What skills should a Urban and Regional Planner put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Urban and Regional Planner list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes 3D urban simulation modeling software, Accela KIVA DMS, Accela PERMITS Plus, Accela Tidemark Advantage, and Adobe Acrobat. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Urban and Regional Planner work?

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Community Development Planner, Planner, Planning Consultant, and Planning Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Urban and Regional Planner need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 56% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Urban and Regional Planner role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Urban and Regional Planner resume example

A resume for a Urban and Regional Planner needs to show the work itself: develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas. Day to day that means work like this: design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation; advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Community Development Planner
Planner
Planning Consultant
Planning Technician
City Planner
Community Planner
Development Technician
Housing Development Specialist
Neighborhood Planner
Regional Planner
City Designer
City Planning Engineer
Community Development Technician
Community Planning Technician
Developer Advocate
Economic Developer
Economic Development Coordinator
Housing Grant Analyst

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation.
Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives.
Create, prepare, or requisition graphic or narrative reports on land use data, including land area maps overlaid with geographic variables, such as population density.
Hold public meetings with government officials, social scientists, lawyers, developers, the public, or special interest groups to formulate, develop, or address issues regarding land use or community plans.
Mediate community disputes or assist in developing alternative plans or recommendations for programs or projects.
Recommend approval, denial, or conditional approval of proposals.
Conduct field investigations, surveys, impact studies, or other research to compile and analyze data on economic, social, regulatory, or physical factors affecting land use.
Evaluate proposals for infrastructure projects or other development for environmental impact or sustainability.
Discuss with planning officials the purpose of land use projects, such as transportation, conservation, residential, commercial, industrial, or community use.
Keep informed about economic or legal issues involved in zoning codes, building codes, or environmental regulations.
Assess the feasibility of land use proposals and identify necessary changes.
Determine the effects of regulatory limitations on land use projects.

25 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Create, prepare, or requisition graphic or narrative reports on land use data, including land area maps overlaid with geographic variables, such as population density, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Hold public meetings with government officials, social scientists, lawyers, developers, the public, or special interest groups to formulate, develop, or address issues regarding land use or community plans, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

3D urban simulation modeling software
Accela KIVA DMS
Accela PERMITS Plus
Accela Tidemark Advantage
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe FreeHand MX
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe PageMaker
Adobe Photoshop
Autodesk 3ds Max Design
Autodesk AutoCAD

84 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-key calculators
35 millimeter cameras
Desktop computers
Digital camcorders
Digital cameras
Digitizers
Drafting scales
Global positioning system GPS receivers
Laptop computers
Laser printers
Microfiche readers
Multi-line telephone systems

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

ESRI ArcGIS
Geographic information system GIS systems
prepare maps
mediate disputes

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Judgment and Decision Making
03Speaking
04Critical Thinking
05Reading Comprehension
06Systems Analysis
07Writing
08Complex Problem Solving
09Systems Evaluation
10Social Perceptiveness

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Law and Government
English Language
Geography
Transportation
Communications and Media
Administration and Management
Sociology and Anthropology
Customer and Personal Service

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

56%Master's Degree
40%Bachelor's Degree
4%First Professional Degree, awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Urban and Regional Planner do?: Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas. Day to day that includes work like design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation and Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives.
What skills should a Urban and Regional Planner put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Urban and Regional Planner list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes 3D urban simulation modeling software, Accela KIVA DMS, Accela PERMITS Plus, Accela Tidemark Advantage, and Adobe Acrobat. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Urban and Regional Planner work?: O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Community Development Planner, Planner, Planning Consultant, and Planning Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Urban and Regional Planner need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 56% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Urban and Regional Planner role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.