6 Ways to Take Your Urban Planning Career to the Next Level

By: Alissa Barber Torres, AICP, PhD, PLS

As planners, we talk a lot about the importance of visions for our communities, but not enough about our visions for ourselves. What are your goals, and what steps can help take you there? Here are a few suggestions to support your efforts.

Take a fresh look at what you are doing today
As a new planner, will your current internship, volunteer, and/or professional activities help you in adding specific skills and experiences to your resume and obtaining portfolio items that highlight your individual work? If you are an experienced planner, do you need to expand or refresh your projects and duties to meet your professional goals? Pursue these opportunities intentionally with your employer and/or professional or community organizations.

Build your support system
Do you have a mentor or, better yet, a few different mentors that help you in different areas? If so, ask him or her to help you brainstorm on your professional development. Wherever you are in your career, if you don’t have a mentor now, set a goal to seek one out. Your APA Florida Section can help you meet other professionals who would be happy to connect with you.

Get the best advice
The reality of the urban planning profession is that you will have to look widely across other fields for current, substantial, and ongoing advice on how to grow as a professional through the different stages of your career and how to market yourself effectively to obtain career opportunities. (Why that is the case truly deserves a whole other post—or manifesto—that I would love to read.)

In this era of social feeds and email newsletters, consider finding a few with tips that can help keep you on track. I read The Muse and Chief Information Officer, which have great skill development, resume, job hunting, and interviewing advice. I also love Todd Henry’s Accidental Creative podcast—his one with Jon Acuff is not to be missed—and his books. These resources are a great complement to asking other planners, like your coworkers, for professional development tips for this field.

Be entrepreneurial in adding and enhancing your skills
Set specific goals to experiment with new technologies and to gain specific skills—there are many free and low-cost ways to acquire skills you need or aspire to that set you apart from the crowd. ESRI has free training and student license options. The Orange County (Florida) Library offers residents free access and non-residents access for a monthly/annual fee to technology classes, extensive Lynda.com and Treehouse training online, downloadable ebooks on a variety of topics, and even audio, photography, and video training. (Full disclosure: I am a Library cardholder, and my spouse is employed by the Library’s Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation, and Creativity.)

Other free/low cost options include using Census data on Factfinder, Nielsen Claritas market data, Open Street Map, SketchUp, and photography/design classes through websites like CreativeLive and Skillshare. Which one will you pick to get started?

Document and update
Keep track of your accomplishments, skills, and courses/trainings on a regular basis by updating your resume (see my tips for the perfect urban planning resume here), LinkedIn, and portfolio work. Focus on the quantitative aspects of your work, which help you stand out to recruiters on LinkedIn, particularly in your summary. Examples could include the value of grants you have written/been awarded, percentage increases in applications reviewed or decreases in application processing time, or the number of community events/workshops you have organized or led. Can you think of other examples? The more the better!

Have a longer-term plan in mind
As a new professional, obtaining your first job in planning is a great achievement, but don’t stop there. Think about where you would like to be three to five years after that and map a path to get there with your professional projects, training, and volunteer work. As an experienced planner, stay focused on the next stage of your career and the means to get there, despite the pressures of the day-to-day grind. Find some good role models in the field using LinkedIn and through your APA Florida Section.

Do you have any additional tips or resources to share? Want to recommend ideas for future LinkedIn posts on careers from your APA Florida Chapter? Leave a comment, and thanks for your feedback!

Resources
ESRI Training 
ESRI student licenses
Census Data on Factfinder
Nielsen MarketPlace
Open Street Map
SketchUp
Orange County Library System
CreativeLive
Skillshare
The Muse
Chief Information Officer
Todd Henry