Graduate Town Planner Advice Needed!!

HankScorpio

I graduated from UCD in 2008 with my Regional & Urban Planning Masters but have been unable to find any assistant/graduate/officer positions with any planning consultancies. The Local Authorities have appeared to put on a recuitment freeze.
General recruitment agencies have offered almost no new positions. Having only 6 months work experience has also not helped matters, so what can I do?
The UK has some jobs up on websites for newly graduated/less experienced planners but all have been rejections so far.
I would be very willing to take the most junior position(aswell as part-time) in any firm or local authority but just can't get my foot in the door. Does anyone have any advice because I have invested a lot of time and money into this career path as you can imagine the current predicament is very disheartening and demoralising.
Does anyone have any advice on avenues I have not looked at and should be, ie. Australia, USA, Canada?

PillowBear

Hi there...

Just wondering if you ever managed to get Graduate Town Planning Job? I too have a masters in town planning and have been unable to find work for the last two years.... Starting to lose hope altogether!!

Mimojo

Hi HS and PB, Im glad I found your posts, I am not alone!

I too have a masters in Town Planning. I have about 3 years experience (about half of which was in the UK) but was let go a couple of months ago with the economy the way that it is. Have either of you had any luck on the job front recently? There really seems to be NOTHING around at all. I am starting to loose hope as well, as HS mentioned have invested a lot of time and money into this career path to now find that there are no job prospects. I feel like I have no options!

PillowBear

Hi B and HS,

Delighted to hear back from somebody else in the same boat!! I'm at a loss as to what to do... I agree with both of you in the amount of money that has been put into this. What are we supposed to do - just change career path completely?? I also worry that as the months pass you are out of the game and there are new graduates coming on stream looking for jobs too!!

There is no work in Ireland or the UK - I have friends in Oz and they can't get work either. I don't want to go back to college again and start something else...but I don't know how many more years this is going to go on for..

What are your thoughts on the situation??

Mimojo

Hi PB,

I know exactly how you are feeling, it is impossible to know what to do. I am worried too that the longer that we are out of work, the more unemployable we are becoming, esp with graduates from UCD, DIT and Queens constantly graduating. I wonder if it would be better just to try a new career path now. The longer this goes on, I am starting to wonder if there will ever be jobs in this sector again!

I know a few people who are actively looking in the UK and there is nothing over there either. It seems to be the same in Oz.

Would you consider going back to college at this stage? I am doing a part time course at the moment, it is keeping me saine if nothing else. I guess it is something to add to my CV but I don’t think it will increase the career prospects. At least it will fill in a gap in my CV anyhow. I don’t even know what I would do if I went back to college, I really enjoyed planning, and don’t have a clue what else I could train in! The way the economy is whatever course you do it doesn’t guarantee a job.

I would honestly work for free in any planning position at this stage, even part time, just to keep up to date with what is going on in the sector. Being on the dole after so many years in college getting a degree and masters does nothing for a persons confidence!

flagstaff

Hi all,

I find myself in the same boat as you all. Graduated with a masters and have around 3 years planning experience but now out of a planning post over a year and giving serious consideration to going back to college to specialise or maybe a career change. I really don’t want to change career given all it has taken to get to this point but as my options narrow it’s getting close to the time when I’m going to have to make a decision.

@ Hankscorpio. I have been in Canada for the last year and things aren’t rosy there either for planners looking for work. Competition for jobs advertised in the cities is extremely tough and employers can afford to be very selective in looking for relevant Canadian experience so graduate type positions are almost non existent in Toronto, Vancouver etc. If you want to go to Montreal you will almost certainly need French and the jobs market there is never generally too good. You will always see jobs advertised in rural areas of provinces like Manitoba, Saskatchewan and primarily Alberta (Northern Alberta in Fort McMurray, the oil sands developments). The problem with these jobs (provided you could get one) is that they are normally in very isolated small towns that are bitterly cold in the winter however I haven’t lived there so I can only go by what I have been told by others.

I agree with the previous posts that the longer you are out of a job the more you feel that you are losing ground.

Hard to know what to do really.

echhho

Hello,

I have recently join the boat, French with 10 years of experience in France and still trying to gain some in UK or Ireland... So, did you find anything?

Mimojo

echhho wrote: »

Hello,

I have recently join the boat, French with 10 years of experience in France and still trying to gain some in UK or Ireland... So, did you find anything?

No! Not a hope of getting a position in Ireland right now, have tried everything

Rowley Birkin QC

Another planning graduate here. Bit the bullet and went back to do a MSc. in GIS and Remote Sensing. It's related to planning and there seems to be jobs in it.

Planning is a dead duck at the minute so something else is really the only way to go in my mind.

flagstaff

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Another planning graduate here. Bit the bullet and went back to do a MSc. in GIS and Remote Sensing. It's related to planning and there seems to be jobs in it.

Planning is a dead duck at the minute so something else is really the only way to go in my mind.

Howya Rowley,

I have been looking into that course in Maynooth and was wondering what you make of it. I come from a planning background but have done quite a lot of arcGIS and autocad work so am familiar with the area of study but am out of work at the moment. Basically I have decided to either go do a gis course or head to oz.

What are the job prospects out of the course do you know? I imagine the summer placement is quite usefull for contacts etc. I have a friend who done gis abroad but he hasent been looking for jobs in Ireland but he really enjoyed the subject.

Any advise on the subject would be greatly appreciated

foylelady

This from a practicing consultant town planner (now down to part-time but still have work): keep an eye on the job ads and read the professional journals to spot the trends. Anything environment related is a sure bet and the GIS and Remote Sensing, right on the nose. Go with the technology. We are WAY behind in Ireland guys!

Also, keep going to the seminars, talks, events of IPI and RTPI, and any related fields or agencies (EPA, OPW, local councils, development plan consultations) whatever you can afford to do. Find an area that you are interested in and like and zone in on that. Don't think you have to spend a lot of money on courses, etc. There is a lot you can do that is free and / or cheap.

This year we got a truckload of CVs from people willing to work for nothing. There is a lot of competition out there even for that. I would go with that yes, but for a short time only. You will feel used up after too long a time. You might be doing tasks unrelated to planning (like photocopying, binding, etc.) but you will learn by osmosis.

Glad to be of help, when I can.

flagstaff

Thanks foylelady, appreciate your advice. all the best

BlackEdelweiss

foylelady wrote: »

This from a practicing consultant town planner (now down to part-time but still have work): keep an eye on the job ads and read the professional journals to spot the trends. Anything environment related is a sure bet and the GIS and Remote Sensing, right on the nose. Go with the technology. We are WAY behind in Ireland guys!


Glad to be of help, when I can.

I have a BEng in Building Services Engineering and I am doing my final year BSc in Fire Safety Engineering and I am looking for a masters to do when I finish this year. I was looking at the GIS course in Unviersity of Ulster but I dont know if my background would be a disadvantage to me. Would I need to come from a geography or planning background to enter the GIS world or could I pick it up. I am fairly intelligent and good with computers. I had wanted to do GIS years ago but I couldent afford to go to college at that time.

c_fly1

I'm another in the same position, having graduated from Edinburgh. Some of my class mates have found work, but waited along time and/or went to remote locations to do so.

I dont think anyones chances are great applying for a job in the UK from Ireland.

Im currently in Canada. The graduate planning job situation in Ontario and Alberta (where there is a labour shortage apparently), is non existent. Even voluntary! Planning legislation etc is also nothing like anything I studied.

Has anyone got any updates on their situation? Is this USI graduate program proposal anyway possible for grad planners?

I would also consider career change at this stage..GIS, Remote sen, even teaching although not many jobs there either.

Auto Cad and Photoshop skills would be something id look into too. anyhoo , just a thought!

DukeHazard88

Hi guys! Just came across this and am rather concerned that a year has passed and the planning situation is still the same

I have recently completed an MSc in Planning (which was an RTPI accredited course) and am struggling to find anything....not even voluntary as some of you have mentioned above.

Just wondering if any of you have had any luck or any advice??? Thanks :rolleyes:

willokans2011

I Did a Bsc in Construction Management, finished in 2006 and then when ahead to do a Masters in Planning. Couldnt find job for about a year or so after I graduating. Construction/planning in general is a dead end for now so I've decided to not spend any time and money in this career path for now as I'm not getting any younger. I gone on a totally new career path in Computing and took on a honors degree computer course part time in DIT at the moment.
My advised to anything going down construction/planning path is to hold off for something else as I can see the Job front picking up anytime soon ...unless you come from a very connected family...

foylelady

I have revisited the messages on this thread and the same advice I gave last year still holds. Anything environmental, and anything to do with GIS. Work in related fields?

I see plenty of CVs of people looking for work or voluntary placements. Of all such CVs what would make you stand out? BE UNIQUE! I am going for my RTPI Chartered membership and also considering the IEMA membership exam entry. I'll be glad to talk to anyone further. Get in touch.

DukeHazard88

Thanks for the advice guys I have my heart set on becoming a planner - it's all I have ever wanted and thinking of an alternative career path is somewhat heart breaking . But as some of you have mentioned it may be the only option for getting a job.

Foylelady - in terms of making the cv look different do you have any suggestions? A planner I recently contacted suggested maybe doing a BREAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) and I looked into it and whilst it sounds right up my street I simply cannot afford £1500 at the moment in order to carry out the course. Do you have any other suggestions? I am willing to do anything. I find it frustrating that employers ask for work experience yet the same employers simply won't provide it :mad: and it is the only thing that is letting me down at the moment as I have very little and it is not through a lack of trying (I have been bugging my local councils and private sector companies for the past year and the response is always the same in that they have cancelled all work experience). Maybe somebody knows of somewhere that takes people on for work experience? Apologies for the long message and thanks

Rathmore12

I wouldn't lose hope but it is seriously depressing.

I graduated from the MRUP in 2009 (lucky me) and decided to do a MSc in International Development straight away to see if things had picked up in the UK by September 2010 . . . am no.

Since then i done two months voluntary in a consultancy in London and went to Australia but have returned home for personal reasons. Mind you, you will get a job in OZ as Planner. I had an interview after just 3 weeks but did not want to live in the place so I have returned to applying to the UK. I know people who have got jobs in the UK but it is a long wait. I have been applying since august and now March so hopefully by May something will happen.

Fair annoying considering after 6 years in college and i have to work for free under that wpp1 programme with fas, look into it. But I still have to be interviewed. Situation in Ireland is fair sickening, gone from the days where we expected to have a position right after our exams in final year to have to get selected for an interview to work for nothing. Stop

I would recommend Australia for people who may be worried about getting a job cause you will there much quicker then the Uk but I have hope yet for Britain. Keep looking, Fas do a lot of night courses also, like im started an autocad course in 2 weeks, handy if your a planner like.

Regards
Best wishes and keep the head up, believe me I know!!!!

flagstaff

Hi all,

I'm coming back to this thread after about a year and not surprisingly things are still the same thing.

I made a choice to go down a different path and it is working out so far. I was very lucky.

I had to think long and hard about it as like you all had put a good few years and a lot of money into being a planner. I had even gone to Canada to try for a job there but it wasen't to be.

I think if you are going to stay at it you need to keep up skilling and be willing to travel. Its costly and frustrating but you want to give yourself every chance of progressing in a career and not just threading water here waiting for things to get better.

Its a tough call to make but if its what you want to do and you are in a position to travel/upskill then go for it.

All the best

Rowley Birkin QC

Has anyone managed to secure paid Graduate level Planning work lately?

Kildare787

Hi all, I have too just graduated from my masters in Regional and Urban Planning from UCD. I'm only 21 and have no work experience with any firm or local authority. I have pretty much accepted that there is nothing jobswise in planning in Ireland. I have to get my own place with my girlfriend for personal reasons and have a 6500 euro loan to pay with no job and the bank on my back saying that I said I would have a job by now. My only choice is to work in retail, I have applied for sports shops and the like, all of which are only minimum wage. I have to pay the bills and my loan and certainly do not have the money to do other courses. I am absolutely disgusted with this situation. I saw the work placement programme with FAS which will give me an extra 50 euro on top of the 147 euro I get for job seekers benefit. So my only hope is that the local authority deems me in need of a house and lets me apply for rent allowance. 4 years of college, the youngest to graduate in my class with a masters and I am in the same position as if I had been on the dole since I was 17 (where I would actually be getting more money than I am now).

Honestly, If your thinking of doing planning make sure you are well connnected. At this time I do not know what I am going to do.

SpatialPlanning

There is a massive over supply of planners out there at the moment. I graduated in 2008 and the majority of my classmates are still out of work, or have changed career paths. Courses like these should be suspended for the time being. It's a pointless exercise to go through 4/5/6 years of University only to have little or no chance of securing employment.

Having to decide, when you are 17, that planning (or insert a range of professions) is the career path for you is already a questionable situation. Choosing this path now would seem like a pointless and doomed exercise. From this thread alone we have a number of of jobseekers with Masters degrees in a range of planning related diciplines. Some with 3+ years of experience. Even these people can't buy opportunities at the moment.

I think Foylelady has hit the nail on the head. The only hope you have is to specialise is growth areas. She has given you a few examples so the best thing to do is to look into these and decide if they are what you you are interested in. If not then perhaps a career change will be the necessary course of action.

Colmutd

I'm not sure if finding this thread has been helpful or heartening or if it's just another look at the harsh reality that I will definitely not be working in a paid planning job anytime soon.

emmet_d

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Another planning graduate here. Bit the bullet and went back to do a MSc. in GIS and Remote Sensing. It's related to planning and there seems to be jobs in it.

Planning is a dead duck at the minute so something else is really the only way to go in my mind.

Just wondering how GIS is fairing out for you, was accepted to do it in maynooth in sep 2009, but turned down as I wasn't sure bout jobs and couldn't really afford a year of College at the time. Graduated planning 2008, working in sales last 2 years.