Hi Bella, Huon, thank you for the AMA opportunity—this is great!
I’ve followed the EA community, and particularly 80k hours for several years—listening to podcast episodes and reading blogs/articles—and I have wanted to shift my career to one that has a more positive impact on the world for even longer than that. The regular job board/posting emails 80k hours issues has been super helpful to keep a close eye on potential positions/careers that my skills/experience could be suitable for and also those I’m interested in. However, I’ve always found it hard to match up my skills/experience.
I noticed both of the Marketer and Advisor roles advertised and they both look interesting and appeal to me for different reasons. I previously worked at a bank (lending/business & data analyst/project mgmt) and currently work within financial policy (secondary capital markets), so while I have a wide set of developed generalist skills—particularly problem solving, communication, data analysis—I don’t have specific marketing or priority area experience.
Both position descriptions specify marketing/priority areas as nice to haves or ideally but not must haves, so my question is whether someone with more generalist experience like mine would be more suitable to one of the positions over the other? Or alternatively, whether it would detract from an application if I were to try apply for both?
I’m happy for generalists to apply to the marketer position — I don’t think prior marketing experience is required to excel in the role, so long as you’re excited to learn the relevant skills!
You’re certainly welcome to apply to both! We’ll typically share application materials internally where it seems decision-relevant, but otherwise, the applications are progressed separately.
If I were you, I might spend some time thinking about if one of the roles seems better suited to you based on your skills & the type of work you’re excited about doing. I think they’re quite different ways of working — for example, advisors do a lot of talking to people! Marketers at 80k don’t do nearly as much. Which sounds more energising to you?
Thanks Bella, that’s super helpful! Good to know. I did also think it would be better to work out which role interests me more. I was leaning more towards the marketer position based on skills and interest, particularly with the varied responsibilities and skills—I love being able to a range of different tasks/projects in a role. Thanks again
Hi Bella, Huon, thank you for the AMA opportunity—this is great!
I’ve followed the EA community, and particularly 80k hours for several years—listening to podcast episodes and reading blogs/articles—and I have wanted to shift my career to one that has a more positive impact on the world for even longer than that. The regular job board/posting emails 80k hours issues has been super helpful to keep a close eye on potential positions/careers that my skills/experience could be suitable for and also those I’m interested in. However, I’ve always found it hard to match up my skills/experience.
I noticed both of the Marketer and Advisor roles advertised and they both look interesting and appeal to me for different reasons. I previously worked at a bank (lending/business & data analyst/project mgmt) and currently work within financial policy (secondary capital markets), so while I have a wide set of developed generalist skills—particularly problem solving, communication, data analysis—I don’t have specific marketing or priority area experience.
Both position descriptions specify marketing/priority areas as nice to haves or ideally but not must haves, so my question is whether someone with more generalist experience like mine would be more suitable to one of the positions over the other? Or alternatively, whether it would detract from an application if I were to try apply for both?
Thanks!
Hey Helena — thanks for your question!
I’m happy for generalists to apply to the marketer position — I don’t think prior marketing experience is required to excel in the role, so long as you’re excited to learn the relevant skills!
You’re certainly welcome to apply to both! We’ll typically share application materials internally where it seems decision-relevant, but otherwise, the applications are progressed separately.
If I were you, I might spend some time thinking about if one of the roles seems better suited to you based on your skills & the type of work you’re excited about doing. I think they’re quite different ways of working — for example, advisors do a lot of talking to people! Marketers at 80k don’t do nearly as much. Which sounds more energising to you?
Thanks Bella, that’s super helpful! Good to know. I did also think it would be better to work out which role interests me more. I was leaning more towards the marketer position based on skills and interest, particularly with the varied responsibilities and skills—I love being able to a range of different tasks/projects in a role. Thanks again