Specific quibble: I’m skeptical that the following claim is true to a noteworthy degree, and (due tot that) feel that it was a bit odd that the claim was made without reasoning/evidence being provided:
Wikipedia user profiles are publicly visible and can be linked to a real person—for instance, by making your real name your user name or by adding relevant details about you to your Wikipedia user page. You could then add your Wikipedia profile to a CV or on LinkedIn. Depending on your profession, potential employers may be impressed by a good Wikipedia track record (this likely includes most EA organisations) .
Was this based on conversations with any employers? Obviously employers may be impressed by this, but they also may be impressed by all sorts of other things, and I’d guess this’d be less impressive both to most EA orgs and to most non-EA orgs than various other things people could do with the same amount of time. That’s in line with the following thing that you note elsewhere (and which I agree with):
Wikipedia is a global public good (i.e. it is non-rivalrous, non-excludable, and available everywhere). Consequently, Wikipedia editing is likely undersupplied relative to the socially optimal level. A key reason for this is that the incentives to edit Wikipedia are insufficient: [...] (iii) in most (but not all) social contexts, you are likely to get less credit for Wikipedia editing than for more traditional activities (such as writing a book, blog posts, or insightful social media posts).
Also, I think many (most?) employers will just pay much less attention to any prior experience than to how well a candidate does in work tests, interviews, and/or work trials.
Thanks, it’s valuable to hear your more skeptical view on this point! I’ve included it after several reviewers of my post brought it up and still think it was probably worth including as one of several potential self-interested benefits of Wikipedia editing.
I was mainly trying to draw attention to the fact that it is possible to link a Wikipedia user account to a real person and that it is worth considering whether to include it in certain applications (something I’ve done in previous applications). I still think Wikipedia editing is a decent signal of pro-social motivation, experience engaging with specific topics, and of some writing practice. Thus, it seems comparable to me to a personal blog, which you may also include, where relevant, in certain applications as evidence for these things.
Specific quibble: I’m skeptical that the following claim is true to a noteworthy degree, and (due tot that) feel that it was a bit odd that the claim was made without reasoning/evidence being provided:
Was this based on conversations with any employers? Obviously employers may be impressed by this, but they also may be impressed by all sorts of other things, and I’d guess this’d be less impressive both to most EA orgs and to most non-EA orgs than various other things people could do with the same amount of time. That’s in line with the following thing that you note elsewhere (and which I agree with):
Also, I think many (most?) employers will just pay much less attention to any prior experience than to how well a candidate does in work tests, interviews, and/or work trials.
Thanks, it’s valuable to hear your more skeptical view on this point! I’ve included it after several reviewers of my post brought it up and still think it was probably worth including as one of several potential self-interested benefits of Wikipedia editing.
I was mainly trying to draw attention to the fact that it is possible to link a Wikipedia user account to a real person and that it is worth considering whether to include it in certain applications (something I’ve done in previous applications). I still think Wikipedia editing is a decent signal of pro-social motivation, experience engaging with specific topics, and of some writing practice. Thus, it seems comparable to me to a personal blog, which you may also include, where relevant, in certain applications as evidence for these things.