Planning Bergen’s future: from Human Geography graduate to urban advisor

What is your job description?

I work as an advisor within city planning in the “Private Plans” division in the Planning Agency in Bergen Municipality. There, I have several tasks that describe the variety of work that a city planner does. I provide advice and guidance within planning and urban development to developers and consultants, as well as assess their planning initiatives, coordinate plans between developers/consultants and governmental bodies, and write professional reports on planning proposals, as well as prepare them for political decision-making.

What is the most exciting thing about your job?

The most exciting part of the job is the opportunity to learn about the city I work in. Working with a variety of planning initiatives from all over Bergen, I learn a lot about the city and its neighborhoods, history and culture, and environment. In other words, everything that makes it unique.

Before I took the job, I had never been to Bergen, so to being able to explore the city through my job has been an exciting, insightful, and educational adventure. Furthermore, it is also exciting to work with so many engaging and knowledgeable colleagues. I have learned so much from them about city planning and regulation in practice through their guidance and knowledge.

How do you use your educational background at work?

From my educational background, I mix between using my academic competence from the courses I took at UiO, as well as the reading and writing skills that I obtained from the many papers I wrote and studied during my masters. Relevant for my job, themes that I studied, such as urbanism, mobility, and sustainability have been very useful when I assessed plans I work on in Bergen. In addition, being able to read through, and understand a large amount of planning documents and different supplementary reports has been much easier due to the study techniques I used reading papers for my classes and exams during my degree.

Building on my solid and broad education from UiO, I want to specialize even more in city planning, especially the political and economic aspects of planning. Thus, I look immensely forward to attending a one-year MSc in Regional and Urban Planning at the London School of Economics (LSE), starting this fall. I am sure my background from Human Geography at UiO was fundamental for being admitted to this prestigious institution.

What is a typical day at work?

A typical day for me is pretty straight forward. I normally read through planning documents and/or write reports on the plans which I am the Planning Case Officer on. At times I also arrange meetings with consultants and developers to advice on- and discuss their planning initiatives. In cases where I am the secondary Planning Case Officer, I help and discuss plans with the number 1 on the plan.

How did you get the job?

During the final semester of my masters, I started to apply for jobs combined with writing my thesis. I looked for jobs at Finn.no and Webcruiter but got several rejections in the early stages. After adapting and evolving application writing, I managed to be invited for an interview with the “Private Plans”-division within the Planning Agency in Bergen. After a two-month wait, where I continued to apply for other jobs, they offered me a temporary position from January till the end of June, which later was extended through August. If it wasn’t for me having to move to London in September, I would probably have remained for longer in this job.

Looking back at it now, I think I got the job not only due to my academic background and results, but also my unique resume with lots of extracurricular activities and responsibilities, and that my employers believed that my personal characteristics and qualities would fit in with the others employed in the division.

What are your best tips to students who are looking for your type of job?

Before you finish your masters, dive into themes and courses on urban development, sustainability, and other societal fields such as politics, economy, and sociology, which are also helpful. In addition, start to apply early to learn and experience the job-hunting process.

After graduating, I strongly recommend being open-minded on where you can see yourself work. It’s a big world out there and a lot to learn whether you work in a big city or a rural municipality. But most importantly, I honestly think the best tip I can give is to just be yourself. Show an employer in the application and in the interview why you love the things you like and how invested you are in the things you spend your masters studying. Genuine personality, care, and interest is something employers really appreciate.