What I have learnt is that the term ‘coordinator’ is used in various contexts within the events and marcomms industry! This can make it seriously difficult when you are looking for your first job.
When I need to know whether I am qualified for a position, I look at how the company is using the title ‘coordinator’. Some smaller companies use coordinator titles to refer to the head of a department, while larger companies often employ coordinators as glorified wait staff to assist managers so don’t take each job title at face value. When I was applying for my first job, I did this by looking at the company website, (if they have a staff page, this is a great place to start). This will help you learn whether the coordinator is the operations manager or an entry level role. You could also check out the company’s employees on LinkedIn.
Once you determine the level of responsibility that the advertised role requires, you can begin your preparation. When I am preparing for any job interview I look at the skills required and match my experience to these. They’ll be following a sort of tick-box approach in your interview, so be organised and have a good understanding of the duties of the job you’re applying for. I write a list that links my experience based accomplishments that demonstrate these. For example, in a recent interview I had (after 3 years in a mid weight management role) I was asked about my ability to manage staff. Rather than just stating that my previous role was at a management level- making me qualified for this position- I noted that whilst managing staff I aimed to increase their service efficiency so to create wage cost saving for the event. This kind of ‘accomplish based’ story telling in an events interview is an extremely good tactic.
9/10 they’ll explicitly ask you for a work example. They’re not going to just believe that you’re organised or work well to deadlines because you say so, prove it by working in some actual experiences into your response.
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