Pros
IQPC was my first job and like many others I'm sure, thought that I would only be in the job for a year - maybe two at the most. In fact, within my first few months of joining SARS hit and about a third of the office ended being retrenched. It was not a pleasant experience, however, due to the economic crisis stuck it out. And was I glad I did! There are hardly any jobs out there that give you real exposure to P&L and what you do each day impacts the business. You can visibly make a difference to how your conference is developed, sold and marketed which gives you great satisfaction. You are not only accountable for your decisions, but responsibility is entrusted to you. Additionally, what always got me going was researching what made industries tick - I was able to research into pharma, oil & gas, telcos, HR for example and gave me access to business leaders I would not have had a chance to meet otherwise. And talk about turning up on the first day of your conference and having people shake your hand for putting on such an excellent event they enjoyed - priceless! IQPC has an extremely dynamic work culture where you work and play hard. It is a very flat structure so getting face time with the MD or senior-level folks is very easy. You will meet extremely talented and intelligent people who because of the high work pace usually have a sense of humour as a given. Training and development are also focused on which is unusual in the commercial conference industry and IQPC is one of the few companies I know that have a dedicated training Academy to set you up to succeed. There is also the opportunity to travel to the events you run or even within the organisation. I was lucky to have worked in a number of global offices in Europe, US and Asia. I'll not kid you - the work is hard and pace is punishing, but the rewards are unmatched. Profit share is excellent and conferences are one of the few business models where on a first time launch you can aim for a 60% GP margin which translates into a nice cheque for you. Ideally, you must be someone that thrives on working at light speed, hitting deadlines, smashing sales targets and ultimately believe and are passionate about conferences as a means for industry to connect, get updated on latest trends and do business.
Cons
So what about the cons? Well the down-side is this is not a place for you if you are not deadline or results-driven. With a leaderboard it's very clear who is performing and who is not. If you don't perform, sorry you're out. You will know very quickly whether this is the job for you. Also, this pace can be hard on you so make sure you don't burn out by taking the time out to recharge and keep things in perspective. In the end - do I regret my career in IQPC? Certainly not. Would I advise you to go in with your eyes open? Certainly. But in the end, if all the above sounds like somewhere you'd like to work, then the development opportunities, rewards and future colleagues, will certainly not disappoint you.
