limit, I suppose!

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

I was the Marketing Director for a chain of salons located across three states. Although that was quite different than marketing for outboard motors, I think I impressed them in my interview when I was able to tell them how similar the two positions ACTUALLY were.

How important was networking to landing your position?

TO ME, it is not important, but I'm not proud of that statement. I'd like to be more active in networking. It would take me places I can't go now.

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

As many pros as there are to working for a small company, there are some drawbacks as well. Cubicle life is my Monday-Friday 8am-5pm life generally. The best weeks are ones when I get to travel to a boat show or photo shoot, which happens every few months. I often go into work not sure what will be thrown my way, which I honestly really like. It keeps me from getting bored!

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

I think it is very close for someone who is the entire marketing position for a small company. I'm sure someone in a larger company would have a much more specific role from day-to-day. I'm thankful for the way my day/week is laid out.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

YES. I hate to say it but it does. I work for a Japanese company and things are a bit different over there, and I'm sometimes left out of discussions that I should be part of. The good news is that no one in the office from America treats me any differently, which is great.

What is the best thing about your job?

The travel!

What is the worst thing about your job?

Feeling like I'm chained to a cubicle from Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. I'd love a bit more freedom.

How demanding is your job?

Not terribly. It is mostly creative, which I love, so it really doesn't wear me down.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

In my current position with this company, THERE IS NOT, which sucks. I am honestly content right now. I enjoy that I can leave work at work during the nights and weekends, the pay is good, and I am happy with where I am in my career, at my current age. I imagine I will be looking for an advancement in the next 5 years or so. My dream job would be something more related to the sports world, and breaking into that world might involve working my way up from the bottom. I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

You have to be unique. Like any creative position, being a follower just won't cut it. You have to have a wild imagination and be able to come up with ideas/designs that the world has never seen before. You can't look anything like your competition.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

If I could do one thing over again, I would have taken so many more Adobe CS classes in college. I never took any and I so regret it. I had to teach everything to myself.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

I'd probably pursue a career in sports journalism... if I had it to do all over again.

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Sarah's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->