9 careers with a Bachelor of Business Event Management

You’ve got a passion for hosting exceptional events, and you want to turn your passion into a career. Perhaps you’re considering studying a Bachelor of Business Event Management.

A degree is a big investment of your time and money, not to mention a lot of hard work. But, it’s also a great way to fast track your pathway into a high-level role, learn skills for life, and gain a qualification that employers are going to value. Luckily for you, it’s also a growth industry with lots of opportunities. There are over 13,000 events jobs available in Australia right now!

When you’re deciding whether or not to study, you want to know what kind of options are going to be out there for you when you graduate.

Event management is a diverse field, with lots of different potential avenues you can go down. Where you end up will depend on your interests and skills, however, having a degree under your belt will certainly open up more senior positions for you in the long term. Start your journey by thinking about what kind of events you’d rather work on, and in what capacity. Do you prefer festivals or exhibitions, managing people or working in design?

Here are 9 different career paths you could take with your Bachelor of Business in Event Management. Where do you see yourself?

1. Fundraising and Events Officer for a Charity

If you want to do something positive for the world while you work, you might consider going down the not-for-profit pathway. Charities often host public events as a way of raising funds, or raising public awareness around an issue. In this kind of role, you may have creative licence to design an event of your choosing, as long as it brings in revenue. A fundraising and events role in a charity is a diverse position with a lot of responsibility. You’ll be designing and planning events as well as directing them on the ground, developing long term fundraising strategies and balancing your budget.

2. Conference Centre Manager

There are a lot of major conference centres in every capital city, and each of these has to bring in regular events in order to turn a profit. As the Conference Centre Manager, you are a business planner, a marketing executive and a project manager all at once. You’ll be the coordinator at the top, managing the show. You’ll need exceptional people skills because you’ll be handling relationships with stakeholders, managing complaints and customer enquiries and dealing with any issues that arise.

3. Public Relations Executive

When you study a Bachelor of Event Management, your education will include several subjects on marketing and public relations. You’ll learn all about the fundamental principals of marketing, customer experience management, social media content creation, branding and PR strategy. These skills are immediately transferrable into a high-level Public Relations role. If you choose to go down the path of a PR Executive, you’ll be designing campaigns and raising awareness of your brand. This may also involve event planning, because many companies now use events and event sponsorship as part of their overall PR strategy.

4. Festival Director

Whether you’re passionate about music, film or food (or all of the above!), we live in a world full of opportunity to work on festivals. Virtually every town and city these days has a string of annual festivals that need capable directors. The Festival Director is ultimately responsible for success of a festival: booking talent, selecting a site, developing an overarching vision and strategy, and covering every aspect from safety to financial feasibility.

Of course, there are many other more junior roles you will have to take on before you can work your way up to this most senior role: such as Festival Coordinator or Logistics Manager. But with a degree and some experience, you can make it all the way to the top.

5. Senior Event Planner

Senior Event Planner, Senior Event Coordinator, Senior Event Officer: this role can go by a number of different titles, but it ultimately boils down to the same thing. You are the top dog, supervising other Event Planners and Managers and working on large-scale, complex events, such as conferences and expositions. You will be responsible for contract negotiations, event logistics, budgeting, financial closure, scheduling, venue selection and managing relationships. So, virtually everything will rest on your shoulders. You have to be incredibly organised and able to deal with pressure in this role.

6. Museum or Gallery Exhibitions Officer

If you’re passionate about arts and culture, you might consider taking the path of public galleries and museums. These important institutions host and organise many events each year. Whether it’s artist talks, large scale exhibitions or travelling collections: you could be part of creating some really incredible experiences for the public, and contributing to the life and culture of your city.

As a Museum/Gallery Exhibitions Officer, some of your responsibilities would include; programming exhibitions; identifying acquisitions for purchase; managing staff and budgets; fundraising; writing plans and reports; designing museum activities and events; preparing publicity materials.

7. Event and Marketing Officer for a Government Department

Government institutions run many of the biggest and most spectacular events a city can hold, because they’ve big budgets for public entertainment. Vivid festival in Sydney, for example, is the biggest festival in Australia and it is run by the City of Sydney Council and Tourism Australia, another government body. Government departments are often advertising Event and Marketing Officer positions, so this is an area where there is a high chance of getting work. From running local markets, to planning large-scale events like Vivid, government events roles are varied and diverse.

8. Stadium Events Manager

Managing events at stadiums involves a lot of responsibility, and it’s easy to see why. Stadiums can easily seat thousands of people and host the largest events possible, from sports games to big-name concerts. If you’re the kind of person who likes a challenge and loves the energy of a big event, this might be the perfect choice for you.

As a Stadium Events Manager, you will manage every aspect of events, from the advance planning stages through the end of the event and event settlement. You may also be responsible for hiring and training staff, as well as helping oversee building security, parking and interact with local public safety officials to ensure events run smoothly. You will supervise and coordinate communication between event staff, and ultimately be responsible for customer and client experience.

9. Running Your Own Business!

Of course, with all the skills you’ll get from a degree in event management, there’s no reason you can’t start your own business, too. You will have studied all the fundamentals of business management, marketing and accounting, and so you’ll be well equipped to pursue your own dreams. Rather than working for someone else, you may want to start a business doing wedding planning, run your own music venue, design your own festival or just start at small events and marketing company of your own. With a good education, the right know-how and a bit of capital, there’s no limit to where you can take your future in events.