Overview
Graduate planner roles sit at the intersection of policy, design, and politics. Local planning authorities and private consultancies both recruit graduates from RTPI accredited programmes, but they look for different things. Councils want people who can process applications, interpret the NPPF, and write committee reports. Consultancies want people who can prepare planning statements, manage client relationships, and argue a case at appeal. Either way, your resume needs to prove you understand how planning works in practice, not just in theory.
This resume belongs to Priya Chakrabarti, a Town Planning MA graduate from University College London. She completed a 6 month work placement at a district council, contributed to the examination of a Local Plan, and produced a dissertation on green belt boundary reviews. Her resume works because every bullet connects academic knowledge to a real planning process.
What Makes This Resume Work
The placement describes actual planning casework. Priya assessed 42 householder applications during her placement, writing officer reports and drafting conditions. She also attended 3 planning committee meetings and presented one minor application to the committee. These are measurable outputs that tell a hiring manager she has done the job already at a basic level.
RTPI accreditation is clearly stated. Her MA is from an RTPI accredited programme, which means she can enter the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) route toward chartered membership. Employers know this pathway well, and seeing it on a resume confirms that the candidate is on track for MRTPI status.
Policy knowledge is demonstrated through application. Rather than listing "knowledge of the NPPF" as a skill, Priya describes how she applied paragraph 11 (the presumption in favour of sustainable development) when assessing a speculative housing application on a site not allocated in the Local Plan. She also references the council's five year housing land supply calculation, which she helped update as part of her placement duties.
The dissertation tackles a politically sensitive topic. Green belt reviews are contentious and widely debated in English planning. Her research analysed 8 Local Plans that had undergone green belt boundary amendments and assessed the spatial outcomes. This shows she can engage with difficult policy questions rather than avoiding them.
Key Takeaways
Name specific planning policies and frameworks. NPPF paragraph references, Local Plan policies, and SPD guidance all show that you speak the language of planning rather than just studying it.
Quantify your casework. Number of applications assessed, reports written, committee presentations given. Planning is a volume profession, and employers want to see that you can handle a caseload.
Show the RTPI pathway clearly. If your degree is accredited, say so. If you have started logging APC competencies during your placement, mention that too.
