Quick, basic overview of EA Common Application (2/2)
The bread and butter of the common application is the day-to-day work to get operations running smoothly and build expertise and trust among EA orgs and applicants.
While much of this seems seems mundane, just the basic operations and having experienced, trusted staff perform friendly check-ins with talented candidates is important (I think focus might be on engaging and retaining highly talented “liminal” EAs, as opposed to existing highly-engaged EAs). It is key to have founder(s) who respects and will execute this unglamorous work.
That being said, in the later stages (year 2 and after), the common application can provide enormous and unique value:
Working as a servant to EA organizations, the common application can develop assessment, screening and guidance tools for candidates and organizations that makes EA organizations recruit more effectively and provides confidence and insight for EAs in their job search.
The common application can go far beyond streamlining recruiting, bringing strong candidates into EA, and make better matches for existing talent, for example, creating new roles, catching candidates who might bounce off EA, and building up deep pools of talent beyond any single job search.
This activity in the common application will provide a way to further develop and grow the pool of EA “vetting” and communication that is important for EA scaling, supporting existing strong EA culture, norms and institutions
This vision of the common application is unusual. It’s hard to think of any other movement that has an institution like this. In later stages, some of the ideas, methods and practices could be groundbreaking.
The previous writer/”founder” had interest from professors in Stanford GSB , Sloan/MIT and Penn State, as well as other schools, who expressed interest in working for free, studying and developing methods (market design, assessment) for this common application (because the work and data can produce publications).
A common application builds on some of the best traits of Effective Altruism: consideration of others and their contributions outside of one’s own organization, the coordination and communication between EAs and organizations, and a talent pool that should only increase in value over time.
This provides an enduring asset for the movement, a pillar that provides stability, confidence and happiness, and enhances object level work for hundreds or thousands of people in the coming years.
I don’t fully understand Triplebyte, but the common application seems more extensive in functionality.
I expect EAs who create a common application to believe they can achieve closer and more effective coordination between EA organizations than many portals or job search sites.
For example, (in one vision of the common application) with the consent of organizations and explicit agreement by candidates, organizations can share (carefully controlled, positive) information about candidates who don’t end up accepting a job offer, or share other expertise or knowledge about hiring or talent pools they come across.
I think this post, and future, not yet posted content, by the account “che” will be more explicit and clarify the role and value of a common application.
Quick, basic overview of EA Common Application (2/2)
The bread and butter of the common application is the day-to-day work to get operations running smoothly and build expertise and trust among EA orgs and applicants.
While much of this seems seems mundane, just the basic operations and having experienced, trusted staff perform friendly check-ins with talented candidates is important (I think focus might be on engaging and retaining highly talented “liminal” EAs, as opposed to existing highly-engaged EAs). It is key to have founder(s) who respects and will execute this unglamorous work.
That being said, in the later stages (year 2 and after), the common application can provide enormous and unique value:
Working as a servant to EA organizations, the common application can develop assessment, screening and guidance tools for candidates and organizations that makes EA organizations recruit more effectively and provides confidence and insight for EAs in their job search.
The common application can go far beyond streamlining recruiting, bringing strong candidates into EA, and make better matches for existing talent, for example, creating new roles, catching candidates who might bounce off EA, and building up deep pools of talent beyond any single job search.
This activity in the common application will provide a way to further develop and grow the pool of EA “vetting” and communication that is important for EA scaling, supporting existing strong EA culture, norms and institutions
This vision of the common application is unusual. It’s hard to think of any other movement that has an institution like this. In later stages, some of the ideas, methods and practices could be groundbreaking.
The previous writer/”founder” had interest from professors in Stanford GSB , Sloan/MIT and Penn State, as well as other schools, who expressed interest in working for free, studying and developing methods (market design, assessment) for this common application (because the work and data can produce publications).
A common application builds on some of the best traits of Effective Altruism: consideration of others and their contributions outside of one’s own organization, the coordination and communication between EAs and organizations, and a talent pool that should only increase in value over time.
This provides an enduring asset for the movement, a pillar that provides stability, confidence and happiness, and enhances object level work for hundreds or thousands of people in the coming years.
Would it be fair to say that Triplebyte is a similar thing for the software engineering industry?
I don’t fully understand Triplebyte, but the common application seems more extensive in functionality.
I expect EAs who create a common application to believe they can achieve closer and more effective coordination between EA organizations than many portals or job search sites.
For example, (in one vision of the common application) with the consent of organizations and explicit agreement by candidates, organizations can share (carefully controlled, positive) information about candidates who don’t end up accepting a job offer, or share other expertise or knowledge about hiring or talent pools they come across.
I think this post, and future, not yet posted content, by the account “che” will be more explicit and clarify the role and value of a common application.