Event Management and Hospitality

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:  

• Accommodation manager
• Catering manager
• Chef
• Conference centre manager
• Events manager
• Exhibition designer
• Fast food restaurant manager
• Hotel manager
• Public house manager
• Restaurant manager

Event management

• excellent organisational, project management and planning skills
• flexibility and the ability to work well under pressure
• a customer focussed approach
• strong communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills
• creativity, initiative and strong problem-solving skills
• an ability to lead and work effectively in teams

Hospitality

• excellent communication, interpersonal and customer service skills
• flexibility and the ability to think on your feet and use your initiative
• a tactful and diplomatic approach
• the ability to motivate and manage people effectively
• organisational and planning skills with the ability to manage a budget
• an up-to-date knowledge of health and safety and licensing legislation

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources: 

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations 
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs 
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn 

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offer

• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events, such as recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:  

• Prospects: Hospitality and events management
• Eventbrite - How to become an event planner
• targetjobs: Hospitality and event management
• CareerScope: Springboard
• Jobsinhotels.co.uk

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews. 

Examples include: 

Event management

• Eventbrite
• Access all areas
• M&IT

Hospitality

• Restaurant
• Hospitality and Catering News
• The Caterer
• The Morning Advertiser

See our Events and workshops page for upcoming events, including recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights. 

Join any society that you are interested in. You could then join the committee as a social secretary or an events coordinator to develop events management, marketing and planning skills.

Use social media to find industry insights.

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate. 

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network  

Professional bodies often: 

• run networking events  
• have specialist groups you could join 
• post vacancies on behalf of their members 
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications 

Key organisations include: 

• Association of Event Organisers
• Event & Visual Communication Association (EVCOM)
• UKHospitality - industry information, events and publications
• Institute of Hospitality
• British Beer & Pub Association - includes news, industry statistics and a list of members
• British Institute of Inn keeping - news, events and qualifications

Finding professional bodies worldwide 

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide. 

Apply for advertised opportunities as early as possible.  

Some UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled. 

Use our resources to get started: 

• Part-time jobs - part time work in a hotel or restaurant is often one of the best ways to gain experience in this sector
• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts 
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites 
• Jobs on Campus - often has events and hospitality work. This could involve working in a range of activities and locations at the university, including conferences, open days, congregations, and catering outlets on campus.

 Search the following external sites:

• Gain experience by working or volunteering at local events. See Visit North East England for regional event listings.
• The Association of Event Organisers members sometimes advertise student placements. Student placements can also be found on MyCareer.
• Charities such as Cancer Research offer paid summer internships in events and marketing.

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage and often has internships for events related roles. Previous roles include Film Festival Intern and Great North Run Intern.

• Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.
• You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them. 

For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible. UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled. 

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies. 

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts  
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites 

Vacancy sites events management and hospitality

• Hospitality Jobs UK
• Leisure jobs UK
• Travelweekly.co.uk
• FindMyPubJobs.com
• Hoteljobs.co.uk
• Hotel Employers Group - links to vacancy sites for a group of large hotel employers
• catererglobal.com
• Caterer.com

Worldwide vacancy sites  

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites. 

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities: 

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in. 
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company. 
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated. 
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying! 

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you: 

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts 
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin 

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’ 
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page 
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working 
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed 

• Association of Event Organisers – member directory
• Directory of Members - Evcom

• Hotels.Directory - directory of hotel chains in the UK. Search on individual hotel website for jobs/careers section
• Springboard UK – find employers in the hospitality and leisure sector
• The Best Places to Work in Hospitality 2023 - The Caterer
• Caterer.com - catering employer index
• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers. 

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.