I am seeking advice on potential job opportunities as an English speaking Urban Planner in Geneva (or nearby village). I will have a residents card. I currently live in the US - San Jose, CA - but will be relocating to the Geneva area in 2009. I currently have five years of experience as a Planner for a local government and have a BA degree in Urban Studies. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

you'll need more languages.

My brother-in-law does planning here in Switzerland and needs to speak/write German/Italian/French as part of the job.

didn't you just say that yesterday?

I did, but this is a different thread.

Anyways, Urban Planning is a pretty competitive field, even when language isn't a problem. I used to work for a professor in the Urban Planning department at the university I attended. I'd often hear complaints about the difficulty of finding jobs in the field.

..absolutely right:: However,why dont urban planners work for those countries which really need to develop?,,EU is already fulfilled!,,,

I suppose most of those folks want to live close to home, family and friends.

However, if the OP has skills using GIS, there might be more opportunity there. I know of folks in the field complaining that there aren't enough GIS folks here in Switzerland. I've also seen a few jobs posted that required only English.

Thank you everyone for your replies. All is very helpful advice. I can definitely work on my languages and improving my GIS skills. Regrading working for a developing country, that is an interest of mine, but as mentioned, it is difficult when your spouse/family doesn't want to relocate to a developing world. Again, I appreciate your feedback.

Thank you for your responses

As always, ArcInfo is the GIS to know.