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Land planner skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Alessandro Rigolon,

Alessandro Rigolon

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical land planner skills. We ranked the top skills for land planners based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 13.8% of land planner resumes contained gis as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a land planner needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 land planner skills for your resume and career

1. GIS

A geographic information system (GIS) is a tool for capturing, storing, manipulating, analyzing, managing and presenting various forms of geographic data.

Here's how land planners use gis:

Performed on-site plaza, parking, and vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure audits, supplemented with GIS analysis techniques.
Used soil and water GIS data to determine development suitability for ecologically sensitive areas within the county.

2. Real Estate

Real estate is land that has buildings on it. This kind of property consists of permanent improvements either natural or man-made, which include, houses, fences, bridges, water trees, and minerals. There are 4 types of real estate namely; residential real estate, commercial real estate, industrial real estate, and vacant land.

Here's how land planners use real estate:

Led real estate consulting for the foundation.
Licensed to sell real estate in Maryland.

3. Regional Planning

Here's how land planners use regional planning:

Prepared demographic profiles for neighborhood planning areas and population projections by traffic zone for Regional Planning Commission.
Coordinated four-day regional planning conference.

4. Photoshop

Here's how land planners use photoshop:

Worked with the marketing team using Photoshop & PageMaker.
Produced extraordinary realistic renderings using 3DS MAX, VRay, and Photoshop.

5. Natural Resources

Natural resources are the natural elements of the environment that are useful to humans or that could be useful under conceivable technological, economic, or social circumstances or in resources derived from the earth. Resources such as food, construction and clothing materials, fertilizers, metals, water, and geothermal energy.

Here's how land planners use natural resources:

Reviewed and commented on DRI's, DCI's and zoning cases to ensure environmental protection of natural resources or mitigation.

6. Development Projects

Development Projects include all contracts, constructions, and projects that may develop an area for housing or commercial construction. These projects frequently require multiple departments to prepare the space for construction projects, including how the construction will take place, who will finance the project, and whether any refurbishments or renovations will be needed.

Here's how land planners use development projects:

Reviewed and processed incoming residential subdivision and commercial development projects.
Produced Environmental Impact Statements on proposed development projects.

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7. Nepa

Here's how land planners use nepa:

Perform project work for categorical exclusions in environmental assessments and feasibility studies in compliance with NEPA federal guidelines.
Served as a Community Planner (NEPA Project Manager) for NAVFAC SW on Coastal IPT managing IDIQ contracts.

8. Community Development

Community development refers to the process where community members are being supported by agencies to identify or take collective action on issues that are important to them.

Here's how land planners use community development:

Prepared applications for Community Development Block Grant.
Administered Community Development Block Grant.

9. Government Agencies

Here's how land planners use government agencies:

Lobbied government agencies on behalf of clients and conducted community outreach.
Performed review analysis studies of urban renewal projects, processed applications and attended meetings with government agencies involved with urban renewal.

10. Economic Development

Economic development refers to an increase of creation of wealth that overall benefits a community. This may occur when a community, city, or country produces more goods to sell or when a job program is developed. By increasing the wealth of a community, the economy is stimulated and the quality of life for that population also increases.

Here's how land planners use economic development:

Advised Economic Development Commission and new Conservation Commission on roles and responsibilities.
Developed Business Improvement Districts as well as economic development plans, zoning updates, comprehensive plans; and open space plans.

11. Public Hearings

Here's how land planners use public hearings:

Coordinated all aspects of public hearings and spearheaded community outreach campaign.
Served as a Client representative at public hearings.

12. Regulatory Agencies

A regulatory agency is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) that is responsible for supervising certain human activities and controlling them to some extent. They are set up in some areas such as hospitals, law firms, and governmental setup to regulate safety standards. They prevent undue and unjust abuse of power in these setups.

Here's how land planners use regulatory agencies:

Prepared and submitted permit applications to regulatory agencies.
Liaised among developers, builders, investors, and regulatory agencies.

13. Master Planning

Here's how land planners use master planning:

Worked on several municipal master planning projects.
Managed 700+ acre industrial park, including master planning, budgeting, contracting, capital improvements and site development.

14. Federal Regulations

Federal regulations refer to the set of rules, both general and permanent that are published in the Federal Register by the agencies of the federal government and the executive departments. Federal regulations are the large body of rules that govern federal practice. Examples of these laws include taxes and financial regulation, discrimination law, wages law, and so on.

Here's how land planners use federal regulations:

Analyzed all aspects of land use projects to insure compliance with local, state and federal regulations.
Organize City of Alameda and Navy inspections of leased facilities to assure compliance with City and Federal regulations.

15. Construction Projects

A construction project is an organized process of constructing, redeveloping, renovating, or otherwise improving a building, or structure. The project phase begins usually as a broad criterion that is then made with the help of a brief, feasibility analysis, funding, and planning. The majority of construction projects are one-time jobs.

Here's how land planners use construction projects:

Determined appropriate sites for military construction projects based on CENTCOM standards.
Managed a multi-disciplined team of professionals to coordinate the design, and execution of construction projects.

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What skills help Land Planners find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on land planner resumes?

Alessandro Rigolon

Assistant Professor, University of Utah

- Professional experience, including internships, before graduation. In today's market, a master's degree is almost a must for planning. So, either having one/two internships during the master's degree or having worked as a planner (or related area) before the master's helps greatly. Many jobs require some experience (entry-level positions are somewhat rare, based on what my former students are telling me).

- Capacity to work with people in allied fields, such as landscape architecture, architecture, transportation engineering, and others. Some planning projects are multi-disciplinary. Also, public agency planners are often building permit applications, which means they need to be conversant in reading site plans, building plans, etc.

- The American Institute of Certified Planner (AICP) membership might also help. To get such membership, the easiest route is to get a master's degree at an accredited institution (like the U of Utah) and then take an exam after a year of professional experience.

What hard/technical skills are most important for land planners?

Alessandro Rigolon

Assistant Professor, University of Utah

- Geographic Information Systems

- Basic statistical skills

- Some graphic design expertise, including the use of Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and/or Photoshop. Also, ArcGIS StoryMaps are increasingly used by planning agencies to share ongoing results of planning processes

- Some skills in platforms to collect online data for public engagement process, such as ArcGIS Survey123

- Some of the above skills related to applied fields (e.g., architecture), like reading site plans and building plans

- More rarely, AutoCAD and other similar Computer-Aided Design programs

- Good writing is really important but sometimes overlooked

- Capacity to design and manage complex public engagement processes, some of which might last more than one year

What soft skills should all land planners possess?

Bruce Stephenson Ph.D.

Professor of Environmental Studies, Rollins College

Writing clarity, integration of disciplines, quality presentations that illustrate a project.

What land planner skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Amilcar Challu

Associate Professor and Department Chair Graduate Faculty, Bowling Green State University

I recommend graduate school. History is a good fit for a wide array of programs. If you want to keep working in the history field (museums, cultural heritage, education), a history M.A. is a good possibility. The History major prepares you very well for other graduate school paths; public administration, library and information sciences, law, business, etc... shop wisely for programs with funding opportunities but also with a solid record of professional development. Some are one-year programs, some are part-time. Bear in mind that you are starting a career and you are not seeking a credential for a job you already have. For that reason, I strongly suggest programs that work with cohorts of students and value the community experience. That generates tons of opportunities for networking with peers and employers.

If you take a leap year, or you are taking a sub-standard job that you privilege that area of development, you may want to explore volunteer opportunities that build certain skills. Their value is less about what you learn, but about building connections. Some opportunities are paid; peace corps (in uncertain territory right now), and Americorps stand out. Or volunteer opportunities in historical societies, museums, archives. In whatever you do, be strategic. Identify the one thing that you can get from that opportunity and develop that. In unpaid opportunities that exploit you, do them just to the extent that they provide you with career growth. Abandon them if they do not contribute (but be mindful of not burning bridges for possible future growth). From the outset, think about making connections with potential references that will help you land a job.

What type of skills will young land planners need?

Laird Christensen Ph.D.

Director of MS in Resilient and Sustainable Communities, Prescott College

Preparing students for life in a time of climate crisis means, in some cases, training them for jobs that don't even exist yet. We've already seen this, in recent years, with agencies suddenly looking for Resilience Analysts, Global Climate Change Liaisons, and Climate Equity Coordinators. So we need to provide an evolving set of skills and knowledge that prepares our graduates, not only for positions like these, but for whatever the next essential profession turns out to be. Whether students end up working in mitigation or adaptation, resilience planning, or community organizing, there are some foundational skills that I believe they can count on.

In our MS program, this begins with understanding the science of climate change and how to anticipate locally specific needs, based on what climate models suggest about the road ahead. We make sure that students know how to measure progress toward sustainability and resilience; that they acquire the skills needed to engage a range of stakeholders as a part of policy development; that they learn to integrate lessons about energy, food systems, land-use policies, and social equity by applying what they learn locally, on the ground. It's a lot easier to transpose lessons from one community to another than to struggle to apply concepts that have been learned only in the abstract.

Beyond that foundation, some students choose from skills-based courses such as GIS and Resilient Infrastructure and Transportation Systems, while others may be better served by developing their chops in Grant Writing or Alternative Dispute Resolution. We adjust our courses to stay relevant as circumstances change: not only are lessons from the coronavirus being incorporated into courses like Community Health and Emergency Management and Communication, but even our Ecological Design course has begun asking students to reimagine and plan public spaces for a world in which pandemics are likely to become more common. If you want to know what skills are going to be essential, just keep an eye on the news and ask, "What would I need to know to be most useful here?"

Do you want to know more?

List of land planner skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a land planner resume and required skills for a land planner to have include:

GIS
Real Estate
Regional Planning
Photoshop
Natural Resources
Development Projects
Nepa
Community Development
Government Agencies
Economic Development
Public Hearings
Regulatory Agencies
Master Planning
Federal Regulations

Construction Projects
Development Review
Use Development
Cost Estimates
Environmental Planning
Landscape Architects
Commercial Development
Comprehensive Plan
CAD
Planning Commission
Residential Development
Local Government
Public Presentations
Development Process

Site Design
General Plan
Development Proposals
EIR
Building Permits
Staff Reports
Design Guidelines
Advisory Committee
Historic Preservation
Recreational Facilities
Environmental Reports
Federal Agencies
Construction Drawings

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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