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City Planner | How I got my job & where I'm going | Part 2 | Khan Academy - YouTube
Channel: Careers and Personal Finance by Khan Academy
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Almost all City Planners have
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a master's degree in city planning,
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urban planning, environmental planning,
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some variation of that name,
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but not everyone comes to their
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masters program with a background
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or a bachelor's degree in city planning.
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Generally the requirement is just
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that you have to have a bachelor's degree.
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A lot of times people do have something
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related to urban planning as their bachelor's degree.
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So, a geography degree, a community development degree,
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economics, sociology, environmental science.
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These are all things that actually do prepare
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you for an urban planning graduate program.
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The graduate program I attended required that
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between our first and second year
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of grad school that we complete
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a two month internship and that was really valuable.
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I was able to secure a paid internship
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at Oregon Metro, which is Portland, Oregon's
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Metro Regional Government and I worked
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on a climate change report there.
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Throughout my two years at graduate school
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was employed by an organization called
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the Institute For Environmental Negotiation
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and that was the first experience I had
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with outreach on sea level rise issues.
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We worked in coastal Virginia and talked to people
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about their experiences with coastal flooding.
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Those are valuable things to look our for when you look
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at a graduate program is what kind of resources do they have
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to support students, grow, and build their resume
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before they go into the city planning world.
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So, I'm really grateful for my,
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really two internships that I had during grad school.
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I don't think that I would have the job I have
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today without those experiences.
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I had a couple of years after grad school
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where I was really searching for the right job.
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I was offered a fellowship with NOAA in Washington,
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the state of Washington but, my husband suggested
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that he would not move with me if I took that fellowship
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because it only paid 32,000 dollars a year and
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that was just too much for him
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to consider leaving a job that he had that was well paying.
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So, I turned down that opportunity,
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even though it would have been working
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on coastal resiliency issues and that was really hard.
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I am fortunate that the organization I worked with
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throughout grad school offered me a full time job.
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So, the Institute for Environmental Negotiation offered
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me a job managing a program for environmental leaders
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in the state of Virginia and it was a really great job.
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It paid about 42,000 dollars a year.
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It was not, however, an urban planning job.
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So, it was a lot of like logistics, and coordinating, and
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organizing, and finding speakers, et cetera.
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I do think that was actually really valuable in the end
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because as part of my work as a city planner I, you know,
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need to do a little bit of meeting logistics,
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workshop preparation, and those kinds of skills
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that I learned in the year and a half after grad school,
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ended up being really valuable.
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But I saw the job I have today on actually,
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an online job search platform, I was typing city planner,
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city planning technician, resiliency planner,
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flooding planner, like all these different terms and
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I saw the posting for, it was actually for
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a flood resilience city planning technician
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at the New York City department of City Planning and
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I saw that and it sounded perfect.
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I was asked to be interviewed for the job, however,
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I was in Virginia and the job is in New York and
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city governments typically don't
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fly people out for interviews.
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I don't actually know of any, there might be some, though.
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They didn't offer to fly me out and I wasn't feeling
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in a financial position to fly myself up here.
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So, I actually interviewed over the phone.
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I interviewed once, the first time it went really well,
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they then called my references and
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my boss said really glowing things about me,
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which was really great and then,
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I sensed that maybe they were picking
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between a couple of candidates because
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they called for a second interview which I now know
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is unusual they typically only have
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one, one hour, interview session.
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I did a follow up, half hour, forty-five minute
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phone interview and the following week
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I was told I didn't get the job.
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That was really devastating because
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I thought, this is my perfect job, if
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I can't get my perfect job, what am I?
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You know, what am I doing?
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A couple a days after they told me that I didn't have
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the job they called to actually offer me the job.
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That was a little strange, but
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it turned out that their other,
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the other person that they had chosen
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for the position fell through,
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that person already lived in New York City, and so,
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I think it was easier for them
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to offer that person the job because
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that person could start right away,
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they had met that person face to face, and there was,
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they were just more comfortable.
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I think it's really unfortunate that, it came down to,
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it almost came down to me not being able to be
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there in person for the reason that I didn't get the job.
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Governments and non profits typically don't have
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the budget to fly people out for an interview so
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if you're really interested in a job, if you think
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this might be your perfect job,
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which I'm not sure that there is such a thing, but
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if it's the job that excites you, and
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that you think you might really enjoy, if
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I had to do it over again and if
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I did this in the future, I would
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fly myself out for an interview.
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When employers are hiring City Planners,
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of course they're looking, usually for
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a masters degree in city planning.
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The other skill sets that they're looking for
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are generally a familiarity with ArcGIS
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which is a computer software to map data.
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City planners also need to be able
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to understand those maps, to understand
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the spacial display of information, you know,
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how different information is distributed
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across neighborhoods and what that means,
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what the disparity or change
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of information means across neighborhoods.
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So, that's actually something that almost all City Planners
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know how to utilize is this ArcGIS platform or
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another mapping computer platform.
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Typically, as a City Planner, when you're
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starting out you are trying to find your niche
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in the world of City Planning.
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You're trying to find out really what
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interests you and what you're good at.
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Maybe you're interested in environmental planning, but
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are you more interested in the project management side or
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the community outreach side, or the analysis side,
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that's something I think you learn in your first job.
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Over time, you might be promoted to different positions
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depending on what your skills set is.
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There's very obvious ways to be promoted in government
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from City Planner I, to City Planner II,
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to City Planner III, and so forth, but if
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you want to move beyond government,
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you might work for a private company.
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You would make more money most likely,
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your title could be any variety of things.
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Project Manager, Project Director, Assistant Vice President,
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all these different titles that, you basically,
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they're not always clear what
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the promotional titles are for City Planner.
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So, you kind of have to discern by reading
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the job description, by talking to people,
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whether or not it's a good fit for you.
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I think most City Planners do end up working
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for the government and staying working for the government.
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That's something that really draws City Planners is
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the prospect of serving their communities.
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However, there are better salary prospects if
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you looked toward city planner jobs
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in the private world, and that might be working for,
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like, an international building or development firm
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that works on large scale planning projects.
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They might work on large scale city plans
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to support a city that doesn't quite have
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its own urban planning staff to complete a project.
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They might do environmental analysis
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that the city doesn't have the technical staff for.
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So, a lot of times, private firms are,
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end up actually supporting the city, or
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they're supporting a developer in their work.
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And, the salary prospects at
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a private firm are much more lucrative.
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They work, probably, longer hours
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than I do at the city government, but
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eventually at a private firm you might make
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125,000 or 150,000 dollars a year.
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Especially as you get more senior in the role.
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In my ideal world, I would continue working
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on climate change planning issues in perpetuity.
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There aren't always job opportunities
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available to support that work.
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So, I'm not sure what the future prospects are
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for someone working specifically as a resiliency planner.
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I think I can carry my skills set to any number
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of other jobs that I would also really enjoy as long
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as I'm interfacing with he public in my work
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I think I'll be really happy.
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