Graduate Planner - route to PH Directorship?

[Countdown]

One of my kids is due to graduate with a degree in Urban Planning this summer.

What would be the most lucrative career path for her to take? i.e. I think she has the option to study either RTPI or RICS and her intention is to do this via an employer rather than self funding.

Which are the key qualifications to have?
Who are the best employers?
Which are the best sectors?

She has promised to buy me a GLE63 by the time she's 30 so i have a vested interest

[z4RRSchris]

monties or DP9,

do your time, move into PERE etc.

a wise man once said, the closer you are to the money, the more money you make

[Countdown]

z4RRSchris said:

monties or DP9,

do your time, move into PERE etc.

a wise man once said, the closer you are to the money, the more money you make

Sorry who are Monties or DP9 ? PERE = "Private Equity Real Estate" maybe?

[z4RRSchris]

"degree in Urban Planning" - montagu evans and DP9 are best planning consultants in town.

PERE - playing developer with other peoples cash.

[Countdown]

Thanks

Interestingly they didn't come up in any of her internships last year. the ones she did were Avison Young, Deloitte's, and Savills (and I think she's got interviews with them all)

Aren't Savills one of the biggest?

[vaud]

Deloitte would probably have the widest range of career options and training given their breadth of services.

Quite an aggressive partner culture (though I only know them from the M&A and tech consulting side)

[z4RRSchris]

Countdown said:

Thanks

Interestingly they didn't come up in any of her internships last year. the ones she did were Avison Young, Deloitte's, and Savills (and I think she's got interviews with them all)

Aren't Savills one of the biggest?

Depends if she wants to work in property, or be a "planning consultant"

General property grad schemes, get your RICS eb and agent etc, Savills KF JLL Strutts AY etc etc etc, there are loads. Savills one is good, got a lot of time for them.

[Countdown]

Thanks for all the comments so far.

Is there any speciality within "Planning" that is more lucrative than others? I'm assuming that there isn't a generic "Planning" Career path.

For example in Law you might suggest Corporate Law as being more lucrative than, say, Family Law. For IT software development or sales is more lucrative than PC repairs etc.

[z4RRSchris]

Countdown said:

Thanks for all the comments so far.

Is there any speciality within "Planning" that is more lucrative than others? I'm assuming that there isn't a generic "Planning" Career path.

For example in Law you might suggest Corporate Law as being more lucrative than, say, Family Law. For IT software development or sales is more lucrative than PC repairs etc.

Planning in itself isn't that lucrative unless you are doing some complex work on high value schemes, the real cash lies in using those skills you have gained and taking it "client side". mid level at a london consultants you might be 50/60 grand.

if i was doing that degree i would go:

agents grad scheme, get your rics
few years in agency, stay on the deal / consultancy teams. stay away from doing any actual work.
move client side asap

[Countdown]

z4RRSchris said:

Planning in itself isn't that lucrative unless you are doing some complex work on high value schemes, the real cash lies in using those skills you have gained and taking it "client side". mid level at a london consultants you might be 50/60 grand.

if i was doing that degree i would go:

agents grad scheme, get your rics
few years in agency, stay on the deal / consultancy teams. stay away from doing any actual work.
move client side asap

Thanks. Is RICS better than RTPI? I get the impression she wants to do the latter.

Also if she gets on a grad scheme with JLL,/Deloitte/Savills aren't they "Client side"?

[z4RRSchris]

Countdown said:

Thanks. Is RICS better than RTPI? I get the impression she wants to do the latter.

Also if she gets on a grad scheme with JLL,/Deloitte/Savills aren't they "Client side"?

RICS is more broad, opens more doors. RTPI is specific.

Money flows:
investor (client) > developer (client) > planner ...
You want to be as close as possible to the investor.

welcome to DM me.

[Countdown]

z4RRSchris said:

RICS is more broad, opens more doors. RTPI is specific.

Money flows:
investor (client) > developer (client) > planner ...
You want to be as close as possible to the investor.

welcome to DM me.

Thanks. It's relatively early days but she has a few interviews line dup so, once I know more, I might post up some question

[soxboy]

Countdown said:

Thanks. Is RICS better than RTPI? I get the impression she wants to do the latter.

Also if she gets on a grad scheme with JLL,/Deloitte/Savills aren't they "Client side"?

I don’t think there’s a difference much if you are a planner whether you are RICS or RTPI, however RICS gives you the flexibility to go onto other areas of surveying if planning doesn’t appeal long term.

The companies mentioned above aren’t ‘client side’, they do the work for the clients who are normally the developers. By going client side means that you are employed by the developer, they like to take people on who’ve worked a while in practice and have got a good breadth of knowledge of the industry.

I’m RICS (on the valuations side), but from what I saw of planning/ development colleagues usually people moved over about 3-4 years post qualification.

[Countdown]

Thanks

[skeeterm5]

Use her degree to evidence aptitude and go into financial services……. That is where the big bucks are.

Edited by skeeterm5 on Wednesday 8th February 17:09

[Equus]

z4RRSchris said:

Money flows:
investor (client) > developer (client) > planner ...
You want to be as close as possible to the investor.

The best paid 'Planners' (MRTPi Chartered) I know work directly for volume housing developers, because that's probably the area where a st-hot Planner makes the biggest difference to how much money a developer can make.

Most of the best have 'done time' working for Local Authority at some stage, though: you need to know the job from both sides of the fence (albeit, be warned: LPA Planning is not somewhere anyone wants to spend their whole career).

The most senior, and almost certainly best-paid Planner I know, personally, worked his way up to Head of Planning for a Local Authority by the time he was mid-30's, then jumped ship to work for one of the biggest housing developers in the country, starting with them as a Regional Planner and within 10 years making it to Group Director level.

But as with all careers, you need a lot of dedication, hard work, not a little luck and not to mention a brown nose, to end up at the top.

Also as with all careers, how much money you make is usually at least partly linked to how willing you are to sell your soul.

Edited by Equus on Tuesday 14th February 12:41

[Countdown]

Thanks Equuus

Unfortunately she's not the type to sell her soul, however I can but dream

[spikeyhead]

Isn't it more important to do work that you enjoy than chasing the highest pay?

By all means if there's a choice of a couple of similar avenues take the one with highest pay.

[Countdown]

spikeyhead said:

Isn't it more important to do work that you enjoy than chasing the highest pay?

By all means if there's a choice of a couple of similar avenues take the one with highest pay.

I completely agree. I’m asking just in case she’s equally interested in different areas and I might be able to advise which route is the most lucrative.

I believe strongly that if you do something you enjoy then the money usually follows.

[Equus]

Countdown said:

I believe strongly that if you do something you enjoy then the money usually follows.

With Planning, for a lot of people the route to job satisfaction (at least, the moral high ground of acting for the benefit of the community, not to line the pockets of developers) entails working for Local Authorities, in which case that's unfortunatley not true.

I speak as one who spent a lot of his career lining the pockets of developers (and gatting paid a handsome salary in result).