OCCUPATION: Associate Urban Planner

Name: Jennifer Regan

Employer: City of Irvine

Thumbs up:

“I like the feeling that I’m making a contribution, a difference to the community. You learn how to negotiate and improve your public speaking skills.”

Thumbs down: “Sometimes we get started on a project and we have to reverse gears because of changes by the City Council or in state law. Things have to be implemented rather quickly.”

Next step: Senior planner. Supervises larger, more complicated projects. Oversees other employees.

Advice: “Attend some City Council or board of supervisor meetings to get an idea of the issues that are discussed. Read the newspaper to learn about how government works. Try to get a lot of experience very early on.”

Salary range: Government agency salaries for planners with a bachelor’s degree start at an average of $31,320 a year. With a master’s degree or two years of experience, salaries average $37,080. Planning directors earn $60,000 or more. In private consulting firms, top earnings are higher.

Fringe benefits: Fringe benefits normally include paid vacation, sick leave, group health insurance and retirement plans.

Hours: Planners normally work 40 hours a week, but may work longer when there are evening meetings to attend or pressing deadlines to meet.

Educational and training requirements: A bachelor’s degree in planning or a related social science field (urban studies, geography, political science, architecture) is the minimum requirement. Competition for entry-level jobs is intense, however, and a master’s degree in planning is advisable. Planners take a certification test after four years’ experience, or after two years’ experience with a master’s degree.

Planners must be able to work well with public officials, private citizens and technical experts. They must prepare effective written and oral reports. An understanding of the political system and a knowledge of mathematics and statistics is desirable.

Size of work force: There are 540 members of the Orange County chapter of the American Planning Assn., but that number represents less than half the planners working in the county.

Expected demand: Slow. Budgetary constraints in state and local government will limit new and replacement hiring through the mid-1990s.

Job description: Planners design plans to develop or revitalize urban and rural areas. Most work for government agencies to create and carry out official land-use policies. Private planners often contract with public agencies that are understaffed or in need of a particular expertise.

For more information: Call or visit the job service window at any office of the state Employment Development Division.

Source: State Employment Development Department and the Orange County chapter of the American Planning Assn.

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