We recently sat down with Elissa Phillips, the Inhouse Recruitment Manager at Terrapinn, a global events, conference and training company.  

We spoke about attracting the best talent to the events industry, what makes for a great candidate and how graduates can impress during the recruitment process.

A lot of people just ‘fall into’ events.  What more can we do to make it an aspirational career choice for people?

Roles within events and conferences are ideal for students with a strong academic and research background and commercial awareness. Conference production in particular suits graduates who are able to get their head around new topic areas and set about conducting in-depth desk and telephone research.

Educating undergraduates on the career potential within this field before they graduate is a great way of securing the best talent when they reach that crucial decision making point. We speak to candidates during their final year of university, run Assessment Days and invite interns to get hands-on experience.

At Terrapinn we are firm believers of growing talent from within; we hire graduates with one or two years’ commercial experience and give them the tools to work up through the ranks. Indeed, the Managing Director of our UK business started in a junior role, worked his way up through production and sales and now manages a business of 70+.

Working in conferences allows graduates to create and promote industry-leading events around the world, touching on all subjects from pharmaceuticals right through to marketing, robotics and UAVs.

How do you think event companies should position themselves to be attractive to millennials?

Millennials, much like generations before them, crave the same essentials when launching themselves into the professional world. They require training, job security and progression opportunities. If companies are positioning themselves correctly in the market then attracting the right people should come naturally.

Events companies are evolving to be more forward thinking, interactive and innovative. Gone are the days of lengthy PowerPoint presentations spoken at an audience. Now it’s much more about the experience of the day itself and communication amongst speakers, exhibitors and attendees. At Terrapinn we encourage apps linking people as they meet, lively twitter debates and roundtable discussions.

Junior staff have the opportunity to incorporate their ideas into the planning of these events. Want to trial a new content marketing strategy to reach a new audience? Fine, let’s have a go.

Hopefully millennials will be drawn to a business that encourages creativity and forward thinking.

What makes Terrapinn a great choice for ambitious event professionals?

Terrapinn offers a global reach and is an incubator for creativity. We encourage trialling and testing new and often daring ways of keeping our events relevant. We work to a longer production cycle than most, allowing for the team to put together the best quality event possible, not just rush to fill speaker slots.

Our Business Development Managers work in a collaborative manner with producers right from the start, not just once the agenda is complete.

Our marketing team has won “Best Marketing Team” at the conference awards two years in a row.

How can event organisers compete with big-money sectors like finance to get the best talent? Should you be competing directly or do you have different talent needs?

Successful event organisers are of course financially motivated but we don’t poach them from the finance sector. The right fit for us are those who strive to produce industry leading events and be at the forefront of each industry they venture into. Being commercially aware allows us to understand our client’s needs and truly tailor events around them.

Event organisers who can see the bigger picture can recognise when a new trend is going to disrupt a market and pre-empt where the money making themes are going to be. The right people to be involved in this can see the benefit of launching in these new areas and ensuring their future earning potential for years to come. It is a big-money sector for people able to see that and take risks.

Do you think there are enough qualified candidates coming through, or does more need to be done to train and develop young talent before they’re ready for employment?

For me, a degree-educated candidate, who has worked alongside university and is hungry to learn and progress, is ideal.

When it comes to sales, it’s useful for the candidate to have 1-2 years telephone based sales experience under their belt. At Terrapinn we don’t headhunt from competitors but try to grow from within. We would rather train someone up than have to “untrain” them.

Ultimately, we can provide all the tools: training, support, resources, database, etc, the rest comes from the individual; they have to want to succeed.

Very few of our senior management come from an Events Management background; we have an eclectic mix with everything from Bio-Chemistry to Economics and Languages degrees. I don’t think further training is necessary to be ready for employment. Just life experience and a good work ethic.

What qualities and experience do you look for when recruiting for Terrapinn?

We look for candidates who share our values. We want people who are creative, results driven, adaptable, able to influence others, committed to growth, excellent in time management, customer focussed and team players. Our recruitment process involves probing into all of these competencies.

How could a prospective employee impress you?

A prospective employee can impress me by giving clear concise examples of their achievements and skills. People often people claim to be “motivated”, “creative” or “result orientated” but are unable to back it up! I also want to know what that person can do for us as a business, what will they bring to Terrapinn and why do they want it?