How To Become An Assistant Planner: What It Is and Career Path

What is an assistant planner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Assistant planners may work for a wide variety of industries contributing to the work of a chief planner. A planner may work for marketing and communications as a media planner, for retail establishments as merchandise planners, for local government offices as urban planners, for financial institutions or departments as financial planners, and many more positions.

As an assistant planner, your job will be to organize work for your superior and provide support in implementing the various phases of a planning operation. Depending on the industry you work for, your duties will vary, but your essential role is to support the planning department in every way that is in your power.

You will need to be able to work in a team and follow instructions and display great communication skills and keen attention to detail. Communication skills will come in handy, and familiarity with documentation processes, statistical analysis, and basic computer skills will also be necessary.

ScoreAssistant PlannerUS Average

Salary

6.3

Avg. Salary $80,357

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.53%

Asian 7.11%

Black or African American 9.51%

Hispanic or Latino 17.23%

Unknown 4.96%

White 60.65%

Gender

female 65.21%

male 34.79%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.9

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an assistant planner

Explore assistant planner education requirements

Most common assistant planner degrees

Bachelor's

75.5 %

Master's

12.4 %

Associate

8.0 %

Start to develop specific assistant planner skills

Skills	Percentages
Strong Analytical	8.04%
Purchase Orders	8.01%
Allocation Strategies	5.58%
GIS	5.50%
Inventory Productivity	5.37%

Complete relevant assistant planner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New assistant planners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an assistant planner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real assistant planner resumes.

Research assistant planner duties and responsibilities

Manage product flow in apparel category; determining order quantities and generating purchase orders for new and replenishment orders.
Used EDI for customer order releases and shipping information.
Price, negotiate and book shipments with customers and brokers via phone, email tenders and EDI.
Facilitate ISO audits as a lead quality inspector and maintain documentation revision and version control in adherence with ISO standards.

Prepare your assistant planner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your assistant planner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an assistant planner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable assistant planner resume templates

Build a professional assistant planner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your assistant planner resume.