Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Thank You For Your Time: Understanding the Experiences of Job Seekers in Effective Altruism, published by Julia Michaels on July 10, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Summary
The purpose of this research is to understand the experiences of job seekers who are looking for high-impact roles, particularly roles at organizations aligned with the Effective Altruism movement (hereafter referred to as "EA job seekers" and "EA organizations," respectively).[1]
Organizations such as 80,000 Hours, Successif, High Impact Professionals, and others already provide services to support professionals in planning for and transitioning into high-impact careers. However, it's less clear how successful job seekers are at landing roles that qualify as high impact.
Anecdotally, prior EA Forum posts suggest that roles at EA organizations are very competitive, even for well-qualified individuals, with an estimated range of ~47-124 individuals rejected for every open role.
Given that some EA thought leaders (Ben West, for example) have suggested working in high-impact roles as a pathway to increasing one's individual lifetime impact (in addition to "earning to give"), it seems important to understand how well this strategy is working.
By surveying and speaking with job seekers who identify as effective altruists directly, I have identified common barriers and possible solutions that might be picked up by job seekers, support organizations (such as those listed above), and EA organizations.
The tl;dr summary of findings:
A majority of EA job seekers are recent graduates or early career professionals with
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