Appendix

Existing career advice resources

Existing resources only service a small fraction of the EA community, and for only a few cause areas, specifically longtermism and meta causes. 80,000 Hours and the Center on Long-term Risk provide career advising for primarily longtermist causes. 80,000 Hours also targets individuals who have been less engaged with the EA community.

Limited support is offered to EAs who are in the process of a career change. Some local groups have run retreats or events in the past, but this is not consistent and location-specific.

There is limited careers advice support for group organisers, especially for those outside the US and UK who want to provide localised services to their members.

For students

Many student groups offer EA fellowships, which provide some career advice. EA Oxford also provides student career mentoring. Finally, students may have more opportunities available and find it easier to pivot, do internships and experiment than other EAs.

Value of Careers Research

  • Expand the list of EA-aligned jobs: We are unsure how many promising jobs and career paths there exist outside of the US/UK but believe the chances of finding such jobs is quite high, since many countries have been neglected relative to their importance for specific causes. Sourcing additional job opportunities could help 80K broaden the geographic scope of their recommendations over time.
  • Build EA’s external influence and network. It’s valuable for EAs to be in influential positions outside of explicitly EA organizations for many cause areas. Insider knowledge of how institutions work could be highly valuable.
  • Improve the talent pipeline to EA organizations and members’ career capital. This will be especially useful for EAs with a less-than-stellar track record, who are earlier in their careers, or who otherwise are currently not a good fit for existing opportunities. Given the high turnover at EA organisations due to a young median age, it’s important that there is a constant supply of talent to impactful roles.

Previous Proposals

Proposal 1 (Oct 2019-Feb 2020)

  • Contains risks and risk mitigation strategies
Metrics for Meta Career Advice ActivitiesList of Meta Career Advice ActivitiesExperiment: Career Change Bootcamp

Meta Career Advice Prioritisation Criteria