Simply put, if you are pursuing a BA to gain entry into the realm of planning, then you will need to pursue an MA to at least have a hope in hell of getting an interview for a job. Even then...you are competing against a plethora of planners (holding PhD's and years of experience from all around the world) for 1-3 jobs in each municipality.
The issue right now is an overwhelming surplus of GIS technicians, urban planners, architects etc...The jobs in this field are really scarce right now and an MA with a few years of experience means squat anymore.
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Originally Posted by Caliplanner1
As a retired planning professor/professional planner I'd suggest that whatever form of urban planning/urban geography/urban sociology degree program you pursue be sure to do a lot of course work in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as that's where the job security/good pay (if there is ever such a thing any longer) lies.
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There is immense competition for GIS related jobs and wages are starting to creep down as a result. Several companies are only paying $15-18 per hour for GIS technicians nowadays....And a major issue is that there is no such thing as "entry level" as it pertains to GIS. I would recommend carving a career and life outside of BC to simply build up your GIS related experience (5-10 years) before applying for any municipal/well paying GIS jobs here.
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Originally Posted by Klazu
On a more serious note, I am not sure what the answer is. Many here love everything transit and Translink has some interesting position every now and then for various school backgrounds. If nothing else, the benefits are said to be good...
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I used to work with Translink and the pay and treatment towards employees was very fair. I would do anything to go back to that environment however as one would expect, the level of competition for any job there is insane as they get inundated by
thousands of job applications. A lot of interest comes internationally as well, which further compounds matters for locals.