7 Steps To Create a Resume for Your Amazing Urban Planning Career

By: Alissa Barber Torres, AICP, PhD, PLS 

Whether we are emerging or experienced professionals in planning, all of us can benefit from a fresh look at our resume and career. When is the last time you refreshed your LinkedIn profile and resume? These tips can help you get started.

Have one master resume, and then make shorter versions.
Create one version of your resume that has the full details of all your jobs, projects, and other professional information. From that version, develop shorter versions customized to individual job applications that show your strengths and experience compared to the specific jobs qualifications and preferences. This can also help you update and fine-tune your LinkedIn profile. (Hint: Make sure you follow APA Florida on LinkedIn!)

If you are a new professional, your resume should only be one page long in print. Optimize this space by making every word count and leaving out non-essential items, like personal interests, an objective, and references. Experienced professionals with longer resumes should use plenty of white space, bulleted lists, and short paragraphs to help readers scan it quickly for key information.

Summarize your expertise, skills, and accomplishments.
A concise, bulleted summary at the top of your resume or LinkedIn profile is essential to creating a strong narrative about your experiences, interests, and contributions in planning that is easy to grasp on the first reading. Your resume and LinkedIn should be organized in a way that immediately conveys your brand and tells your story, who you are, what you have done, and what your contributions can be to a planning agency or firm without people having to guess from individual entries.

Be brief about your student career.
If you are a new planner, including grade point averages and other extensive detail about college courses can make people think "student", and diminish the professional image you are trying to create. Save limited space on your resume for internships, job experience, and technical skills targeted to the job. If needed, LinkedIn has a section to list courses, including independent ones.

Describe jobs briefly and with action words that list concrete accomplishments.
Evaluate each job listing and description carefully to see how it contributes to your brand and to avoid distracting levels of detail that may make people stop reading. If you have limited planning experience so far, consider word choices more aligned with planning, but don't ever lie about anything on your resume. As an example, instead of "Helped customers", try something like "Assisted the public and resolved any concerns", something planners do a lot.

Be specific about your technology skills.
Realize that as a new professional, experienced professionals probably will expect you to have proficiency in GIS, Google Earth, and social media. From that baseline, other technical skills will help you stand out. Experienced professionals, you are not off the hook; what technology skills can you feature as part of your accomplishments? For technical skills, always list your level of proficiency and the corresponding software version/s to make the best impression.

Provide examples of your work online.
On LinkedIn or your own website, post copies of your work (ex. writing samples of 3 to 5 pages, GIS maps you have created, links to blog posts, reports). Avoid any online formats that are difficult to navigate through or that have very small font sizes that some readers may find challenging. If you are posting group work to which you contributed, make sure your contributions are specifically identified.

Proofread relentlessly and often.
Mistakes can be fatal, so proofread multiple times and get others to review for you. This includes keeping all format choices consistent and not using jargon that may be unfamiliar. Also, review to avoid grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.

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