Development of Event Management skills
The growing trend in individuals in the UK attending further education (HESA, 2013) has resulted in an upsurge in the demand for graduate positions. Alongside with the scarcity of employment in the UK from aftermath of economic downturn that started in 2007(EPI, 2013), consequently has formed an increasingly challenging environment for graduates to find employment because of the hyper competitiveness of graduate recruitment in the UK (The Independent, 2013). Peacock (2013) claims "University leavers are facing the toughest jobs market since the depths of the financial crisis due to "crumbling" business confidence ".
The limited graduate recruitment is creating a blood bath of graduates competing to obtain employment in their sector. Graduate employers expectations have amplified to reduce the never-ending list of graduate application they receive daily, in the selection process. Target Jobs (2013) list the top skills graduate employees are placing emphasis on during the recruitment process, these being: Commercial awareness, Communication, Teamwork, Negotiation and persuasion, Problem solving, Leadership, Organisation, Perseverance and motivation, Ability to work under pressure, Confidences. University of Exeter (2013) UK Employers are now selecting graduates with work experience, and an understanding of the industry. The struggle for graduates applicants to positively distinguish themselves from the masses of other professionally and academically identical candidates is evident; the standard of graduates is immensely rising, yet graduate recruitment statistics are not corresponding to the increase in demand at the same rate. The burden of employers demanding higher employability skills and work experience from graduates is now being placed onto universities. It was recently found by CBI and NUS; two thirds (66%) of students want more help from their university in developing skills such as team working, self-management, problem solving and communication. In response to this Sheffield Hallam University and many others have placed great emphasis on developing student's employability skills and work experience portfolio in their course syllabus. NUS (2011) published a set of skills essential for graduates to obtain in order to gain employment displayed in figure 2.0.
Beard and Wilson (2006, p2) outline the importance of experience by stating "experiential learning is the sense-making process of active engagement between the inner world or the person and the outer world of the environment" . Beard and Wilson (2006) identify that learning through experience is the most fundamental and natural process to learning. Completing the live event module provided a sound knowledge of event planning. I was able to develop skills and experience in every stage of the event process. The figure 2.1 displays the phrases of project management identified by EPMS (2006). Through designing, organising and managing Sheffield World MenCup 2014 I endeavoured all these stages. Gained relevant and practical event management skills and competences, Bowdin (2011) identified the competencies of an effective event manager as followed; technical competence (specific knowledge, methods, and skills applied to discrete tasks), social and human skills (interpersonal relationships, motivating, team work and leadership), conceptual ability (ability to envisage the complexity of situations, decision making and contributions related to the objectives and strategies of an organisation).
Experience is a child of thought, and a thought is the child of action- we cannot learn men from books (Benjamin Disraeli, 1826)
I advanced the theoretical knowledge of event management through practically applying the knowledge I have gained throughout my degree in a practical situation, developing a further understanding of the field and the skills identified by Bowdin.
The project required vast amounts of team work throughout all stages of the event. During the initial stages the team underwent Tuckman (1965) team development process; forming, storming, norming, and performing. The team had to gain a strong understanding of team dynamics, relationships, and team goals before we achieved a successfully performing team. During this process i identified that I work well as plant in Belbin's team roles good at; generating ideas, problem solving and therefore took upon the role of Marketing Director.
Figure 2.0
Figure 2.1