If you answered yes to all three questions posed in the title of this post then you may want to consider working for us.
Pro’s of working for MRCagney:
- You get paid to read about transport (including certain blogs)
- You get paid to talk about transport all-day, every-day
- You get paid.
Cons of working for MRCagney:
- There’s lots to do and you have to work really hard
- You will meet lots of grumpy old engineers and planners that will try to convince you that a 17 level off-street parking structure is absolutely necessary for “safe and efficient” access to your road-side vege stall.
More seriously though – here’s a detailed position description. Note that this position description relates to what we call our “ideal candidate”, so don’t feel like you shouldn’t apply simply because you don’t completely fit the requirements.
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Interesting 😀
Two years short in the experience department though 🙁
Ah well
Thanks for posting this Stu 🙂
And you’re letting that stop you from applying? They may well value knowledge of Auckland’s system above the extra two years experience.
Dammit – passionate ad wankers really don’t fit that position too well 🙁 Its a field I wouldn’t mind moving too either.
In my line of interest but sadly not in my line of work 🙁
Do please let me know if they one day review their ICT support contract tho!
ICT contracts are always under review :). Please email sdonovan@mrcagney.com if you have ideas.
Any tips for how to get that first five years experience as a transport planner?
Apply and convince me that even though you don’t have “direct” experience you are keen to learn and have thought about transport more generally, even if not in a professional sense.
Hmmm
Time for a ponder then
Would be interesting to get more advice about how people get into this transport planning in general. Closest in NZ seems to be Master of Planning at Auckland which is what I’m looking at.
From others that you know Stu what are the common ways to get in?
Hi Luke,
Yes unfortunately there are few direct paths from NZ universities to this business we call “transport planning.” The Auckland planning masters, as far as I can tell, focuses much more on planning theory and policy, rather than transport planning.
Many transport related papers are taught in civil engineering and planning departments around the place, but these are a fairly poor substitute for a genuine transport planning themed degree, in my opinion.
To be frank, if you are genuinely certain of your passion for transport then your best to study off-shore. The best two in Europe that I know about is:
– VU University Amsterdam (www.vu.nl/en/programmes/international-masters/programmes/r-z/spatial-transport-and-environmental-economics-msc/spatial-transport-and-environmental-economics-at-vu-university-amsterdam/index.asp)
– University of Leeds (www.its.leeds.ac.uk/courses/masters/tran-plan/)
I hear there is also a kick-ass spatial/transport economics department at London School of Economics. You may notice that I tend to take a economics focused approach to transport planning, but you can equally approach it from a more regional science/geography angle – which ever best suits your interests/background.
I suspect there’s some good courses in the US. UCLA, for example, is home to Shoup dog (father of sane parking policy). If you’re not completely sure of whether you want to be a transport planner then I would recommend you take a more general course in geography or economics. If you have some spare time then statistics, engineering, and planning papers are also a good background.
Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions about potential courses!
Luke, you might also want to investigate a Masters of Engineering Studies (Transportation) http://www.engineering.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/mengst-transportation They offer transport planning courses.
Entry isn’t limited to Engineers and is reasonably recognized within the industry. Canterbury offers a similar degree as well.
Yes MEng St(Transport) is a good option if you’re keen to stay in NZ and position yourself as a transport planner.
you should let us know again Stu when you are looking for a transport planner without 5 years experience (I assume MCR must sometimes hire such people too)!
Yep, they hired me with no direct experience and an incomplete qualification. Anyone who has an inkling should apply even if they dont quite meet all the criteria; interest, drive and passion are important factors and the job description isn’t set in stone.
Hey Lucy,
Yes, Nick R shows we do make exceptions to the experience rule. As a small company we can’t often give graduate the broad training opportunities that they deserve, so we try and focus on people who have a few years under their belt and genuinely know they want to focus on transport planning.
But we also openly accept that life’s trajectory is not always straight, and that people may have other experiences that are relevant to being a transport planner. So if you’re interested please get in touch, we’re always keen to chat even if only to help point people in a direction that ultimately helps them to get into the business.
.s
Good Lord – I think I might be having some humble pie with my coffee this morning – seriously :O
Just took a quick look here again while checking other posts and basically played Join the Dots.
Oh well they do say one learns something new every day and I just did – that is who some of the principle writers work for here at this blog.
If noting else – I give a virtual hand shake to Stu and Nick R.
Humbling
(and what useless weather again)
Patrick, Matt, and Peter are the real momentum behind this beautiful beast of a blog. Nick R and myself just pipe up when we have something nerdy to contribute :). E-handshake received with thanks; completely agree about the terrible weather – I’m off to Brisbane tomorrow to do some work for TransLink so hopefully the weather is better over there.