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Environmental Design Library
Job Hunting in Planning, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture

This is an annotated guide to online and print information for UC Berkeley students job hunting in the professions of city, regional, and environmental planning; architecture; and landscape architecture. For further assistance, please consult the Environmental Design Library reference staff, 210 Wurster Hall. Another excellent campus resource is the UC Berkeley Career Center, 2111 Bancroft Way, which offers career and graduate school counselling to UC Berkeley students and access to a comprehensive career planning and graduate school resource center.

UC Berkeley faculty, registered students, and staff who are off campus may use items marked UCB Only or UC Only by using The Library's off-campus access services.

Content reviewed: June 2010. Compiled by Deborah Sommer. Conditions of Use


CAREER PLANNING
Use career guides to learn about career paths and how to prepare for them. Note that these professions overlap in focus, so career guides in several areas may be of interest.
tip UCB students: Visit the Career Center for great career planning advice.
General | Architecture & Design | City Planning & Urban Design | Environmental Planning | GIS | Landscape Architecture
 
GENERAL
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
CITY PLANNING & URBAN DESIGN
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
GIS
Look also in city and environmental planning listings for additional GIS job hunting information.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

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JOB OPENINGS & INTERNSHIPS
General | Career-Specific | Journal Sources | Internships
 
Web Sites — The Web offers many resources for job hunting. Professional and academic association Web sites can be particularly useful. Try these directory sites:

For jobs in local government, consider community networks and freenets for job openings with specific cities. For additional ideas see the Job Hunting Strategies section of this guide.

JOB OPENINGS: GENERAL
See also Craigslist to find job openings and post résumés.

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JOB OPENINGS: CAREER-SPECIFIC
Planning jobs (UC Berkeley, Dept. of City & Regional Planning) Lists both on- and off-campus positions.

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JOB OPENINGS: JOURNAL SOURCES
Professional magazines and journals often list job openings and may help to identify potential employers.
tip Online versions of journals frequently omit job listings.

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INTERNSHIPS
tip Check the Web sites listed in the Job Openings section of this guide for internships.

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JOB HUNTING STRATEGIES
Getting Started | Researching Prospective Employers | Résumés & Cover Letters | Portfolios | Interviewing | Salaries
 
GETTING STARTED

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RESEARCHING PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS
To write the most effective résumés and cover letters, and to prepare for job interviews, learn about your prospective employer by doing some advance research.
tip Try the direct approach. Ask your prospective employer for a brochure about the firm or business.
Use the Web. See the listings in the job openings section in this guide. Search the Web for a specific firm name by placing it in quotes; for example, "Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum."

Visit the Business Library, Haas Business School; it houses the campus' business collection and is a good place to research a large company or firm.

Check the newspaper(s) of the city where the firm or organization being researched is located. See News Databases (Library home page → Electronic Resources → Electronic Resources → Types → News Databases) for Internet access to a variety of national and international newspapers, or visit Newspapers & Microforms, 40 Doe Library.

Use journal indexes to find articles about specific architectural and design firms and planning organizations, as well as job market information. See also the Environmental Design Library for guides to additional periodical indexes in planning, architecture, and landscape architecture. Use professional and specialized directories. For example:

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WRITING RESUMES & COVER LETTERS
tip Many additional titles are available in the Business Library.

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WRITING RESUMES & COVER LETTERS: CAREER-SPECIFIC

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CREATING PORTFOLIOS
Potential employers of design professionals usually require a portfolio of your work as part of the application process. Refer to these sources to help you prepare an effective portfolio.

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INTERVIEWING
Many additional titles on interviewing are available in the Business Library.

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SALARIES
Prepare for your salary negotiations. Research information about current salary trends. Many of the titles listed elsewhere in this guide include salary data and advice on how to negotiate your salary. The campus Career Center also has useful titles.
 
START HERE:

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Environmental Design Library