Environmental Design Library @ UC Berkeley

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, 2440 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.

• Career Planning Guides
• Job Openings & Internships
• Job Hunting Strategies
• Résumés & Cover Letters
• Portfolios

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.

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.

UCB students: Visit the Career Center for great career planning advice.

General

• Career descriptions and education (CityTownInfo)
• Occupational outlook handbook (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  Classic source of career information. Describes each profession and gives a current career outlook, training requirements, salary information, and much more.

Architecture & Design

• Architecture: an introduction, by Geoffrey Makstutis. London: Laurence King: Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, 2010.
• Becoming an architect (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB))
• Becoming an architect: a guide to careers in design, by Lee W. Waldrep. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
• Becoming a graphic designer: a guide to careers in design, by Steven Heller & Teresa Fernandes. 2nd ed. NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
• Building a winning career in architecture: 20 strategies for success after college, by David L. Goetsch. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007.
• Getting a job in architecture and design, by David W Patterson. New York : W.W. Norton, 2008.
• Opportunities in architecture careers, by Robert J. Piper. Rev. ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
• Opportunities in commercial art and graphic design careers, by Barbara Gordon. Rev. ed. Chicago: VGM Career Books, 2004.
• Opportunities in interior design and decorating careers, by David Stearns. Rev. ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2009.

City Planning & Urban Design

• Becoming an urban planner: a guide to careers in planning and urban design, by Michael Bayer, Nancy Frank, Jason Valerius. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
• Careers in urban planning, by Gillian Houghton. NY: Rosen Pub. Group, 2003.
• Choosing a career in urban and regional planning, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, 2009.
• A Guide to careers in community development, by Paul C. Brophy and Alice Shabecoff. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001.
• Insider's guide to careers in urban planning, by Tim Halbur; Nate Berg. [Los Angeles, Calif.] : Planetizen Press, 2009. Also available in print.

Environmental Planning

• Careers in focus. Environment. Chicago: Ferguson Pub. Co., 2004.
• Careers in the environment, by Mike Fasulo and Jane Kinney. 2nd ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

GIS

Look also in city and environmental planning listings for additional GIS job hunting information.

• AAG Online career guide (Association of American Geographers)
• GIS Career sources (GIS Lounge).
  Good starting place for GIS job seekers. Includes career, internship, job search information, and more.

Landscape Architecture

• Becoming a landscape architect: a guide to careers in design, by Kelleann Foster. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010.
• Landscape architecture education and career development , American Society of Landscape Architects.
• Opportunities in landscape architecture, botanical gardens, and arboreta, by Blythe Camenson. Rev. ed. NY: McGraw Hill, 2007.
• Recreation and parks: the profession, by Betty van der Smissen. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2005.
• Ready, set, practice: elements of landscape architecture professional practice, by Bruce G. Sharky. NY: Wiley, 1994.

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Job Openings & 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:

• Architectural associations, organizations and research institutes
• City & environmental planning professional practice
• Landscape Architecture Online

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.

• Acadmic careers online
• The Academic position network (William C. Norris Institute)
  Provides notice of academic position announcements, including post-doctoral positions and graduate fellowships and assistantships.
• Career network (Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Federal business opportunities (U.S. E-Government)
  "The U.S. government's one-stop virtual marketplace." Replaces Commerce Business Daily.
• H-Net job guide
  Posts academic position announcements in history and the humanities, the social sciences, etc., and serves a broad audience, including faculty and administrators.
• HigherEdJobs
  Concentrates on open positions in higher education. Job seekers may post résumés.
• Monster job search
  Searchable directories of jobs by keyword, city, state, company, etc.
• Monstertrak / Monster College
  A job and internship listing and résumé service targeting college students and alumni; available to UC Berkeley students.
• The Riley guide: employment opportunities and job resources on the Internet
  Excellent comprehensive guide to job-hunting on the Web.

Job Openings: Career-Specific

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

• ABAG GLOBE: government listing of Bay Area employment (Association of Bay Area Governments)
  A Web-based posting board for San Francisco Bay Area local government and special district job listings.
• ACSA: faculty positions available (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture)
• Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)
  • ACSP jobs
  • ACSP Update jobs supplement (PDF) - scroll down below job listings
• American city & county career opportunities online listings
  Wide range of local government jobs.
• American cultural resources association (ACRA): jobs
• APA jobs online (American Planning Asssociation)
  A database for job opportunities in planning and allied professions.
• Architects online
  An online job and information service for architectural and building design professionals in the United Kingdom, including landscape architects and planners.
• Architecture jobs UK
  Job listings and advice for architecture jobs in the United Kingdom, for international architects.
• ASLA jobLink (American Society of Landscape Architects)
  An interactive national clearinghouse of jobs in landscape architecture. Fee required to submit job listings and résumés. No fee to read listings and résumés.
• CALAPA jobs (California Chapter, American Planning Association)
• California-Architects: the independent communication platform for architecture
  Lists job postings in California architectural firms, and in a few landscape architectural firms. Provides links to detailed descriptions of firms.
• CELA job openings (Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture)
• AIA Career Center (American Institute of Architects)
  Job postings and résumés. Includes information about the Intern Development Program (IDP). Fee charged to post positions or résumés.
• ECO: the environmental careers organization
  Lists environmental employment and internship opportunities.
• EDRA: employment opportunities (Environmental Design Research Association)
• Environmental career opportunities (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
  Links to many job listing sites for environmental careers.
• EnvironmentalCareer.com
• Environmental jobs and careers
  In addition to job listings includes résumé resources, and more. International.
• GIS Career sources (GIS Lounge)
  Good starting place for GIS job seekers. Includes job listings, internship, job search information, and more.
• GIS jobs: Western U.S.
  Gateway site for GIS jobs in all fields.
• Great green careers: jobs for a greener world
• International city management association (ICMA) job center
• InsideArch: the inside view into firms and professional culture
  Offers qualitative and quantitative information about architectural firms. Developed primarily by architecture interns. U.S. focus.
• International Code Council: Job listings
  Listing includes jobs for architects, planners, civil engineers, environmental specialists.
• Jobs in planning (Job Media Pty Ltd.)
  Primary focus is Australia and New Zealand.
• Jobs in regional science (Regional Science Association International)
• LandArchJobs
• Landscape Institute (UK) jobs
• Landscape jobs (Landscape Design Trust) Openings in landscape architecture. British.
• Planetizen—Jobs
  Very current postings, covering a range of positions, including planning, transportation planning, environmental planning, landscape architecture, etc. U.S.
• Town planning jobs UK
  Job listings and advice for city planning jobs in the United Kingdom, for international planners.
• UrbanDesignJobs.com
  Job listings for urban design and city planning positions. British.
• URISA marketplace; current listings of GIS/AM/FM positions and projects (Urban and Regional Information Systems Association)
• World-Architects
  International scope; includes profiles of individuals and firms, as well as job postings.

Job Openings: Journal Sources

Professional magazines and journals often list job openings and may help to identify potential employers.
Online versions of journals frequently omit job listings.

• ACSA news (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) EnvDesign NA 2000 A1 A13
• American city and county EnvDesign HT101 A6
• American Society of Landscape Architects. Northern California Chapter. Update. EnvDesign SB469 A43
• APA northern news (American Planning Association. California Chapter. Northern Section) Print ed.: EnvDesign;HT167.5 A7a
• ARCH news: the newsletter of the East Bay Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Print ed.: EnvDesign NA1 A44
• Architectural digest - UC Only EnvDesign NA730 C2 A7
• Architectural record - UC Only EnvDesign NA1 A7 Recent unbound issues on reserve
• Architype—jobs
  Primarily architecture, but includes other environmental design positions.
• Building design & construction - UC Only EnvDesign TH1 B6 1970-2004 Some vols. in storage
• California planner (American Planning Association. California Chapter.) EnvDesign NA 9000 C31
• CELA forum on education (Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture) EnvDesign SB469 C63
• ENR (Engineering News Record) Online ed.: 1981-- ; UC Only Print ed.: Engi TA1 E61
• Frameworks (UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design) EnvDesign NA1 F73
• Green places (Landscape Design Trust [U.K.]) - UC Only Online ed.: 2003-- Print ed.: EnvDesign NA9053 S6 G74
• J.O.B. opportunities bulletin for minorities and women (International City Management Association) EnvDesign HD5710.5 J63
• Planning (American Planning Association) - UC Only EnvDesign NA9000 A5
• Professional geographer - UC Only Online ed.: coverage varies Print ed.: Earth Sci G1 P68 ser.2 Current issues in Reading Room
• SAH news (Society of Architectural Historians) EnvDesign NA11S58 N4
• Sunset magazine. EnvDesign F851 S9
• Western city (League of California Cities) EnvDesign TC1 W4

Internships

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

• e-Architect job board (American Institute of Architects)
  Job and internship postings and résumés. Includes information about the Intern Development Program (IDP). Fee charged to post positions or résumés.
• ECO: the environmental careers organization
  Lists environmental employment and internship opportunities.
• Experience through internships (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB))
• Financial aid for African Americans. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press.
  Includes directory of internships.
• InsideArch: the inside view into firms and professional culture
  Offers "quantitative and qualitative information about the work, culture, and employee experience at architecture firms" and develops ratings based on that information. Includes the number of interns employed by each firm listed.
• Monster job search
  Searchable directories of jobs by keyword, city, state, company, etc. Search for internship, etc.
• Monstertrak
  A job and internship listing and résumé service targeting college students and alumni; available to UC Berkeley students. Includes a search category for internships and externships.
• The Riley guide: employment opportunities and job resources on the Internet
  Excellent comprehensive guide to job-hunting on the Web. For internship and similar listings, select Job Listings/Part-Time and Temporary Opportunities.
• The Survival guide to architectural internship and career development, by Grace H. Kim. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley, 2006.

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Job Hunting Strategies

Getting Started

• Academic job search handbook - UCB Only, by Mary Morris Heiberger. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.
• Career onestop (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
  Great starting place for career information, salary data, and much more.
• CareerOverview
  Includes career planning advice, salary information, links to other job hunting sites.
• E-resumes: a guide to successful online job hunting, by Pat Criscito. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's, 2005.
• Electronic resumes & online networking: how to use the Internet to do a better job search, including a complete, up-to-date resource guide, by Rebecca Smith. 2nd ed. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2000.
• Government job finder, by Daniel Lauber. River Forest, IL: Planning/Communications.
  Includes information on using the Internet for a job search.
• Job search in academe: strategic rhetorics for faculty job candidates, by Dawn M. Formo and Cheryl Reed. Sterling, VA: Stylus, 1999.
• JobStar central
  Comprehensive Web site for all aspects of job hunting. Easy to navigate. California focus.

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.
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 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.
  • Academic search complete via EBSCO - UC Only
    Indexes articles in more than 1,500 general interest journals and scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences. Abstracts and full text available for many titles indexed.
  • Art index retrospective & Art full text via WilsonWeb - UC Only
    Indexes journal articles in art and related fields, including architecture, city planning, urban design, and landscape architecture.
  • Avery index to architectural periodicals via CSA - UC Only
    Contains citations to articles in 1,000+ periodicals in architecture, planning, urban design, and related disciplines.
  • Business source complete via EBSCO - UCB Only
    Includes full-text for more than 7,400 scholarly business journals and other sources, including nearly 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications.
• Use professional and specialized directories. For example:
  • AIA San Francisco firm profile (American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter)
  • Index to current urban documents - UCB Only NY: Greenwood Press.
    Indexes publications of local government agencies. Use to identify areas of activity in a community or planning department.
  • InsideArch: the inside view into firms and professional culture
    This Web site gathers "quantitative and qualitative information about the work, culture, and employee experience at architecture firms" and develops ratings based on that information. Includes a brief profile of the firm, including number of interns employed.
  • ProFile: the sourcebook of U.S. architectural design firms. American Institute of Architects.
    Up-to-date directory of current individual and firm members of the A.I.A. Note that only about 50% of registered architects are members of the A.I.A.
  • Who's green?: the directory of who's green in the design and construction field. Kansas City, MO: Ecotone LLC, 2005.
    Includes listings for architectural firms, engineering firms, interior design firms, green consulting firms, green building organizations, non-profits, architectural schools with a green focus, and green building media.

Writing Resumes & Cover Letters

Many additional titles are available in the Business Library.

• EResumes: everything you need to know about using electronic resumes to tap into today's job market, by Susan Britton Whitcomb, Pat Kendall. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
• The Guide to basic cover letter writing, by Public Library Association and the editors of VGM... 2nd ed. Chicago: VGM Career Books, 2004.
• High impact resumes and letters: how to communicate your qualifications to employers, by Ronald L. Krannich. Manassas Park, VA: Impact Publications.
• How to write better resumes, by Gene Corwin, Gary Joseph Grappo and Adele Lewis. 6th ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
• Internet resumes - UCB Only, by Weddle, Peter D. Manassas Park, VA: Impact Publications, 1998.
• The Perfect cover letter, by Richard H. Beatty. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley, 2004.
• ProvenResumes.com
  Includes cover letters and examples of profession-specific résumés, e.g., CAD/drafting, self-employed, university graduates.
• Vault guide to resumes, cover letters & interviews, by Howard Leifman, Marcy Lerner, and the staff of Vault. 3rd ed. NY: Vault, 2003.
• Winning resumes, by Robin Ryan. NY: Wiley, 2003.

Writing Resumes & Cover Letters: Career-Specific

• Designing creative resumes, by Gregg Berryman. Rev. ed. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp, 2002. “Creative professionals” are the intended audience.
• Resumes for architecture and related careers, the editors of VGM Career Horizons. Lincolnwood, IL: VGM Career Horizons, 2004.
• Resumes for environmental careers, by the editors of VGM Career Horizons. 2nd ed. Lincolnwood, IL: VGM Career Horizons, 2002.

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.

• The architect's portfolio : planning, design, production by Andreas Luescher. London ; New York : Routledge, 2010.
• Artist's & graphic designer's market: where & how to sell your illustration, fine art, graphic design & cartoon. Cincinnati, OH: F&W Publications [for] Writer's Digest Books.
• Building design portfolios: innovative concepts for presenting your work, by Sara Eisenman. Gloucester, MA: Rockport, 2006.
• Careers by design: a headhunter's secrets for success and survival in graphic design, by Roz Goldfarb. NY: Allworth Press Council, 1997.
  Includes chapters on the hiring process and portfolio presentation.
• Design portfolios: moving from traditional to digital, by Diane M. Bender. NY: Fairchild Books, 2012.
  Covers portfolios for architects, landscape architects, and interior designers.
• Designing a digital portfolio, by Cynthia L. Baron. 2d ed. New Riders Press, 2010.
• Designing creative portfolios, by Gregg Berryman. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Pubns., 1994.
• Developing entry-level design portfolios, by Janet Lee Coleman. IN: Landscape Architecture, vol. 94:12 (Dec. 2004), pp.76, 78-83. Environmental Design Bound Journals SB469 L3 vol.94:12.
  Includes brief bibliography and list of Web sites.
• The Graphic design portfolio: how to make a good one, by Paula Scher. NY: Watson-Guptill, 1992.
• The Graphic designer's guide to portfolio design, by Debbie Rose Myers. Wiley, 2005.
• How to prepare your portfolio: a guide for students and professionals, by Ed Marquand. 3rd ed., rev. NY: Art Direction Book Co., 1994.
  Bibliography, pp.135-137.
• Interior design visual presentation: a guide to graphics, models, and presentation techniques, by Maureen Mitton. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Includes a chapter on portfolios and résumés.
• Marketing your creative portfolio, by Elizabeth C. Hungerland, Buff Hungerland. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.
• Portfolio: an architectural student's handbook, by Katerina Ruedi Ray, Lesley Naa Norle Lokko, Igor Marjanovic. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2003.
• Portfolio design, by Harold Linton. 4th ed. NY: W. W. Norton, 2012.
• The Professional artists' resume, biography, cover letter, and statement, by Stanley Sporny & Laure Williamson. Upper Fairmount, MD: Barbara L. Dougherty, Inc., 1998.
• The Right portfolio for the right job. Supon Design Group. NY: Madison Square Press: Dist. by Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994.
• The Ultimate portfolio, by Martha Metzdorf. Cincinnati: North Light Books, 1991. Bibliography.
• Web portfolio design and applications / John DiMarco. Hershey, PA : Idea Group Publ., c2006.

Interviewing

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

• 101 great answers to the toughest interview questions [electronic resource] - UCB Only, by Ron Fry. 6th ed. NY: Course Technology, 2009.
• 101 smart questions to ask on your interview [electronic source] - UCB Only, by Ron Fry. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Course Technology, 2009.
• The Employment interview handbook, by Robert W. Eder and Michael M. Harris, eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999.
• Fearless interviewing: how to win the job by communicating with confidence, by Marky Stein. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
• Interviewing: principles and practices, by Charles J. Stewart, William B. Cash, Jr. 11th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2006.

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.

• 2006-2007 compensation & salary survey. Atlanta, GA: Design Futures Council, 2006. DesignIntelligence; NA1996 D475 v. 12:3.
  Surveys architects and architectural firms.
• AABGA/AZH salary survey. Kennett Square, PA: American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
• The AIA firm survey report, American Institute of Architects. Washington, DC: AIA.
• Architects online: salary survey (U.K.)
• Architectural salaries survey. Phoenixville, PA: D. Dietrich Associates, Inc., 1990/91-; annual.
• Compensation. Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
• Compensation in nonprofit organizations. Crete, IL: Abbott, Langer & Associates.
• Environmental salary surveys
• A Map of the territory: survey data on the size, scope, and direction of landscape architecture practice. Washington, DC: American Society of Landscape Architects, 1997.
• The Municipal year book. Washington [etc.]: International City Management Association.
  Of special interest: "Salaries of Municipal Officials" and "Salaries of County Officials."
• National salary survey of landscape architects, American Society of Landscape Architects. Washington, D.C.: The Society.
• Survey for California architectural firms
  Survey data reported for California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Sacramento/Central Valley.
• URISA salary survey for IT/GIS professionals. Park Ridge, IL: Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.

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