- How do you stay organized and prioritize tasks?
- Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a last-minute change when planning an event.
- What’s your experience with social media?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
An event coordinator plans and manages a range of events including conventions, trade shows, concerts, parties, and weddings. They are responsible for meeting with clients to discuss their requirements and expectations for an event and then supervising its preparation and implementation.
Events Assistant Interview Questions
Events Coordinator Interview Questions:
Demonstrates the candidate’s problem-solving skills.
What key features do you consider before choosing an event venue?
Tests the candidate’s experience in event planning.
Can you describe a time you went over the event budget?
Reveals the candidate’s possible weaknesses.
Here’s the thing about event coordinator interview questions¦
Events administrator interview questions revolve around three main categories: your personality, your job related experience, and your overall event planning strategies or philosophies.
And don’t worry if you’re just starting out – most interviewers will take that into consideration. So if you come across a question about any situation you have yet to personally experience, just be honest and explain what you would do, if given the opportunity.
20 Most Common Event Planner Questions and Answers
Events administrator interview questions are a piece of cake once you’ve rehearsed your responses. Here are some standard questions along with suggested answers and advice to keep in your back pocket when preparing for the interview:
Answer: The most successful event planners tend to be highly flexible, organized, and easy to get along with. They also have great time, money, and people management skills. And although formal education isn’t necessarily required it’s always good to have a college degree and/or a certification or two under your belt when starting out.
Answer: Be thoughtful in your answer to this question. Besides a love of events, you’ll probably want to go over the company’s mission or value statement and find the points you resonate with the most.
Answer: If you don’t already have some programs you actively work with, make sure you review a free planning event software or tools ahead of time and mention that you’d like to use them for upcoming projects.
Answer: Event planning blogs (like this one) are a great resource for keeping up to date with it all. If you don’t already have some ready to go for this question, start by bookmarking the Social Tables blog for future reference.
Answer: Just in case it’s been awhile, here’s a great guide to promoting events on social media you can use to brush up.
Answer: The interviewer may or may not be fishing for a specific answer here. But in general, planners can use almost any event KPI that directly relates to the stated event goals.
Answer: When explaining the event, make sure you showcase which key event planning skill you used to pull it off.
Answer: The most common reasons why projects go over budget have to do with the inexperience of the event planner (poor communication, unrealistic targeting, lack of foresight are the main issues), so it makes sense why this would come up. Make sure they know you’re aware of this and plan to prevent any foreseeable issues through additional research and education.
Answer: 85% of projects goabove budget but there are plenty of things you can do if your event does go over, including negotiating with vendors and finding cheaper alternatives for essentials that don’t directly add to attendee experience (think scansions and signage).
Answer: If you don’t, that’s perfectly okay. List some common tips for how to negotiate with venues and vendors that’d you’d like to try out in the future.
Answer: Event planning has been named the 5th most stressful job in the world. A great attitude, commitment to work/life balance, and fine-tuned communication skills are part of any professional planners stress-busting inner toolkit.
Answer: Now’s the time to break out an example from your personal life. Choose one thing you’d like the interviewer to take away from your story. It can be a skill you possess, something that makes you uniquely qualified for the job, or something not listed on your resume that will really stand out from the competition. Then choose an experience you know portrays you in that light so you can show (not tell) them all about it.
Answer: Since you’ll most likely be a leader figure in the kickoff meeting, you’ll want to assemble the agenda and prepare for introductions. You’ll also outline the event’s purpose, goals, and timeline along with individual or department responsibilities/expectations. And, to finish up, you will give instructions on how communication will flow and what check-ins (if any) will take place when.
Answer: We all know that not every event you plan is going to be a success – and that’s perfectly okay! So this question is less about shortcomings and more about your ability to assess event expectations versus results. The more informed and professional your answer is, the better. So pick an event (that either succeeded or failed) that you can discuss in great detail and include info like the initial goals versus your final event ROI.
Answer: This question suggests that the job you’re interviewing for might include planning multiple projects at once. The key is to know how to prioritize when everything is #1, which can often be determined by your event goals.
Answer: Managing last minute event planning madness is a skill all its own but it starts during the initial planning phase by including wiggle room in both the timeline and budget for things that come up.
Answer: Again, this is another great opportunity to showcase a specific characteristic you possess through a personal story, unrelated to work. Don’t be afraid to explain where you pull your strength from or who inspires you – these details will make your interview far more memorable.
Answer: Dealing with difficult clients can actually make you a better event planner. By mirroring their behavior and improving your communication skills you can overcome virtually anyone’s bad attitude.
Answer: This handy 7 point checklist for choosing your event venue is great if you don’t already have one. Otherwise you can always mention how budget and event goals factor into the process for you.
Answer: If you’ve done your homework, you should already know how many events this company plans every year as well as which event type they most frequently use. For example, if they host a lot of seminars and you love the thought of taking over their monthly series, make sure you mention that in your answer. Ultimately this question is about your personality (what makes you tick when it comes to events) and fit (it’s great if an event planner prefers organizing conventions but you wouldn’t necessarily want them to plan your wedding).
Taking the scary out of the event planning interview process
It’s pretty much the same as any other job interview process. Depending on your niche (corporate versus private event planning) or industry (technology versus weddings, etc.), you might encounter some variation of the number of interviews required or any additional, company-specific questions asked. But for the most part, you can expect any standard event planning job interview process to begin with an application, include one or more interviews (using the questions below), and – if you’re successful – end with an offer.
FAQ
What are the questions asked in event management interview?
What questions should assistants ask at an interview?
- 6 executive assistant interview questions to ask. …
- What qualities would a person in this position need to be successful? …
- What is the biggest challenge you are facing? …
- Do you offer any career development opportunities?
How do you prepare for an event interview?
