1 February 2019

According to TAFE NSW research, tourism and experience services was one of the five industry areas employing the most people in the Western Sydney region in 2018, and is forecast to remain the largest to 2021.

The events industry also has the largest employment growth over the next three years, with 70 per cent of job postings requiring employees to have a certificate level qualification. The sector is also booming with the City of Parramatta Council approving the development of 500 new hotel rooms by 2020, including a 27-storey Starwood Four Points by Sheraton, and a 17-storey QT Hotel and Resorts29.

The latter will also house two of Rockpool Dining Group's premium restaurants, all of which will create job opportunities for local Parramatta residents.

For Marife Cruz, a career in the events industry was something she had only dreamed of whilst working at SEA LIFE Sydney as a Call Centre Associate and Guest Services Attendant. Seeing the various projects the events team worked on, she longed to be part of the industry so she enrolled in the Diploma of Events at TAFE NSW Granville.

“I chose to study at TAFE NSW as it offered flexible study options which meant I could still study and work part-time, plus it was an affordable option,” said Marife Cruz.

“The course gave me great background knowledge, hands-on skills and developed my interests in the industry – all of which helped me with pursing job opportunities. We learnt everything from teamwork, stakeholder management, run sheets and how important planning and communication is when it comes to planning an event.”

While studying, Marife secured an internship and subsequent part-time role at Liverpool Council as an Events Assistant, which was followed shortly after by a position as an Events Coordinator at The Star Sydney.  While working at The Star Sydney, she has worked across a variety of events, including The Star’s inaugural Launch for the Doncaster Cup in 2017, and the annual staff Christmas parties – catering to more than 1,000 team members across two events. Marife was thrown in the deep end and having just completed her TAFE NSW studies much of what she had learnt was put into practice.

“My studies gave me the confidence to use my skills to successfully execute the event. I was also given the opportunity to put my stamp on it with my own ideas; my role required me to manage logistics and suppliers, communicate with internal and external stakeholders, all while keeping everything to budget.”

Samantha Valente, Director of Events at The Star Sydney said that Marife’s training and education was paramount to her becoming an integral member the award winning in-house event management team.

“The Star Sydney hosts some of Australia’s biggest events including the ARIA Awards, AACTA Awards and The GQ Man of The Year Awards. The hard work and passion of our events team is evident through the exceptional results delivered to our clients and guests,” said Ms Valente.

“Marife’s education and training equipped her with the necessary skills to effortlessly join the high-performing team at The Star.

“As Sydney continues to play a pivotal role in attracting international events, The Star and other organisations’ will seek to recruit the best talent to meet that demand,” she said.

The Diploma of Events Management can be studied at TAFE NSW Granville or as online via TAFE Digital. For more information visit www.tafensw.edu.au or call 131 601.

Media contact: Teresa Lane, TAFE NSW Media and Communications Business Partner 9796 5476, mobile 0412 773 887