Liz Young, Head of Events at independent charity Historic Royal Palaces discusses her career and whether your path is planned or found
I often get asked how I got to where I am now – how have I managed my career path and has it all been planned? Have I forged the path one step at a time or have I found it by chance based on opportunities that have come my way?
When I look back on my career path I can identify key turning points that significantly changed the path that I was on – when I applied for jobs for which I was lacking key skills and experience, but which I managed to secure based on two very important things – transferrable skills and attitude.
One of these key turning points was when I responded to an internal Live Nation job advert to work as Event Manager for Wembley Arena (I was currently working at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End). On paper I had no relevant experience for the job – I had no experience of working in arenas; no experience of working with global tour promoters and high-profile artists, no experience of the production elements or security operations for large-scale/high-risk concerts; no experience of venue licensing laws or working with local authorities and emergency services – but I got the job. And the reasons were transferable skills and attitude.
I was told I could be trained up to learn all the specific elements of the job, but what they needed to see was a certain attitude – a strong work ethic, a willingness to work hard and long hours, a self-belief and confidence and an ability to deal with confrontational situations. It turned out that all of those required qualities I had unwittingly been developing over all the previous jobs I had been in.
Another key turning point in my career was my move into the heritage sector. This job represented a huge change for me – not only into the heritage sector working in conservation-sensitive buildings that are not purpose-built for events, but also as head of department to event sales and operational teams, having never been involved in direct sales myself. Yet again, I was able to pull on experience I had picked up – exposure to the work of other teams in past jobs meant I understood the language of sales and was able to secure the job. And now I’m in a role learning even more skills – sales techniques, marketing and PR plans, event creation and business strategy and development – and all of this based in historic spaces with interesting conservation restrictions and challenges.
To get back to the original question, are career paths forged or found? In my opinion, they end up being a mix of the two. You can start off with a plan to give yourself direction and focus, but don’t ever let that stop you from taking up opportunities that may come your way taking you off your initial path. In fact, my advice would be don’t expect to get the job you want straight away because it is an extremely competitive industry and you almost certainly won’t!
Always work hard and with commitment at whatever you’re doing because you never know whose eye you’ll catch or whose path you’ll cross – and you should always ensure that you’re being the best you can be in that moment. If you’re in a job you don’t enjoy, make sure you are still learning all you can as you never know when those skills and experiences will be needed in the future. Take all opportunities to get involved in new things – because if you show commitment, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn and be part of a team it will be noticed and it will all help build up that arsenal of experience to use later.
To find out more about the event spaces available at the Historic Royal Palaces venues, visit hrp.org.uk
