Life after university: a day in the life of a new #eventprof
The most recent addition to our team is Izzie Lachecki. She joined us as Marketing & Events Coordinator just 8 weeks ago and has already become an integral part of our dream team. For our latest blog, we asked her to share her journey to choosing events as a career.
When people ask what you want to be when you grow up, most of us say ‘astronaut’ or ‘ballerina’. Personally, I wanted to be a princess! Even though it’s just a bit of fun to dream about the future, it’s easy to lose sight of our dreams and end up settling for something we don’t love, just because we feel pressure to do something with our lives.
When I was at school, and then studying Psychology at university (Uni of Leeds – woo hoo!), I worried quite a lot about where my life was going and started trying to panic-buy a career path. In fact, I used to feel so envious of my friends studying medicine or law because they had a guaranteed career choice. There is so much pressure to decide exactly what you want to do and make it happen as soon as you have finished university – but more often than not it doesn’t work out this way. It’s okay to not know what you want to do!
The day after I graduated from university, I flew to Fiji and began a year of travelling the world. It was incredible. However, when I returned home, pretty penniless and feeling a bit down, I decided I needed to do something to begin a career journey that I actually liked. I had an interest in marketing, so reached out to a couple of companies to chat with their marketing teams to see if they had any advice. They told me to sign up to a recruitment agency, which is free, which really helped me improve my CV and express my personality. I found myself googling and applying for every internship in London (even though I lived three hours away). Soon enough, I was invited to interviews.
After a couple of rejections, I came for an interview here at Sleek Events. As soon as I walked through the door, I knew this was a place I wanted to work. The vibe of the company and its values really appealed to me, plus everyone was so friendly. I came away desperately hoping I would get the job – and two (very long) days later – I did!
Once I started, it was a bit of a shock to the system – I was used to running around barefoot in Australia, not working from 9-5.30 every day! But once I adjusted to living in London and settled in to the company a bit, I started to really enjoy the routine. It’s been two months and I’m still here – so I must be doing something right! The events industry is such a brilliant industry to get into – I love how I’m doing something different every day and get to travel to amazing places.
Although I love how my life has turned out so far, it doesn’t mean I didn’t have some disappointment along the way! My top three tips for people coming out of uni who are worrying about what the world of work holds for them are:
Just breathe. Sit down with a cuppa and try to note down your interests, areas you think you might like to work in, what experience you might need, and how you might go about getting into the industry. Google is your best friend!
Follow any companies you might like to work at on social media – this will give you a taste of the company and also the industry. I stalked Sleek Events on Instagram for weeks! And don’t forget, if you have things on your social media that you’d be embarrassed for a potential employer to see, make your personal social media accounts private – being aware of what you post is really important.
Have a really strong CV and interview technique. Recruitment agencies will help with this. Research CV templates or interview techniques both generally and specific to a career sector, to make your application stand out. This will help you be better prepared for any tricky questions in interviews.
Above all, it’s so important to be yourself and follow your heart. If you end up in a job you hate, you don’t have to stay for the rest of your life – so don’t panic! To quote one of my favourite movies: “Everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, it’s not the end.”