How To Become A Planning Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a planning internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

This internship represents the first practical contact a prospective planner makes with the profession. It helps students gain valuable insight and practical knowledge useful in refining their educational and career paths.

The duties of a planning intern include providing assistance to a team of planners, helping the staff in collecting and preparing data for various planning projects, and assisting staff at meetings. Furthermore, he/she conducts fieldwork, collects parcel data, and searches land records. He/She presents report findings at community meetings. Also, he/she researches funding sources and writes grant proposals.

Qualifications for this internship vary; while some are open to undergraduates, others are intended for graduate students. Applicants must possess communication, research, analytical, and teamwork skills. You must have a basic understanding of planning principles. Also, you must be competent in various computer software programs. In this role, you'll make an average salary of $30,959 per year or $14.88 per hour. It ranges between $25,000 and $37,000.

ScorePlanning InternshipUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,695

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.87%

Asian 9.47%

Black or African American 4.79%

Hispanic or Latino 12.60%

Unknown 4.94%

White 67.34%

Gender

female 47.31%

male 52.69%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a planning internship

Explore planning internship education requirements

Most common planning internship degrees

Bachelor's

78.3 %

Master's

13.2 %

Associate

4.7 %

Start to develop specific planning internship skills

Skills	Percentages
GIS	10.30%
Data Collection	7.12%
ArcGIS	5.82%
Data Analysis	5.17%
Project Management	4.32%

Research planning internship duties and responsibilities

Manage and post the feeds on Facebook for the clients
Manage and operate the space utilization software (CAFM) and develop space planning layouts utilizing AutoCad.
Manage and coordinate activities between the ACM CEO and board members, VIP sponsors, and charity groups.
Research and analyze various investment reports and products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, manage accounts.

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