Making smart choices for your career in placemaking

Whatever sector you’re in, this economy is getting more and more difficult for urban planners and placemakers.  Government cutbacks are eliminating public sector jobs and consulting contracts that support private sector planners.  Nonprofit organizations are seeing more competition for grant money.

If you’re in a difficult situation, or are simply unhappy with your job, analyze your career – and yourself – with the same rigor you would put into a placemaking project.  The work you put in to yourself can help you find the place and job that’s a good fit for you.  Here’s how: 

1.  Choose your role in the placemaking field.  Do you prefer to be a neutral analyst, a change agent, or an advocate for an issue or community?  The 'neutral public servant' will probably be happier in a public sector position, while the change agent might find things more comfortable in a nonprofit community development organization.  For more on the different roles urban planners play in society, read John Levy's Contemporary Urban Planning.
   
2.  Understand the differences among sectors.  Working in the public sector traditionally has been more stable than in the private sector.  But public sectors can be more rule-bound and slower to change.  The nonprofit sector can be a welcoming alternative, but working there can mean having less direct influence on development, and nonprofit jobs tend to be sensitive to funding trends.
   
3.  Know yourself and your career anchors.  What is more important to you now?  Stability? Lifestyle? Service? Independence?    One of the best tools to help you learn more about what you want in a job is Career Anchors Online, by management guru Edgar Schein.
   
4.  Understand institutional cultures.   In general, larger organizations tend to be more rule-oriented than smaller ones.  Transportation planning and civil engineering organizations tend to take fewer risks than community development organizations.  To learn about specific organizations, ask for informational interviews.  Be aware that people may not be aware of their own institutional cultures, so you might have to ask questions about this topic in different ways.
   
5. Choose your trade-offs. What are you willing to give up to  get what you want? What opportunities might you lose if you take the one in front of you?  In almost any job, there are things you might not like about it.  Are those important enough to give up what you do like about the job? 
   
6. Build your capacity for success.  Keep up with trends in the placemaking industry (At a minimum, you should subscribe to free sources of information, such as Planetizen.)  If you’re oriented towards technical analysis, build your skill set in emotional intelligence, leadership and cultural competency.  If you’re more of a “people person,” get smarter about technology.  You don’t have to become a technician, but you should know how to use the right technology to get things done faster and better.   Become more knowledgeable in the  economic development and environmental science.   Those are two of the things your clients or elected officials are probably thinking about.  Build professional development into your career.  If you wait until you need it, somebody else may get that job you want.
   
7. Remember this:  Anything you can do from your desktop can be done by someone else around the world, and probably for less money

This essay was adapted from “Making Smart Choices for Your Career in Planning,” a presentation PDI Director Leonardo Vazquez gave to the Regional Student Forum at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in March.  To get a free copy of the presentation, please contact Leo at vazquezl@rutgers.edu.  To get the presentation, you must either subscribe to the Professional Development Institute newsletter or agree to receive emails from PDI.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Protecting yourself in a down economy

Tough economic times can lead to job cuts - in every sector and type of organization. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself.

*Do not assume that a government job - even a civil service one - is safe from recessions. Firing a civil servant is difficult; but savvy supervisors can cut or "reorganize out" a position.

*Build good relationships with as many people as you can. The supervisor you like working with may be a few votes away from being replaced. Plus, if more people like working with you, you will get more things done quickly, and make yourself more valuable.

*Network, network, network. The more people you know in and outside your agency, the easier it will be to find a new job.

*Market your successes. Doing a good job is not enough. You have to let others - especially your supervisors -- know.

*Your organization probably has a stated mission. Know it. Your division, department, or office probably has one too. Show how your work is crucial to furthering the work of your organization's and unit's mission.

*Increase your visibility. Staying on someone's radar screen for good reasons, can help you look more committed and valuable.

*Be aware of what's going on financially in your profession, industry and organization. When you hear about across-the-board budget cuts, keep your eyes and ears wide open.

*Be more flexible about taking new assignments. Pursue opportunities to do more and heighten your visibility. Volunteer to engage in projects, especially those that most interest your supervisor.

*Keep a positive attitude. Do you like working with people who constantly whine or complain? Neither do supervisors.

*Offer suggestions to cut costs or increase revenue. If supervisors are looking to trim costs, give them some things to think about other than your job. For every problem you identify, try to come up with at least one solution.

*Update your resume and keep your eyes open for new job opportunities. Look for a new job well before you need one. It's better to have opportunities you can say no to than situations you have yes to.

There are other strategies that work. The ones above are those that a number of writers on career strategies agreed upon.

Making good career choices

A lot of good, smart people make the mistake of waiting until they're fed up or burned out by their jobs, and then jumping at the next good thing that comes along. Soon after, they're ready to jump again. How do you know if where you are is where you should be? Try out Career Anchors, a workbook developed by Edgar Schein, one of the world's leading thinkers in leadership and organizational behavior.

Schein argues that we all have a few distinct qualities that we look for in our careers. Some of these "anchors" include the freedom to make our own choices, opportunities to be creative, and the ability to make lots of money. (There are eight distinct career anchors.) Since few jobs will offer equal amounts of everything, we will be happiest -- and probably do best -- in jobs and careers that are closest to our career anchors. The workbook consists of a number of statements that ask for your response. Those responses determine what your career anchors are.

If you manage staff who continually underperform in their work, you can use Career Anchors to find out what would most motivate them. Or they can see whether they should stay in their jobs. (It's better to have a happy alum than a disgruntled employee.)
What if you find you're in the wrong job, wrong sector, or even the wrong career? That's ok. Plenty of people are career switchers. Frederick Law Olmsted. William Whyte. Ebenezer Howard. Catherine Bauer. If they had stuck to their first careers, you might have never have heard of them.

Learn more about Career Anchors