It’s a harsh reality: No matter how skilled in event management you are, you won’t get your dream job if your event planner CV doesn’t stand out. 

Plus, with over 22,600 people in the event planning industry, you have some competition to match.

But when so much of your event planning work has to be experienced to be understood, how can you prove your prowess in writing?

The key is to make the typical elements of an effective CV work to reflect your skills. 

Here’s a checklist of the essential elements to include on your event planner CV so you can stand out from other applicants. Plus, some event planner CV examples for inspiration. 

7 Best practices for a top-quality event planner CV

1. Start with a stunning summary section

2. Highlight your event planning accomplishments, not a list of duties

3. Keep the education section short and sweet

4. Include relevant event management certifications

5. Add your most sought-after event management skills

6. Tailor your event planner CV to the job spec

7. Incorporate keywords and phrases

First things first, what should you include in an event planner CV?

Let’s break down the key components of a successful event planner’s CV: 

Here’s how all these elements come together in an actual event planner CVexample: 

Personal summary 

A skilled and results-driven event planner with five years of experience in the events and hospitality industry. Proven track record of exceeding guest expectations and planning and executing successful events within budget. Applying for this position to develop event management skills and support a growing organisation with its events. 

Work experience

Event Planner, Test Events: 03/03/2024–Present

Event Planner Assistant, 123 Events: 03/04/2022–03/03/2024

Skills

Professional achievements 

Education

Certifications

References 

Available on request. 

12 Event planner CV’s examples and templates 

With these requirements in mind, let’s look at some of the different CV formats based on specific event planner roles. 

Please bear in mind! These are all simple templates that act as a starting point; they’re not ready to be used as is. Flesh them out with your own experiences and qualifications to create an effective CV for your event planner job applications. 

Entry-level event planning roles 

Entry-level event planner roles typically involve more hands-on tasks and responsibilities than senior roles. Finding a venue, ordering items from suppliers, and handling logistics are some examples. 

Even if you don’t have much experience in event planning, it’s important to touch on logistics skills you may be able to apply to event planning.

1. Entry-level event planner 

If you’re creating an entry-level event planner CV, it’s unlikely you have a wealth of event planning experience. Instead, your CV should focus on transferable skills that can apply to event planning. These skills are highly desirable for hiring managers! 

You should also outline any relevant experience, education, and reason for pursuing an events career. 

Resume for entry-level event planner

💡Pro Tip: Have you been involved in successful event production? Add some examples with stats to show it, like how GONG used Eventbrite to turn their ticket sales from 75% to 100% sold out.

Improve your event planning skills with Eventbrite

Food incorporating the Wu-Tang logo

2. Event production assistant 

An event production assistant primarily focuses on the technical aspects of event planning, such as ensuring that lighting, sound, and staging run smoothly. Your CV should cover:

Resume for entry-level event planner

💡Pro Tip:  Add examples to back up your skills to show hiring managers exactly how you apply your skill set to real-world situations. 

3. Event planner assistant 

As well as transferable skills and experience, an event planner assistant CV should show how you’ve supported event planners. If you don’t have event planning experience, talk about how you’ve supported managers or leaders in other roles. 

Resume for entry-level event planner assistant

💡Pro Tip: Show hiring managers that you know how stressful event planning is that you can handle the process and even have ideas and skills to make it smoother! 

4. Venue operations assistant 

Outline your skills and experience in operations to show event managers how you can support them with the following:

Resume for entry-level event planner assistant

💡Pro Tip: Include a real-world experience when you’ve managed a booking or meeting venue and contributed to an event’s success. 

Now, let’s take a look at the different types of senior event planner roles — and what to include in a senior CV.

Senior event planner roles 

Senior event planners are generally responsible for overseeing the entire event planning process. This includes things like strategic planning, budget management, and team coordination to ensure a successful event.

5. Senior event planner 

A senior event planner usually plans events for other individuals, such as weddings or parties. Your CV should focus on this experience, showing examples of successes in previous events, challenges you’ve overcome, and the event planning skills you’ll bring to the role. 

💡Pro Tip: Add metrics to show the exact results of your event planning success. For example, ‘increased ticket sales by 30%.’ 

6. Event manager

Unlike event planners, event managers need a business mindset. They’re expected to drive for-profit or for-revenue events, so your CV should reflect that. Talk about your experience executing profitable events, as well as how you measure event performance and oversee event logistics. 

Resume for senior event planner

💡Pro Tip: An event manager should also be skilled in people management. Touch on this in the CV to show hiring managers you’re confident and capable of managing a team. 

7. Event director

An event director operates at a higher level than an event manager, guiding the vision and setting goals and metrics for event success. Your CV should cover the following experience:

Resume for an event director

💡Pro Tip:  Event directors create and oversee event budgets, so touch on any experience you have with financial forecasting. Don’t forget to communicate your experience with idea generation and regulatory compliance. 

Other types of event-planning roles

Now that we’ve covered entry-level and senior event planner roles, let’s look at CV’S that are more specific to certain events. 

8. Creative event planner 

A creative event planner knows how to put on a show, planning unusual and inventive events like the Derlot experience or Denim and Diamonds. Your CV should show hiring managers you have experience planning creative events and highlight your flair for thinking outside the box. 

Resume for a creative event planner

💡Pro Tip:  Make your CV visual to demonstrate your creativity! Add an image or a pop of colour to make it stand out. 

9. Wedding planner 

Your CV should show that you understand the importance of being trusted with planning one of the biggest days in a person’s life. Talk about any previous weddings you’ve planned, add quotes from the happy couples, and show that you can calmly deal with last-minute changes to ensure the wedding runs smoothly. 

Resume for a wedding planner

💡Pro Tip: Keep your CV professional but light. Weddings are a celebration, so you want the hiring manager to see you as someone who can plan a celebratory event! 

10. Charity event planner 

Organising charity events often requires a different approach to event planning, with a focus on fundraising as a measure of success. 

Show hiring managers that you understand the unique approach to the charity events process and why you’re applying for this role. Highlight your dedication to charity work and demonstrate why you’re passionate about being a charity event planner.  

Resume for a charity event planner

💡Pro Tip: Focus on why you want to work in the charity sector. Hiring managers will value this information, as events play an important role in a charity’s success. They need a dedicated team to bring these events to life and raise as much money as possible. 

11. Large-scale event organiser

This role is very much about leadership and world-class organisational skills. Your CV should show that you can create a well-oiled process for organising large events on time and within budget. 

If you’re trying to get into large-scale events, include skills that prove you can handle this position:

Resume for a large-scale event organiser

💡Pro Tip: Discuss how you manage conflicting priorities and deadlines — both of which are common when planning large events.

12. Corporate event planner 

Corporate event planners plan and execute professional business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) events, such as professional conferences like Klaviyo:BOS

Your CV should show that you understand what it takes to plan and manage these types of events, such as handling professional communications, organising corporate speakers, and ensuring that events align with business goals. 

Resume for a corporate event planner

💡Pro Tip: Outline experience with contract management, which event planners may need to do when planning B2B corporate events. 

7 Best practices for creating a top-quality event planner CV 

Using one of our event CV templates? Awesome! Now, have a read through our best practices for fleshing them out. 

1. Start with a stunning summary section

Employers want a quick breakdown of who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and what you can bring. Include information that’s relevant to the job you’re seeking, and share specific results that you were able to achieve. 

For an event planner or event manager, one line of your summary might be, ‘Planned and executed 15 premium-quality functions with budgets ranging from £ to £100,000.’

2. Highlight your event planning accomplishments, not a list of duties

List your positions in reverse chronological order. Include the employer, job title, and dates you were employed, followed by your key accomplishments. 

The idea is to be specific and results-focused. Something like ‘Partnered with local vendors to reduce the cost of events by 35%’ is better than ‘Partnered with local vendors.’ Likewise, ‘achieved a 98% attendee satisfaction rating’ is more impactful than ‘addressed attendee concerns.’ 

Remember, employers don’t know you yet, so it’s your responsibility to flaunt your capabilities and achievements. Confidence and self-belief are key.

Group of people dancing with arms in the air

3. Keep the education section short and sweet

The education section of your CV should be brief, listing the school, the degree, and the year attained. Follow up with a bullet point or two if you have something compelling to add, such as relevant coursework or if you had a leadership position in an organisation and planned their events.

Although a bachelor’s degree isn’t necessarily required to become an event manager or event planner, it’s strongly recommended in a competitive space. 

While many who go into event management or event planning careers may have degrees in areas like hospitality management or marketing, it’s not a deal breaker if you studied something else. Your job experience and personal characteristics are usually what usually carry the most weight.

4. Include relevant event management certifications

A popular way to differentiate your event management CV is with a relatable certification. In the case of an event planner or event manager, some certifications to consider include:

Certifications let prospective employers know you’re committed to keeping your skills fresh and possess strong industry knowledge.

5. Add your most sought-after event management skills

Many people like to add a skills section to their CV’s. You can do this if you have a particular skill set — like budgeting, marketing, using event registration software, or managing social media ad management platforms. Avoid diluting your CV with obvious skills like Microsoft Word. 

6. Tailor your event planner CV to the job spec 

Tailoring CV’s to each job spec is one of the best ways to appeal to hiring managers. Why? Because it shows exactly how your skill set applies to the job and why you’d be a good fit for the role. 

Review the responsibilities and must-haves in the job spec, and add these to your CV. If you don’t have some required skills, talk about transferable skills from other areas of your experience. 

Remember—you can use some of the templates in this article as your baseline, but tweak them to suit the specific job you’re applying for. 

Group of people at a professional event

7. Incorporate keywords and phrases

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help employers create, post, and manage job listings —including vetting potential candidates. 

These systems automatically review CV’s, looking for work experience, skills, education, and certifications that apply to the role. It saves hiring managers time wading through endless applications, helping them narrow their pool of qualified applicants. 

Include keywords and phrases that the recruiter’s system filters for to give yourself the best chance of making the cut. 

Unfortunately, there’s no foolproof way to ensure you cover all the right words — but here are some ways to increase your chances: 

You can also use tools like LiveCareer and Reed to automatically create CV with keywords and phrases that match the job application.

Upgrade your event planning skills with Eventbrite

Crafting a successful event planner CV is tricky, especially when applying for multiple roles. Although it takes time, tailoring your CV for each application is the best way. With the right information, structure, and keywords, you’re in an excellent position to boost your chances of an interview. 

Looking for a way to bolster your CV with event metrics and event planning success? 

Eventbrite could be exactly what you need. Use Eventbrite’s Organiser to plan, manage, and execute events, tracking key metrics in real-time — all of which are helpful when writing your CV.