COMPANIES ARE HIRING WRONG
Exhibit and event companies are back in the market.
They’re just not hiring better.
Most companies are still hiring like its five years ago.
That’s the problem.
The market has changed.
The expectations have changed.
The talent has changed.
The hiring approach hasn’t.
The resume trap
Most hiring processes still start the same way:
Review resumes.
Look for titles.
Check boxes.
That works for junior roles.
It breaks down at the level most exhibit builders and event agencies actually need.
A resume does not tell you:
who can win business
who can manage a client under pressure
who can lead a complex program or build
who can recover when something goes wrong
Those are the roles companies say they need.
But they screen for something else entirely.
“Industry experience” is misunderstood
Companies say they want industry experience.
What they often mean is:
“Has worked at a competitor.”
That’s not the same thing.
There are two very different candidates:
Someone who has spent years in exhibits or events
Someone who can actually perform at a high level
The best hires usually have both.
But if you can’t find both, performance matters more.
Too many companies hire familiarity instead of capability.
The sales hiring mistake
This shows up across both exhibits and experiential.
Every company wants:
new business
stronger pipelines
revenue growth
But many still hire based on:
personality
past company names
comfort level in an interview
That’s not how strong sales teams are built.
The right question is simple:
Has this person actually created revenue, or inherited it?
There’s a difference.
Project management and production are being underestimated
In both exhibits and events, these roles have changed.
Project Managers and Producers are no longer just coordinators.
They are:
client-facing
responsible for delivery
responsible for margin
responsible for keeping programs on track
Yet many companies still hire based on:
organization
communication
availability
Those are baseline skills.
Strong operators today need to:
manage complexity
make decisions
handle pressure
own outcomes
That is a different profile.
The biggest miss: hiring too late
Most companies wait too long to hire.
They wait until:
work is already coming in
teams are already stretched
problems are already visible
Then they rush.
Rushed hiring leads to average hires.
The better companies do the opposite.
They hire ahead of need, not behind it.
What strong companies are doing differently
The companies that are growing right now are not just hiring more.
They are hiring differently.
They:
prioritize proven performance over familiarity
hire for where the business is going, not where it’s been
move quickly on strong candidates
understand the cost of a missed hire
They treat hiring as a growth function, not a support function.
The reality
The exhibit and experiential event industry is becoming more competitive.
Clients expect more.
Programs are more complex.
Timelines are tighter.
That puts pressure on one thing:
people.
And most companies are still hiring like that hasn’t changed.
Final thought
Hiring is no longer about filling roles.
It is about building capability.
The companies that figure that out will grow.
The ones that don’t will feel it in:
revenue
client retention
execution
And eventually, in their reputation.
Cal Cook
EXHIBITRECRUITER | EVENTRECRUITER
