How To Become A Lead Event Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead event specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Joel Reece Ph.D.

In events, meetings, seminars, and conventions, the lead event specialist is in charge of overseeing and coordinating everything that needs to be done. From meeting with clients to monitoring the event itself, the lead event specialist is there every step of the way.

The key responsibilities of a lead event specialist include planning events, soliciting bids from vendors and providers, meeting with clients to determine their needs and goals, and taking care of the nitty-gritty details like transportation, employee schedules, and paperwork.

Since the job of a lead event specialist involves juggling multiple tasks at once, the ideal candidate is one who possesses outstanding skills in multi-tasking, organization, and prioritization. Apart from that, they should have great communication skills, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills to lead the event team to success.

One can become a lead event specialist with a high school diploma, but having a bachelor's degree in hospitality, business, public relations, or a similar field increases the chances of securing this position. Once hired, a lead event specialist can expect an average salary of $23 an hour or roughly $48,000 per year.

What general advice would you give to a Lead Event Specialist?

Joel Reece Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Brigham Young University–Hawaii

Review job postings of career jobs you want to see what types of skills and experience they are looking for in applicants, then go find opportunities to gain those skills and experience.

Look for opportunities to get involved. It is ok to be a volunteer or have an entry level job.
Think of your job as a place you can get paid to learn. Work with the attitude to add value to the company.

ScoreLead Event SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,064

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.6

Growth Rate 18%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 5.92%

Black or African American 11.23%

Hispanic or Latino 16.48%

Unknown 4.71%

White 61.42%

Gender

female 62.30%

male 37.70%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress Level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.0

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead event specialist

Explore lead event specialist education requirements

Most common lead event specialist degrees

Bachelor's

57.9 %

Associate

18.8 %

High School Diploma

12.5 %

Start to develop specific lead event specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	14.41%
Food Safety Guidelines	10.02%
Facebook	9.84%
Product Demonstrations	9.35%
Event Planning	9.16%

Complete relevant lead event specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead event specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead event specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead event specialist resumes.

Research lead event specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage all FOH operations of a consistently busy, tourist destination restaurant.
Manage all aspects of these events and act as onsite manager to ensure meeting are delivered effectively and professionally.
Represent major brands in the gifting suite distributing gift bags to celebrities and VIP guests.
Leverage corporate partnerships and trade accounts to create VIP client experiences to help foster those relationships and increase YOY revenue.

Get lead event specialist experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a lead event specialist. The most common roles before becoming a lead event specialist include cashier, sales associate team lead and internship.

Prepare your lead event specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead event specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead event specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Lead Event Specialist Resume templates

Build a professional Lead Event Specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Lead Event Specialist resume.

Apply for lead event specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a lead event specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do lead event specialists rate their job?

-/5

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Lead Event Specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

I like the life style and event work

Cons

a lot of stuff to do and not enough time