Thank you for sharing this! As a student about to graduate from college, I’ve been researching ways to maximize my social impact through my career, and I found 80,000 Hours’ career guide a very trustworthy, general-purpose resource for a long time. But I’ve noticed that their more recent material seems aimed at funneling readers into their preferred career paths, especially academic careers and positions at EA organizations. For a short period of time over the summer, I became hyped up about AI safety because it was the #1 issue from 80K’s perspective and my skill set (computer science) seemed like a fit, but that enthusiasm didn’t last long.
I’ve noticed that the set of causes I am passionate about changes very frequently (about once every two weeks), but I continually and repeatedly return to certain causes—typically immigration, criminal justice reform, mental health, and global development. I would like to pursue a career doing direct work, and in order to do so effectively, I need to be able to make a durable commitment to a cause that I will be passionate about over the next several years. I would not be an effective “effective altruist” if I spent my career chasing trends.
Thank you for sharing this! As a student about to graduate from college, I’ve been researching ways to maximize my social impact through my career, and I found 80,000 Hours’ career guide a very trustworthy, general-purpose resource for a long time. But I’ve noticed that their more recent material seems aimed at funneling readers into their preferred career paths, especially academic careers and positions at EA organizations. For a short period of time over the summer, I became hyped up about AI safety because it was the #1 issue from 80K’s perspective and my skill set (computer science) seemed like a fit, but that enthusiasm didn’t last long.
I’ve noticed that the set of causes I am passionate about changes very frequently (about once every two weeks), but I continually and repeatedly return to certain causes—typically immigration, criminal justice reform, mental health, and global development. I would like to pursue a career doing direct work, and in order to do so effectively, I need to be able to make a durable commitment to a cause that I will be passionate about over the next several years. I would not be an effective “effective altruist” if I spent my career chasing trends.
would be interested in hearing what direction you go as I hit similar issues, though I’m further into my career already unfortunately!