Is It Better to Volunteer or do Paid Event Jobs?

When starting off, we all would prefer to get paid for event gigs, however that is often harder especially if you have no relevant event experience. Not only that paid event gigs may not pay as much as you hope, especially if it is more admin and medial tasks like crowd control and registration.

Even if you get a ton of paid freelance jobs it is quite the task to make a full time living out of it, as you would constantly be hurrying to find something in order to pay your bills. You could apply to work for a company in an event role, which will take time and often easier if you have some event experience.

I would say anyone who is starting events for people starting from zero, the best thing is to start from volunteering. There are tons of companies and events that require volunteers plus you could choose which types interest you. At the beginning it is important to not be too picky and try a bit of every kind of event. That will not only give you a portfolio of work, but can future employers you can work across a whole range of events.

The best thing about volunteering is making connections, do so with other volunteers and members of the events team you’re working for. Ask those people if they would like to connect with you on LinkedIn, you may never know if you do a really good job, they may personally reach out to you for future event jobs temporary or permanent.

This is obviously from my pov, as after doing a series of volunteering and freelance jobs, so far I have had one repetitive client. One repeating events job is not enough, as you would need a ton in order to make a living out of it. So keep applying, both volunteering and events, do as much as you can.

Another form of volunteering but without being hired for an event is look at the opportunities around you. I work in a place I am surrounded by a company with amazing products and campaigns, so I saw an opportunity to make content out of it. It lead to people finding my content valuable enough to connect with me.

Hope this helps and if you found this helpful in anyway, do share with your all your event loving friends

Signed

Your Little Event Hero