Sometimes, you just can’t do it all. It doesn’t matter how much you know about event planning or how many plates you can spin at once. When your events business expands and grows, you need more hands.
That’s when you need to hire event staff — and at the moment, there are 5.89 million people in America looking for a job. But how do you whittle down that huge number to a shortlist of several amazing event workers?
Here at Eventbrite, we support teams of all sizes in planning, managing, and operating successful events, so we know a thing or two about putting together a winning team. That’s why we’ve created this guide, which includes every step to consider during the hiring process and how to manage a team successfully.
Read on to find out what event staff can do to make your event shine, get top tips on hiring event staff, and learn how to train your new starts.
Table of contents
How to hire event staff: 10 pro tips
What do event staff do?
Event staff support event organizers in planning, managing, and operating events. They follow an event manager’s instructions and have responsibilities that depend on their role, such as welcoming guests, checking equipment, and assisting with seating arrangements.
Event staff generally includes:
- Event administration
- Venue preparation
- Event marketing and promotion
- Event security
- Processing ticket orders
- Operating event equipment
- Crowd control
- Parking management
- Customer service
- Event catering
- Hospitality
- Venue clean-up
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on your event, you may need additional team members to cover other duties or multiple staff for each role.
For example, a charity sporting event might require event staff to serve as referees or timekeepers, while an outdoor event near open water might require lifeguard staff.
Regardless of your precise event requirements, we’ve got some helpful tips to find the perfect candidates for your event team.
How to hire event staff: 10 pro tips
Never hired event staff before? Don’t stress.
Becoming an employer can be incredibly rewarding. Hiring staff enables you to complete more tasks thoroughly — ultimately helping you to achieve your event strategy. You’ve just got to make sure you cover all your bases during the hiring process.
1. Get to know employment law
Before advertising for staff, it’s important to understand the legal implications of hiring new event workers. Some regulations to be aware of include:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): The FLSA sets rules on the minimum wage requirement ($7.25 hourly), overtime hours (at least one-and-a-half times the employee’s regular payrate), record-keeping (like payroll records and identifiable information about all non-exempt workers), and child labor (for example, under-16s can’t work in a food-service venue for more than three hours per day on a school day).
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): The FMLA is a federal law that entitles eligible employees to time off for parental leave or other medical issues (12 weeks of leave within 12 months).
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA): The OSHA sets rules on hazard prevention in the workplace to ensure your event staff has a safe working environment.
- Immigration and Nationality Act (INA): The INA imposes rules to ensure you only hire workers who can demonstrate the right to work in the USA. Documentation to demonstrate someone’s right to work includes a Social Security Number (SSN) card, US passport, or driver’s license.
Depending on the type of event you’re operating or the state your events are in, there might be additional employment laws.
For example, the California Labor Code dictates that musicians you contract to entertain guests require minimum wage and overtime just like your full-time event team.
2. Calculate how many staff members you’ll need to hire
To make your event successful, you’ve got to ensure you have adequate staff to address every single element of your event operations.
For example, do you need to hire security because you’re planning a large political event? If so, study the venue plan to calculate how many security staff you need. Do you need a cleaning crew to tidy up a city park you’re using? What about catering staff to feed hungry families?
By developing a first understanding of your precise event requirements, you’ll know what you need in a potential candidate long before the interview process begins.
For example, when The Epic League Events and Reggae Fest founder CJ Milan started setting up her incredible underground events in warehouses and airplane hangers, she had to analyze her unique event spaces before hiring her own staff and security for each event.
Start by writing out a wishlist of all the jobs that need to be done for your event, and then work out how many people it’ll take to cover each of those tasks. It’s also worth mapping out your event venue to gauge how many employees it’ll take to service each space.
3. Develop a clear staffing budget
Staffing is often one of your biggest overheads, so you need a realistic budget.
Consider comprehensive training, wages, and employer obligations (like benefits). If you’re advertising your vacancies on third-party websites, remember to factor in the costs of promoting those ads.
But it’s equally important to crunch the numbers and see where you could cut costs.
Would it be cheaper to train existing employees in new areas rather than hire new staff? Likewise, you should consider where roles may overlap to prevent unnecessary expenses. For example, could your catering staff set up a self-service station so your event doesn’t require food servers?
If you’d like to keep new hires but can only pay them for the hours they work at your events, consider zero-hour contracts. Just make sure you add perks to attract top talent. For example, you could include flexible working options or free meals during your events.
Need a hand with your event budget?
4. Outline your event staff responsibilities
Before you start looking for suitable candidates for each role, make sure you understand its exact remit.
Split event duties between essentials and desirables — covering every element of event operations so that there won’t be any gaps on the day.
For example, when looking for door staff, your responsibilities might include:
- Customer service skills
- Scanning guests in
- Handling cash
- Distributing wristbands
Meanwhile, desirable (but non-essential) extras might include:
- Performing bag screenings
- Experience using event technology
Listing these will also help you understand where there may be overlap. That being said, you need to be realistic in terms of what you can expect out of each staff member. You don’t want to overstretch your new hires or scare them away with a mountain of responsibilities.
5. Create a job description that pops
A thought-out job advertisement can make employees want to work for you.
Start with a bold introduction that captures everybody’s attention. Create an open and honest headline that avoids the typical cliches (like “rockstar employees”). Look at other job listings that make you cringe, and try to word your listing differently. If you need a hand getting started, it’s worth trying an AI writing tool like ChatGPT or Jasper to produce some inspiring headlines and job listings.
Concisely list all the essential and desirable criteria and spell out the primary duties expected of the successful candidate. This will help all of your applicants understand what they’re getting into.
Include a short section with some info about your event business. Research shows that people want to work with companies that make positive impacts on society. So, if you’re into sustainability or doing good things for your community, a job description is the perfect place to showcase that work.
6. Promote your openings in the right places
After you’ve drafted a stellar job description, it’s time to post your vacancy. If you have existing staff, it’s worth posting your job listing internally. This gives employees with underused skills an opportunity to shift roles, and it might also generate some recommendations for specific candidates from your team.
But if you’re going externally, start by posting your openings on social media (both organic and paid posts). You may already have some followers who enjoy your events and would love to be a part of your team!
It’s also worth posting on event job sites like Event Marketer or working with an event staffing agency like ATN Event Staffing or Elevate. Agencies are particularly helpful if you’re looking to fill a very specific and skilled vacancy. An event staffing agency can also save you time by conducting an initial screening process to filter out less qualified candidates.
7. Create a shortlist of candidates
After you receive applications, send an automatic confirmation email to all applicants as a professional courtesy. The email should thank them for their time and provide an expected date to hear back.
From there, assess each candidate’s skills and qualifications. Look at their event experience and track record working with events. One way to do that is to create a candidate scoreboard as you go through each application. For example, you could score applicants on a scale of one to five if they meet the mandatory requirements, preferred requirements, and desirable criteria.
Need a hand shortlisting? There are AI tools like Hubert that can help you streamline the process.
Aim to shortlist multiple candidates for each opening. That gives you some wiggle room if somebody’s interview doesn’t quite match up with their resume.
8. Interview potential candidates
Contact them with a proposed date and time that gives them some time to prepare.
To maximize your chances of everyone showing up for the interview, send a confirmation email and a reminder message to each candidate prior to the interview.
Meanwhile, using your requirements and the candidate’s resume, create a set list of interview questions relevant to each specific area of responsibility. It’s worth setting up a rating system beforehand based on how well their answers fulfill each requirement. Don’t forget to check their CV for relevant experience and ask them to expand on that during the interview. This will give you a true feel for what they’re capable of.
9. Choose your successful candidates
After the interviews, review your notes and compare each candidate’s offerings against your original job description. Don’t be afraid to trust your gut instincts about the candidates after speaking with them. Good communication and rapport are soft skills that can be extremely important in a stressful and high-speed environment like event management.
Start by ruling out the weakest candidates, and then order the successful interviewees based on how well their skills and experience match the job. If you’ve got multiple candidates that seem like a good fit, consider their soft skills, and, if necessary, conduct a second interview.
Once you feel good about your choices, contact the successful candidates and give them the good news!
After they accept your offer, contact the unsuccessful candidates, thanking them for their time. If any candidates ask for interview feedback, it’s good protocol to provide them with some constructive advice.
10. Create and submit contracts
Next, make sure you get all the important stuff in writing.
Create a contract clearly outlining the tasks and responsibilities you’re expecting this person to carry out. Include any important company policies your new team members must adhere to while representing your company/event — and double-check employment laws to ensure your contract complies with regulations.
Once signed, give your new employee a copy, and ensure your business has a securely stored copy for future reference.
If you’re new to hiring employees, customizable contract templates like the ones on Law Depot can save you a lot of time and energy.
Manage event staff
Hiring event staff is only the first part of your journey as an employer. Once you’ve hired your new staff members, you need to learn how to manage them effectively.
Create event staff resources
Save time answering questions by creating resources your new staff members can reference.
Compile a guidebook of company rules and event policies employees must follow. Create a handbook on essential tasks and how to carry them out. This will serve as an important reminder if employees need a refresher after receiving staff training.
Finally, create a contact list that new staff members can reference if they need guidance. This will ensure your new staff can get help if they need it.
Set up multiple induction sessions
Induction sessions teach your employees what they need to know for your upcoming event.
Points to include in your induction might be:
- Security procedures
- First aid facilities
- Emergency exits
- Introducing the rest of the team
- How to communicate during the event
- A rundown of the event prep and event agenda in chronological order
Ensure sessions cover all essential event staff responsibilities, and space out your induction sessions to allow new hires a chance to retain information.
It’s also worth incorporating team shadowing so your hires can experience their new job in a live setting.
Schedule check-ins for feedback
After completing basic training, organize check-ins and regular feedback sessions to let your staff know what’s going well and what could be improved upon.
But employment is a two-way street, so you should also use these check-ins to give your new staff members time to ask questions or provide feedback on the induction process and how they feel about their new role.
Even if event staff members are only temporary, you should listen to their feedback to ensure they have a good employee experience. After all, if a temporary hire turns out to be great, you might want to rehire them for new events.
Bring staff up-to-speed on any event technology you’re using
If your business is supported by advanced event management software like Eventbrite, you must give your new hires a crash course on using those unique features.
For example, employees working the door can utilize check-in tools like the Eventbrite Organizer App to seamlessly scan in ticket holders or sell tickets quickly at the door.
Here’s how it’s done:
If you have staff helping you with event promotion and event branding, you should also walk them through event marketing tools to help boost ticket sales.
For example, when event organizer Paul Thornton switched to Eventbrite, he rushed to train his staff on the platform so everyone on his team could take advantage of Eventbrite’s multichannel approach to event marketing.
“Bringing marketing and sales to the table is really what sets Eventbrite apart,” says Paul. “It’s incredibly valuable.”
Likewise, your new hires can help you conduct reports to optimize marketing efforts.
Already using Eventbrite? You can pull all sorts of advanced reports instantly. Here’s how:
Arrange a social outing to get to know new team members
It’s important to get to know your employees on a personal level and support team members in developing good relationships. So after hiring event staff, carve out time to engage with new hires outside of work.
Small social gatherings can spark conversations and build rapport between veteran employees and recent starters. Try out some small team-building exercises or outings to make everyone comfortable with one another.
Create and share a team hierarchy
An important aspect of event team management is establishing a clear and signposted team hierarchy.
This ensures you identify key players who can carry more responsibility, and it avoids confusion about roles and who does what. Likewise, a hierarchy creates a trail of accountability and clear communication lines while giving new starters peace of mind that the weight of the world isn’t on their shoulders.
Set up clear lines of communication
To create memorable experiences for your guests, your event staff have to work well together — and that requires clear lines of communication between employees.
Make yourself and other veteran staff members available to answer questions. Try using team communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams during the planning process and create on-the-day lines of communication for your events like WhatsApp or walkie-talkies.
This ensures everybody’s on the same page, and you can address any event hiccups swiftly.
Debrief your team after every event
Set up a team meeting directly after your event to discuss post-event responsibilities, stating what everyone did well and what could be improved next time.
If you’re using event management software like Eventbrite, you can even pull reports in real time to examine sales, check-in times, or no-show rates and chat through them with staff.
After everybody goes home, send a survey to event staff so they can provide their feedback. Questions worth including might be:
- What went well about the event?
- What could we have done differently?
- Were there any problems beyond our control at the event?
- Did our lines of event communication work effectively?
Try to do your debrief and get your staff survey sent early while it’s fresh in their minds. Otherwise, if there’s a gap of several days or weeks after the event, staff can forget some of the event’s successes (and issues).
Ready to start hiring event staff?
You can’t pull off an outstanding event without the right staff.
By looking in the right places, setting out clear guidelines from the start, and clearly communicating your job requirements and ethos. We’re sure you’ll be able to find the right staff. And we’re here to help.
When you partner with Eventbrite, you unlock a range of dynamic, effective, and easy-to-use event management tools that your new hires will be able to use to hit the ground running and start making a difference at your events.
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