In light of the recent Meta Tech Layoffs, first, I’m sorry that this happened to you. Another one of life’s shit that is thrown at us. A time to put on some armor and roll with the punches headed for your head. There are no words.
I’m Jen. Last year, I left my job at Google. Many of you will start applying headfirst into similar roles at other companies, maybe that growing AI startup where your job feels secure in this new economy.
I am here to ask you to consider an additional industry in your search: AI Safety.
With all the excitement around AI and its unprecedented ability to “unlock business value,” trillions of capital are being flooded into accelerating AI development across industries, while a measly $50 million dollars and ~1000 people are directly working to ensure AI is safe for humanity. These are orders of magnitude apart, but growing in parallel. The more neglected field of AI Safety needs talent across skillsets like Software, Research, Operations, and Policy.
If you are even remotely concerned about the drastic societal implications of Artificial Intelligence in the next few years, maybe its ability to adversely affect human labor & cognition or its vast structural impacts on the world your children will live in, please keep reading on how you can upskill & add the growing AI Safety field to your job search.
How you can add the AI Safety field to your job search
Completing a BlueDot course will unlock some insider resources: an 8k member international community, stipends for Career Transitions, and an Incubator Week.
The goal here is not to become an expert. The goal is to get fluent enough to have a real conversation with someone in the field.
2) Figure out what your role could be (Guide)
If you’re technical, some options might be: Research Engineer, Safety Engineer, Founder, etc. Technical guide here.
If you’re business-oriented, some options might be: Director of Operations at a safety lab, Chief of Staff to a research team, Program Manager at a funding organization, Research Manager, and more. General guide here.
If you have spent the last five to ten years executing in Tech, you are qualified for a lot of what the field needs.
You can also apply for coaching at Successif, AISafety.Quest, and SteadRise. I’ll elaborate at the end, but my DMs and Calendar are also open.
3) Apply in parallel, not instead
Continue your regular job search. Treat AI safety as a few additional applications running alongside everything else.
The marginal cost of adding these to your search is low. The upside is a job that is both well-compensated and aimed at something that is mission critical.
4) If you get traction, there are endless ways to go deeper.
If you land interviews or get real signal that you are a good fit, then it is worth thinking about:
Most people who have made this transition did not have a master plan. They sent some applications, had some conversations, and found a door that was more open than they expected, which leads me to:
Case Studies of Real People who pivoted from Tech to AI Safety
Removed full names to preserve some privacy, but the post will contain and tag them.
Jack W. | SWE at Amazon → BlueDot Incubator → Member of Technical Staff at Andon Labs
Caleb B. | SWE at Google → Research Fellow alongside Redwood Research
Me, Jen B. | Product Ops at Google → AI Safety Community Builder → TBD
This will not be an easy journey, likely on par with your existing job search, but potentially a highly impactful one in tackling humanity’s next greatest challenge.
My DMs and Calendar are open. I can offer some personalized resources in this vast field, how to get plugged into the community, and coach you through your tactical next steps.
I don’t take payments & am not selling a service. I am doing this on my own accord and am funded by Coefficient Giving as a Community Organizer for Effective Altruism San Francisco.
Thank you to Feifan Liu and @gergo for your initial feedback.
A Plea to the Laid-off, from an ex-Googler
Update & Learnings here.
The following is a Linkedin post
Hey there,
In light of the recent Meta Tech Layoffs, first, I’m sorry that this happened to you. Another one of life’s shit that is thrown at us. A time to put on some armor and roll with the punches headed for your head. There are no words.
I’m Jen. Last year, I left my job at Google. Many of you will start applying headfirst into similar roles at other companies, maybe that growing AI startup where your job feels secure in this new economy.
I am here to ask you to consider an additional industry in your search: AI Safety.
With all the excitement around AI and its unprecedented ability to “unlock business value,” trillions of capital are being flooded into accelerating AI development across industries, while a measly $50 million dollars and ~1000 people are directly working to ensure AI is safe for humanity. These are orders of magnitude apart, but growing in parallel. The more neglected field of AI Safety needs talent across skillsets like Software, Research, Operations, and Policy.
If you are even remotely concerned about the drastic societal implications of Artificial Intelligence in the next few years, maybe its ability to adversely affect human labor & cognition or its vast structural impacts on the world your children will live in, please keep reading on how you can upskill & add the growing AI Safety field to your job search.
How you can add the AI Safety field to your job search
1) Spend time getting oriented and upskilling
Some good introductions include:
80,000 Hours AI risk problem profile
Youtube Explainers (AI: What Happens Next? or AI in Context)
Confronting and Overcoming the Risks of Powerful AI by Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic
For more in-depth learning & support, consider a free, facilitated course through BlueDot Impact (a few hours a week, no technical background needed). They offer a variety of courses.
Completing a BlueDot course will unlock some insider resources: an 8k member international community, stipends for Career Transitions, and an Incubator Week.
The goal here is not to become an expert. The goal is to get fluent enough to have a real conversation with someone in the field.
2) Figure out what your role could be (Guide)
If you’re technical, some options might be: Research Engineer, Safety Engineer, Founder, etc. Technical guide here.
If you’re business-oriented, some options might be: Director of Operations at a safety lab, Chief of Staff to a research team, Program Manager at a funding organization, Research Manager, and more. General guide here.
If you have spent the last five to ten years executing in Tech, you are qualified for a lot of what the field needs.
Some job boards include: 80,000 hours, and AISafety.com. If you want to broaden for Social Impact, I recommend ProbablyGood and PCDN.global
You can also apply for coaching at Successif, AISafety.Quest, and SteadRise. I’ll elaborate at the end, but my DMs and Calendar are also open.
3) Apply in parallel, not instead
Continue your regular job search. Treat AI safety as a few additional applications running alongside everything else.
The marginal cost of adding these to your search is low. The upside is a job that is both well-compensated and aimed at something that is mission critical.
4) If you get traction, there are endless ways to go deeper.
If you land interviews or get real signal that you are a good fit, then it is worth thinking about:
career transition grants that provide runway,
applying to fellowships,
attending a conference,
getting involved with the communities at large.
Most people who have made this transition did not have a master plan. They sent some applications, had some conversations, and found a door that was more open than they expected, which leads me to:
Case Studies of Real People who pivoted from Tech to AI Safety
Jack W. | SWE at Amazon → BlueDot Incubator → Member of Technical Staff at Andon Labs
Caleb B. | SWE at Google → Research Fellow alongside Redwood Research
Scott W. | Principal PM at Amazon → Seldon Lab Accelerator → Founder in AI Security, Luthien Research
Me, Jen B. | Product Ops at Google → AI Safety Community Builder → TBD
This will not be an easy journey, likely on par with your existing job search, but potentially a highly impactful one in tackling humanity’s next greatest challenge.
My DMs and Calendar are open. I can offer some personalized resources in this vast field, how to get plugged into the community, and coach you through your tactical next steps.
I don’t take payments & am not selling a service. I am doing this on my own accord and am funded by Coefficient Giving as a Community Organizer for Effective Altruism San Francisco.
Thank you to Feifan Liu and @gergo for your initial feedback.