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How in the heck do YOU people get jobs


netagurion

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People who follow their interests really intrigue me...to actually work in planning??? WOW! I went to school only for the money. I remember reading an article in the early 90's about how an Accounting degree could be the road to riches with promotion of ERP software. BINGO!

I still say follow your interests, life gets extremely bland when you're in a job you despise.

Be a consultant like me...you can live anywhere!

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So I sit here in my internship... facing my last semester of school and am browsing for potential jobs, and there are NONE here (in cleveland, OH).  according to planning.org and planetzien.com there is just about nothing in ohio for a planner.  what am i to do. where is someone like me supposed to look for work? do I have to move elsewhere?  i guess i wouldn't mind moving except being far away from my family and such.  what the heck can i do?

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I've had some experience with this, though not in the Midwest. Planetizen is a good source, but not the end-all in this game. You need to look more locally. It require more legwork on your end, but its doable.

Search for:

  • State Municipal Associations

  • State APA chapters

  • State Associations of Counties

  • State Commissioner's association

  • Local COGs

  • County and City level websites

  • use Monster.com

Consider private or not-for profit planning groups too. They might be looking more for your skills than those the public sector at this time. You can probably find local groups or organizations in your area of interest (e.g. transportation, environmental, urban design, etc).

Then search within those sites for specific jobs (usually "classifieds" or something to that effect- its always pretty straighforward). These sites are updated more frequently than the national ones. It doesn't mean they will be there, but it doesn't mean they won't either.

Just be persistent, and consider places that you might not have before (maybe a smaller town?). It could be that you have to go some place further away that you had planned. Just look at it as experience building, then plan to come back to where you want to be when a position becomes available. These are just my thoughts though :)

Here is one I came accross in Ohio:

Ohio Municipal League

These types of sites are all over the place, you just have to be persistant and keep looking every week. There are alot of counties and organizations out there to keep track of, but its not impossible. Bookmarks are a great thing;). Don't be afraid to email the officials to find out more about a job that is listed. You'll find something eventually!

edit: just found this link, which should prove very useful to you: http://www.statelocalgov.net/

This site has links to most almost all of the organizations I mentioned above except the State APA chapers, so it should make your search much easier B)

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South east huh?  I havent really given that much thought simply because i see a stereotypical slow paced southern city-life.  I know that i am wrong for cities like charlotte and atlanta and such it is just that when i have visited states like north and south carolina it seems like the rural attitude presents itself prominantly to me outside of the immediate city.

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Just a side-note here, but the slower Southern lifestyle of which you speak is our best feature :) Everyone I have met that is from up north, the midwest, or out west says how much they like it here. You will probably find some of that sterotype in very small towns, but any city with above a 400k MSA will have eliminated most of the small town-isms. In my view, the small towns in any given state are not that different when it comes to an attitude. Its just how they present it...

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Ya just gotta be friendly, don'tcha know! :)

I've been to the south though, and I think the fact that i'm used to a fast paced lifestyle can diminish my appreciation for the slow-pace in the south. I found myself just being frustrated much of hte time. Oh well.. you can't beat a good slice of Mississippi mud pie on a hot, muggy afternoon...

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FYI Netagurion: The Grand Valley Metro Council in the Grand Rapids/Lakeshore area is hiring a Transportation Planner. They are doing some pretty cool stuff for the region.

http://www.gvmc.org/administration/Employm...rtunities.shtml

I also found this opening with a firm called LSL Planning in GR:

http://www.planning.org/Jobsonline/addetails.htm?AdID=26289

I also heard or read somewhere (can't remember now) that the City of GR is hiring an entry level planner. You could start at the Planning Commission's website:

http://www.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=109

About 10 mintues worth of googling :) The weather here is similar to Cleveland's.

Or you may want to go to work in the private sector for awhile, possibly for an urban developer/redeveloper. A lot of them could use some good planners working for them ;)

Good luck!

The way I have gotten every job is by mailing, e-mailing and calling someone until they would finally agree to meet with me, or told me to buzz off! :P

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I recently transferred to Minnesota State U. for urban planning and studies... I would love to have a job around here, all though at the same time I wouldn't mind being adventurous and heading to a different part of the country.

Lets say after I graduate If i want to find a job around here, do you think my outlook is good(I'm not looking big, I have no problem with starting off with a smaller city).

Any input appreciated.

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  • 6 months later...

So I sit here in my internship... facing my last semester of school and am browsing for potential jobs, and there are NONE here (in cleveland, OH). according to planning.org and planetzien.com there is just about nothing in ohio for a planner. what am i to do. where is someone like me supposed to look for work? do I have to move elsewhere? i guess i wouldn't mind moving except being far away from my family and such. what the heck can i do?

I recomend moving to Kansas City. I know my city (Kansas City, KS) just hired a new planning director (Robin Richardson) and like 3 more planners to the staff. Whereas before we had one city planner. Our city is experiencing a development boom in its western suburban area and our one man staff was overwhelmed. In fact the entire Kansas City metro is experience signifcant development. I'm sure many of the local suburbs are adding planning staffers as well. Also many small towns and some of the smaller counties around the metro who don't have professional andministrators and planners are finally maturing to the population size that warrants these positions and are beging to add them. Leavenworth County, KS and its towns (Tonganoxie, Basheor, and Lansing) comes to mind.

Check out some of these suburban cities, amongst the fastest growing in the country.

Overland Park, KS

Olathe, KS

Lenexa, KS

Shawnee, KS

Lees Summit, MO

Liberty, MO

The following are the four largest cities in the Kansas City Metro. All are well over 100,000 people. KCMO is the main city with some <400,000 people and significant development in its northern suburban areas.

Kansas City, KS

Kansas City, MO

Independance, MO

Overland Park, KS

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Sorry dude, just trying to help. I don't know if this even exists, but do housing development companies employ planners? You know, to design their planned developments? Is that somewhere you could get a start? Has the career center at your school been any help?

Actually allot of local city planning departments in Kansas City area employ a private planning firm as a consultant on major developments, or for city-wide master planning, which allot of our metro city's are undertaking now. My city (Kansas City, KS) employed the planning firm HNTB engineers/architects/planners to assist our planning department. Our city is experience rapid development in our western suburban area whereas before we had almost zero development. It litterally happend overnight and our one man show planning department was immediately overwhelmed. The city turned to HNTB to help deal with the deluge of development applications as an interim measure, untill additional planning staffers could be hired. Also we are utilizing HNTB for our city-wide master planning effort.

I beileive HNTB is one of the largest private urban planning firms in the country, with offices throughout USA.

Here is a link: http://www.hntb.com/GetCorporateService.do...rviceid=132&p=Y

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