The University of Sheffield
Careers Service

Town and Regional Planning - Introduction

Social Science

Potential careers

Destinations for courses in the Department vary considerably. BA Urban Studies graduates almost all proceed to study for the MPlan Urban Studies and Planning degree which confers professional accreditation with the RTPI. The majority of MPlan graduates then enter employment as Planners usually working in local government or planning consultancies.

Graduates from the Geography and Planning course can proceed to postgraduate masters courses in planning, or enter courses or employment in other related areas eg environmental assessment and management, housing, commercial property surveying, environmental consultancy, and transport and logistics.

TRP graduates may also choose to use their graduate level skills in a wide range of private and public sector careers, both related and unrelated to the built environment.

  • What graduates do
  • Understanding yourself
  • Your options
  • Vacancies

Short term and longer term career paths

Understanding what recent graduates from your subject have gone on to do can be a valuable source of information to help in career planning, but bear in mind that what you choose to do will be a personal decision based on many other factors such as: what you are good at, what you enjoy and what you want from work.

Town and Regional Planning - what University of Sheffield graduates do six months after graduation

This data was collected six months after graduation, so although useful, it doesn't provide a reliable indicator of longer term career paths. Some graduates are still in transition and may be in short term jobs, mainly in administrative, retail and customer service roles, developing further skills and experience while at the same time job hunting, travelling or taking time out.

Graduate case studies

Read about the longer term career paths of University of Sheffield Town and Regional Planning graduates.

What do graduates do? - the national picture

The national Prospects website provides an overview of the graduate jobs market.

Our approach to employability

The University of Sheffield is committed to developing your employability.

Understanding your skills, interests and motivation

Studying for a degree means you will be developing a range of valuable skills and competencies that are in addition to those you may have gained outside of your degree, e.g. through activities in both your leisure time and work. You need to be aware of these competencies and be able to provide evidence of them to convince employers that you would be an asset to their organisation.

Although you have a number of skills you need to be aware of these and provide evidence of them to convince recruiters that you would be an asset to their organisation.

Skills acquired by Town and Regional Planning graduates

Find out more about the extensive range of skills and personal qualities that you will have developed as part of your degree. These skills explain why many employers have a positive view of Town and Regional Planning graduates.

Gaining skills outside of your degree

Skills developed outside of study are just as important so don't overlook paid or voluntary work and other interests when thinking about what you have to offer. The Gaining skills section on our website can tell you more.

What jobs would suit me?

Match your skills and interests to potential occupations (part of the Prospects website).

See the bigger picture

A simple step by step outline to help you progress your career ideas plus a selection of resources to assist you in this process.

Profiling for success

This online assessment package provided by the Careers Service for University of Sheffield students and graduates, includes two personality type indicators to help you understand yourself.

Options with your subject - Landscape Architecture - Estate Management - Building / Construction Management - Architecture

Make a start by reading these sections of the Prospects website and develop ideas on how you can best use your degree (there isn't a specific section on Town and Regional Planning).

There are a number of obvious jobs that you may wish to consider such as town planner or planning and development surveyor. However, you should remember that a large proportion of vacancies advertised to graduates are open to any degree subject so you should be prepared to explore all your options.

Royal Town Planning Institute

The Institute website includes a section "Planning as a career" with information on jobs, salaries and career progression.

Occupations

This section of our website provides links to professional bodies, organisations (many include vacancy databases) and journals. Use it to research your chosen sectors.

Explore types of jobs

Detailed profiles for a wide range of occupations are available from Prospects and include job descriptions, case studies, salary and conditions, entry requirements, training, typical employers and vacancies.

These are our suggestions

We've chosen these because they are often seen as related to your area of study, or there is a pattern of graduates in your subject working in these roles. Of course, they are not the only options and there are many other graduate careers potentially open to you.

Search courses and research

If you are interested in postgraduate study, a good place to start is Prospects which offer a database of courses and research opportunities.

myVacancies

We advertise over 5000 vacancies each year for graduate jobs, placements, part-time, voluntary and vacation work. Students and graduates can register and login.

There are a large number of websites advertising graduate vacancies; some cover a broad range of occupations while others specialise in a particular sector. Increasingly, professional organisations and government bodies also include vacancies as part of their website

Creative job searching

Many jobs are never advertised through the media so you may need to be creative in your searching. Talk to academic staff in your department about possible vacancy sources and useful contacts for networking.

You should also read the section of our website on creative job searching to help you approach employers who would not normally advertise.

Finally...

At this stage you are not seeking the perfect match, but rather choices which are as far as you can tell going to meet your broad objectives. Your decision is probably not for life. Though some decisions can have long term consequences, others enable you to keep your options open until you feel more certain.

Make use of the rest of our website to explore your career options and plan your applications. We can help you to write your CV and covering letter and prepare for interviews.

Please call us on 2220910 if you would like help with your career planning and would like to talk to a Careers Adviser or visit us at 388 Glossop Road on the corner of Durham Road.

Email Enquiry Service

We also offer an email service if you find it difficult to visit us at the Careers Service.