This document is an output of the Local Career Advice Network and aims to collect best practices on career research through crowd-sourcing. The structure & outline documented here are V2 of this guide. There are many improvements that could be made, I encourage you to make suggestions and add to them.
This is an 80/20 or MVP option for a local group or interested EA to create an approximate map of what high impact career options are available in their local region. In theory, a very preliminary cause area overview can be created in 4-10 hours of work (non-consecutive). This overview isn’t supposed to be used as a final judgement, but rather a starting point. It can be gradually improved as other community members and pick their interests to research further. See the case study of EA Denmark
Workflow
- Find the most promising cause areas for your country or region.
- Output: Local Cause Prioritisation
- Do research on your top cause areas to evaluate paths for impact & concrete opportunities.
- We have written a guide on domain expert research. Create a list of contacts in the relevant fields that you or your candidates can reach out to for advice.
- You can also do secondary research by reading up on the top global/EA organizations and interventions and see the status of those in your region (and thus evaluate how promising that cause is). This process may be more time consuming, and is easier for causes that are more established.
- Outputs: Cause Area Guides, List of Connections, Organisations to find opportunities
- The simplest way to start such research is to copy the EA Denmark Career Research Template and follow the guidelines inside. You can read their case study below.
- [Optional & Tentative] Find more organisations & evaluate them
- Output: More/Better recommendations for opportunities
- Get feedback on your research from domain experts you interviewed, colleagues and community members throughout this process. Continue to refine and iterate the list over time.
- Finally, consider how you will share your results.