#OpenToWork: Meetings Industry Job Market Shows Strain

There’s growing number of green #OpenToWork circles on LinkedIn and posts from job hunters about their struggles trying to find work in the meetings industry.

Nicola Kastner, CEO of the Event Leaders Exchange (ELX), reports seeing an increase in the number of open roles. “I’ve also noticed that there are very few senior leadership roles that I see posted — most are mid-level at best," she said.

Candidates are also being more aggressive. “I have heard feedback through my network that once someone shares an open role online, they are often personally inundated with outreach — not just via people applying for the job but also through DM’s and on their personal accounts like Instagram and Facebook, as well as direct emails.” 

On the supplier side, it’s the same. For a part-time production coordinator role he recently posted, Tim Kerbavaz, technical Producer at Talon Audio Visual, says he expected a few dozen resumes. “I got nearly 40 in just 48 hours, most from very experienced professionals,” he said. “My inbox really underscored how many people in our industry are looking for steady work.”

Industry Recruiter Cautious 

Industry recruitment expert Dawn Penfold, president of Meetingjobs, A Cadre Company, has seen government meeting professionals hard hit due to the recent cuts in federal spending and policies but reports no change in other segments. Nonetheless, she remains cautious. 

“I keep hearing about reduced bookings, reduced international attendance here in the U.S. of foreign travelers, and the unstable economic and political environment.”

Many companies are in a state of uncertainty, said Business Consultant Jim Carroll. “They’re trying to figure out how to survive, how to get their supply chains going again, and how to deal with all this wild uncertainty and volatility,” he said. 

For job seekers, the daily pain of an extended job search is real. Stephanie Perry, who lost her position as a manager of conference services & sponsorships in February, has been searching since.

“My optimism has been tested. I’ve applied to nearly 400 jobs — tracked meticulously on a spreadsheet with details such as date applied, responses, salary ranges, cover letters, and LinkedIn outreach. I’ve advanced through multiple interview processes, sometimes to the final stage, only to be rejected.

“​​Despite over 20 years of professional experience, I feel like a recent graduate again: eager, hopeful, and simply asking for a chance.”

Online Resources Growing

The good news is that there are an increasing number of online resources for meetings industry job seekers. Among them, Club Ichi offers a job seekers membership for $5 and has 1,000 members on its Slack channel, which includes info for job seekers. The Event Professionals Network Slack has grown to 875 members, almost all of whom are event planners. It serves as both a resource for open jobs and a support group, says its founder, Lisa Gregory of Gregory Event Services.

"Members regularly share open roles and freelance opportunities, and those posts often spark introductions. Just as important, it’s a support space: People trade templates and tools, compare rates and scopes, review resumes and portfolios, and share their honest, day-to-day realities."

ELX is planning to launch a job board on its website this fall to offer members the opportunity to post their open roles by linking back to the original posting. “This will give their open roles extra visibility, as well as help alleviate some of the outreach issues I mentioned, as it won’t be direct-linked back to an individual member,” said Kastner. “It will also give us an opportunity to give back to the greater industry.”