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From Hospitality to Events – Meet Jorgen

A logical transition

This week’s featured CoEM graduate is Jorgen Sirhanis. Jorgen is one of many who have made the career transition from hospitality to events. It’s a logical transition for a number of reasons;

  • Hospitality and events people are often made of the same stuff; they’re people-people, they’re hardworking and they generally thrive in a fast-paced, exciting environment.
  • More often than not hospitality and event teams cross over. Exposure to events is often the motivating factor for wanting to make the career change.
  • Generally, there seems to be career progression availability in events.
  • As they progress in their careers hospitality staff might prefer to plan the event rather than work on the floor of the event.

Jorgen gives his reason for wanting to change over to events, “I worked as a hospitality venue manager for several years and while I enjoyed the scope of work, there was minimal room for progression.

Transitioning into the events industry just seemed like the most logical move to make. I also really like the amount of moving parts there are in putting together a successful event. Once you see how much goes into a large event, it makes the finished product even more impressive.”

An opportunity

After graduating Jorgen worked on multiple short contract jobs across several events. But six months later we received word that an opportunity had opened up in Sydney’s newest premier venue; International Convention Centre (ICC).  This op was perfectly suited to Jorgen so we got in touch.

If not for the college keeping in contact with me I would have probably never found out about this role.

Jorgen successfully secured a spot in the 12 month ICC graduate program. Happy days! “It’s a 12-month contract where I am working across multiple departments within the venue’s event services. It’s a very dynamic role as we get moved across multiple departments within the venue, so it’s always changing. The main constant is having to communicate with many people every day across a wide variety of roles to ensure everything proceeds smoothly. While it is still new it already seems like there is great potential for progression here.”

Exterior view of ICC Sydney

ICC Sydney

Watch ICC promo vid HERE >>

Formal training. Why?

Jorgen explains why he thought it was necessary to have some formal event training before trying to apply for event roles. “A lot of what the college taught me laid a solid foundation of understanding about the events industry and what employers look for in their recruitment processes, which really helped boost my confidence when applying for the role. The college’s Industry Engagement Program was a great way to directly involved in the industry and begin networking whilst studying.

There’s only so much you can learn in a classroom and I learnt so much through a combination of volunteering, internships and paid contract roles.

Why CoEM?

“The small and personalised class style I found much more engaging and supportive. Having spent time studying at university I can safely say that the difference in the way the course is delivered is much more effective.”

In terms of a great future in events, things are looking particularly bright for Jorgen, particularly if he continues to work hard, keep meeting as many industry people as possible and keep an open mind to anything that pops up. “Working at a venue like ICC Sydney opens a lot of directions to move towards so for now I’m just keeping an open mind and taking in as much as I can.” Good man.

We’ll be keeping a very keen eye on Jorgen’s career progression in events. Who knows? One day he may be employing CoEM graduates of the future!

Head shot of CoEM grad Jorgen who now works in the events industry

CoEM grad Jorgen who now works in the events industry

Students that graduate from College of Event Management are job-ready! Check out our Event Manager Program

Event Manager focuses on real event outcomes. Online content is aligned with the process of staging an actual event and covers the most widely recognised skills and mindsets required by industry, some of which we covered in the above post.

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