One thing I’m not sure of (and because this is a thorny question want to ask as lightly as possible) is if you feel like you’ve settled into your UK Civil Service job? Alternatively, maybe you see it as a means to something more effective down the line, or perhaps you think working there just is fully, immediately effective? I see both strands in what you’ve said, and I suppose my rough observations are:
It seems like maybe it’s not because you’ve reopened cause prioritization considerations and seem to be working towards exploring other options now
It seems like maybe it is, because part of the thrust of your article is saying that only striving towards the abstractly most impactful job itself lead you to a much less effective (and mentally healthy) state generally, the Civil Service job helping greatly to alleviate all of that
I ask mostly because I’m in a very similar position, but am a bit more on the front end of it. I’ve been applying for a year now and have landed (nearly) nothing (while working a job that doesn’t build career capital in the meantime), have the next year planned out to teach English abroad and learn Spanish, but then will come out of that without any sense of where to go next if I can’t land an EA job.
I’m interested in potentially becoming a therapist, but this in some ways feels a lot like settling, and I can’t really see a pathway to that being the most effective thing I can do going forwards. But at the same time, the wisdom here seems to be that being stuck in a limbo state is maybe the least effective place I can be, so maybe I should just go into therapy. I just don’t know how to do so yet without feeling like I’ve failed, like I’ve abandoned my question to really try to improve the world impartially.
Any thoughts or comments of yours would be super helpful, especially getting an update as to where you are now nearly three years later.
I completely agree with you that being in a limbo state is the least effective place you can be! Exploring is valuable, but at some point you have to act what you have learnt. Even if what you learnt was really not what you were hoping to learn...
My perspective is that I can still have a major impact via donations. The more I earn, the more I can donate. The more frugal I live, the more I can donate too. Unfortunately the EA Community is no longer as supportive of people who see their primary way to impact via donations as it once was. I don’t think I would have come to my current perspective if I had joined the EA Community in recent years. But Giving What We Can is ramping up again and holding some events if this is a path you might be interested in.
I am still working in the UK Civil Service and have worked here for 3.5 years by now. I do consider the direct impact of my work in the Civil Service to be trivial compared to the donations I can make thanks to my earnings. I have increased my pay by ~135% compared to when I started (not inflation-adjusted). How much this has increased my donations is a bit harder to say as my finances and donations are mingled with my husband’s.
I do not consider myself settled as I expect my earnings to tap out now. My original plan was to switch to the private sector this year, but this has been tricky as tech is having a downturn. All my Civil Service roles have been data/tech roles. I also considered some other direct work options this year, but there were very few I was interested in (both due to poor fit as well as doubts over their actual impact) and none of them panned out.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out anytime. I am sorry you are in this position.
One thing I’m not sure of (and because this is a thorny question want to ask as lightly as possible) is if you feel like you’ve settled into your UK Civil Service job? Alternatively, maybe you see it as a means to something more effective down the line, or perhaps you think working there just is fully, immediately effective? I see both strands in what you’ve said, and I suppose my rough observations are:
It seems like maybe it’s not because you’ve reopened cause prioritization considerations and seem to be working towards exploring other options now
It seems like maybe it is, because part of the thrust of your article is saying that only striving towards the abstractly most impactful job itself lead you to a much less effective (and mentally healthy) state generally, the Civil Service job helping greatly to alleviate all of that
I ask mostly because I’m in a very similar position, but am a bit more on the front end of it. I’ve been applying for a year now and have landed (nearly) nothing (while working a job that doesn’t build career capital in the meantime), have the next year planned out to teach English abroad and learn Spanish, but then will come out of that without any sense of where to go next if I can’t land an EA job.
I’m interested in potentially becoming a therapist, but this in some ways feels a lot like settling, and I can’t really see a pathway to that being the most effective thing I can do going forwards. But at the same time, the wisdom here seems to be that being stuck in a limbo state is maybe the least effective place I can be, so maybe I should just go into therapy. I just don’t know how to do so yet without feeling like I’ve failed, like I’ve abandoned my question to really try to improve the world impartially.
Any thoughts or comments of yours would be super helpful, especially getting an update as to where you are now nearly three years later.
First I apologize for my late response!
I completely agree with you that being in a limbo state is the least effective place you can be! Exploring is valuable, but at some point you have to act what you have learnt. Even if what you learnt was really not what you were hoping to learn...
My perspective is that I can still have a major impact via donations. The more I earn, the more I can donate. The more frugal I live, the more I can donate too. Unfortunately the EA Community is no longer as supportive of people who see their primary way to impact via donations as it once was. I don’t think I would have come to my current perspective if I had joined the EA Community in recent years. But Giving What We Can is ramping up again and holding some events if this is a path you might be interested in.
I am still working in the UK Civil Service and have worked here for 3.5 years by now. I do consider the direct impact of my work in the Civil Service to be trivial compared to the donations I can make thanks to my earnings. I have increased my pay by ~135% compared to when I started (not inflation-adjusted). How much this has increased my donations is a bit harder to say as my finances and donations are mingled with my husband’s.
I do not consider myself settled as I expect my earnings to tap out now. My original plan was to switch to the private sector this year, but this has been tricky as tech is having a downturn. All my Civil Service roles have been data/tech roles. I also considered some other direct work options this year, but there were very few I was interested in (both due to poor fit as well as doubts over their actual impact) and none of them panned out.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out anytime. I am sorry you are in this position.