As someone else mentioned in the comments most EAs work in non-EA orgs looking at the EA surveys. According to the last EA Survey I checked only ~10% of respondents worked in EA orgs and this is probably an overestimation (people in EA orgs are more likely to complete the survey I assume)
So I think the problem is not that EAs are not considering these jobs, I would say the bottleneck for impact is something else:
1) Picking the right non-EA orgs, as mentioned in the comments the differences are massive here
2) Noticing and creating impact opportunities in those jobs
80k is able to give generic career advice, e.g. on joining the civil service but they often lack the capacity to give very specific advice to individuals on where to start, let alone on how to have impact in that job once you landed it.
One solution could be to start a new career org for this, but I think it is very hard to be an expert in everything and I often think that specific personal fit considerations are important. Therefore I think we are better off through training people in picking the right orgs, through teaching them impact-driven career decision models and training and sharing impact opportunities in certain non-EA org career paths.
Summarized: I don’t think people lack the willingness to join non EA-orgs but they lack the tools and skills for maximising their impact in those careers
Hi Sarah, thanks for writing this great article.
As someone else mentioned in the comments most EAs work in non-EA orgs looking at the EA surveys. According to the last EA Survey I checked only ~10% of respondents worked in EA orgs and this is probably an overestimation (people in EA orgs are more likely to complete the survey I assume)
So I think the problem is not that EAs are not considering these jobs, I would say the bottleneck for impact is something else:
1) Picking the right non-EA orgs, as mentioned in the comments the differences are massive here
2) Noticing and creating impact opportunities in those jobs
80k is able to give generic career advice, e.g. on joining the civil service but they often lack the capacity to give very specific advice to individuals on where to start, let alone on how to have impact in that job once you landed it.
One solution could be to start a new career org for this, but I think it is very hard to be an expert in everything and I often think that specific personal fit considerations are important. Therefore I think we are better off through training people in picking the right orgs, through teaching them impact-driven career decision models and training and sharing impact opportunities in certain non-EA org career paths.
Summarized: I don’t think people lack the willingness to join non EA-orgs but they lack the tools and skills for maximising their impact in those careers