Looking for a new Challenge? Need a bit of a Push?
Looking for a new Challenge? Need a bit of a Push?
Moving into management: “As a senior conference producer with nearly 4 years experience in good corporate events companies, I wanted to move into a managerial position. I couldn’t make the move in my current company as management didn’t leave! I was struggling to get a job offer for leadership roles as I didn’t have management experience. I decided to take a different approach, in my 4th year I voluntarily took on more responsibility at work. I became move involved with the business side of events, I developed more topic validation skills, launched a new event, mentored an intern and became more aware of budget management. This experience helped me to secure a Portfolio Manager role for an events company and manage 2 junior producers. I have built this team up to 4 producers, the division runs over 25 events and during my time profits have increased substantially. I manage the event P&L, manage all my team recruitment, training and development and have strategic responsibility for growing & improving the events.” Portfolio Manager.
Taking your career overseas: “I always wanted to work in a warmer climate with blue skies and sunny days…….so at the age of 25 after the break-up with a boyfriend, I packed my suitcase and embarked on a new life in Sydney, Australia. I loved my job & employer and was able to secure a transfer with them after I created a business case for a new office launch in Sydney. Luckily for me the timing was perfect. This was the companies first overseas office and I was incredibly young! It was the hardest but most fabulous experience”. Recruiter
Mum returning to work: “After having my children I wanted & needed to return to work. I was looking for a full-time job which worked alongside my children, I didn’t want to compromise on my career progression and could not afford to take a low salary. After 2 wrong job moves with lovely companies (who talked about having flexible working but in practice they didn’t have the support structures or experience to accommodate it) I thought it was going to be an impossible task! I was recommended to talk to Helen at Jackson Barnes who is a mum herself and she worked hard to find me the right role, in the right company with a rewarding salary. I have recently secured a senior job in conference production working for a great global company who embrace flexible working for ALL employees. Through a blend of working from home and in the office plus having flexible (and changeable!) start and finish times I get my job done very well alongside being a mum. I think great technology, understanding, the right internal support structure and a positive & trusting attitude from the business help make flexible working successful here”. Production
Launching your own business: “I’ve worked for lots of high profile commercial events companies, selling sponsorship, managing sales teams and growing profits for big conferences & exhibitions. I started to get really frustrated with the lack of freedom to try anything different at the events and only being able to earn a small % of the profits plus I really thought I could do a better job! I believed I had enough experience and ambition to launch my own business, I always worked incredibly hard and I had a unique idea for a launch event. This idea was the push I needed to have a go! I launched my business with the support of family & friend 2 years ago. The money is great, I love the freedom to be creative and building & managing great people PLUS my launch event has been more successful than I imagined!” MD
Building a long-term career in one company: “I have always been very ambitious and financially driven. I have been able to grow my career with one employer over the past 15 years and I am now a Directors with shares in the business. I have put myself forward for every promotion, asked for training (especially for skills highlighted for improvement in my annual reviews), worked hard to hit and exceed my targets and I think I have made the most of all the opportunities which have come my way. My employer has always seemed to find me more interesting jobs within the business to go for and I haven’t had to look outside the company for the next promotion. I think my proactive approach to my personal development combined with an open & positive management team have enabled me to excel my career over the past 15 years.” Recruitment Director
Returning to London to continue working in events: “After university, I took a gap year and travelled around the world. Ending up in Sydney working for an events company selling delegate tickets for their conferences. My gap year became nearly 2 years. I enjoyed my job and the events industry, I was pretty good at sales and loved the financial rewards. I knew I wanted to continue my career in events sales when I arrived back in London and started planning my job search before I jumped on the flight. I had a few skype interviews before I left Sydney, secured in person interviews upon arrival and it took a couple of weeks to get through the recruitment processes. I received 2 job offers and joined a company which had a similar culture to the Australian business I worked for. Its been a big learning curve, having never worked in London before I have found it to be a much faster & more competitive pace but I am really enjoying it! Delegate Sales
Moving from Delegate Sales to Sponsorship Sales: “I had a successful career in delegate sales, managing a team and making great money. I wanted my next step to be in a sponsorship sales. The sales in SPEX were more lucrative, the process more consultative and I wanted to learn something new. Unfortunately, my current employer wouldn’t move me into the sponsorship team, we talked about it (a lot) but they needed me to stay in delegate sales. I didn’t want my career progression to be capped and I knew I had to leave to progress. I was earning a high salary, persuading a new company to take a risk on hiring me into sponsorship sales on a decent salary was challenging. When I met my new employer, I knew immediately it was going to be the right fit and so did they. After 2 interviews, a very strong offer to sell on a growing portfolio with a good salary (lower base but higher OTE) I accepted the job and I am excelling! The team have been supportive, I’ve worked hard and the results are great. “Sponsorship Sales Manager