Entry to Planning

Hi

I am a senior planner and came to it through an ONC in the UK and then degree in civil engineering. there are now diplomas around the world just in Project control/planning. but once you are in you can work , as I have done on almost any type of project

You didnt say what you have been doing in projects. Is it clerical or thechnical or what?

Let me know and i will be willing to discuss this with you

regards

Tom Hadley

A lot of the work has been hands on labour and also technical work such as setting out engineering and installation of Track Circuits.

ONC sounds quite good i am currently doing the NEBOSH National General Certificate and then you can go onto the NEBOSH National Diploma at which stage you can go into work or move onto a Masters Degree is the planning situation similar?

Kevin

Although I trained in the UK, wales & London, I now live in Australia, so I am not familiar with the current UK education system.

Basically the way most planners that I know start is by doing some sort of trade/professional qualifacation usually in Engineeeerng but it could be IT. Then "learning on the job "

So academic qualifications are not the main way to get into plannin g, although you can do interatnional diplomas, but what most emplpyers are looking for is expereicne , it is the old chicken before the egg thing unfortunatly

If I were you I would also get soem training/skill sin things like MS Project, Primavera. Ideally of course with your employer payin gbut there are demo version around on the web.

how old are you ?

PS it might be a few days before I can respond. but iw ould like to continue to help

regards

Tom Hadley

Hi Kevin,

If you want a taste of what planning is all about this link will take you to information about an inexpensive, but very basic, course on project planning and management.

Tom has given you some really good advice, so other than telling you about the course, I’ll shut up and let him get on with it.

Good Luck

Chris Oggham

Kevin

I have just carried out a survey of the UK construction industry, predominantly about delay analysis but I think the findings for planning in general are probably pretty comparable. One of the questions I asked was ’where did you get your knowledge...’. The ranking of replies was:
Experience/self-taught 1
Short course/seminar 2
Textbooks/journals/papers 3
Other practitioners 4
Undergraduate course 5
Postgraduate course 6
Other 7
So it seems to me that a formal education is not a barrier.

You might also get inspiration from Gary France. Gary is/has been a regular poster in this forum about this topic. If you don’t know about Gary this is his thumbnail CV:

Gary is a Group Board Director of Mace and heads up a 60 strong team of planners providing specific expertise to the early stages of property and construction projects. Gary has been involved in planning and programming for 32 years and has worked in a variety of positions for both contractors and construction consultants. He is often asked to input into the conceptual/feasibility stages of his clients’ projects, advising on overall management strategy as well as providing programming input and advice. Gary played a significant part in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and devised the programme and methods for the delivery of the Olympic Park in Stratford. In addition, Gary undertakes programming expert witness work and in 2004, Gary formed and set up the Planning Engineers Organisation where he is Chairman.

In my humble opinion he is probably the UK’s number 1 planner (and I don’t know if there is anyone else world-wide who would claim the crown). He would, of course, dispute that because he is a modest and really genuine bloke. However, he has readily admitted here, in a spirited discussion some time back that he started his career as a labourer on site and worked his way up by enthusiasm, application and dedication. From what I recollect of his story he is not a graduate with an engineering degree (or any other degree come to that). That does not stop him being in demand as a speaker on the academic circuit.

My advice is to learn what you can, do what you can and put yourself about. Join forums like this, go to meetings, user group get-togethers and so on. You don’t say how old you are Kevin but it’s never too late to get an engineering degree if that’ll make you feel better, I went back to university part-time when I was 36.

Best of luck

David

You know what Dave? You got it spot on!!

You know what Dave? You got it spot on!!

I am just well speechless.
I am truly amazed at the warmth and depth of the replies, I will learn as much as i can on the subject.
What i am finding out as the correctly wrote is that enthusiasm and dedication really do open doors and this is a new experience for me as the company i have worked for the last 2 Year’s did not offer me even a glimmer of hope for career prospect’s despite living 350 mile’s away from home!,
But the future is bright and even thought nothing came of the Job Career wise i gained 2 years of excellent hands on experience. I did not mention my age because i am only 20 i feel it might be a issue but if i keep fighting on ill sure ill get a Junior/Trainee position somewhere when i key short courses.


Sincerely
Kevin

Kevin,

Remember to read all about the principles of planning and operational management. These will give you a good, all-round understanding of how a "system" works.

However, there is one rather sensitive subject that many potential emplyers whinge about. It is the correct use of the English language, especially in written format.

Persons who do not have English as their first language, may be forgiven for some of the grammatical errors. However, many employers will not forgive the use of a lower-case "i" when referring to yourself - especially if they believe that English is your native tongue. Moreover, the correct use of apostrophes and full-stops etc. is also equally as important. The last thing you need is a potential employer who is not focussing on your technical ability, enthusiasm and dedication.

Best of luck.

James.

A little unfair I think James. Most of us bang messages out in forums like these without too much care about syntax and so on. Some people even misspell things, on occasion I have seen someone even spell employers as emplyers.

I understand what you mean James and I see it as a valuable point, however I see tend to relax a lot on forums some times I relax a little too much :D

Oh Bollocks.....you picked-up my deliberate mistake then :-)

Yeah - I know that we tend to be less careful in a forum such as this - and even I cock-it-up - and even why I try to not cock-it-up, I still manage to cock-it-up.

I appreciate that grammar and spelling is always a delicate subject and I’ve no intention of wading-in with a tirade of derogatory comments against any individual. However, our younger brethren, albeit that they have a level of practical experience, are up against the "young, dynamic graduates" - despite the fact that a surprisingly large number of graduates also have a distinct disability when it comes to the written word. Remember, however, that when a busy employer wants to recruit, he is looking for any reason to put us on the rejection pile - and this applies to all of us, regardless of age. We should, therefore, minimise those chances.

Cheers.

James.

Urinary Extraction, methinks!!!!!

Bradley, my dear chap. Misinterpretation, I do believe. Explanation: Extraction: verb(remove, take from). Urinary (does that need an explanation??) In other words. Taking the p**s

You mean Oh-levels??? Those fings wot we woz supposed to stay at skool and dooz. Der wuns wot I diddunt bovver wiv. Am I bovverd??

GCSE: Godawful Crime Scenes Everywhere. Dont got nunnof those kniver.

The only silver I got woz the wun that daddy nicked from the ’otel.

Yaw Dads lukky. My dads now proppin’ up the foundations of the Hotel California.