Hi RobotDeChair. Thanks for the question—I always appreciate the chance to engage with people who don’t think they’re represented enough in EA.
As you say, it can be hard to give very broad advice here, but I think the first thing to say is that there are loads of ways you can have impact without formal education/​qualifications. For starters, you can filter for jobs without formal education requirement on the PG jobs board, and as someone who has worked in and around recruiting in EA for a few years now, I do think hiring managers in this community put less stock in credentials than hiring managers in large swathes of the corporate world. Applying to some of these roles and doing work tests and interviews is unlikely to be wasted effort.
Of course ‘EA jobs’ are not the only way to have impact. Building demonstrable skills, experience, and connections is going to be useful in whatever sector you work in, and if you develop good career capital, there’s every chance you’re able to put that to good use in the longer term. It’s hard to be more specific without knowing more of your background, but I’d be excited to discuss that if you want to DM me, or apply for our 1:1 advising.
It’s not exactly what you were asking, but I also think it’s hard to say how a future with increasingly powerful AI will change the market for educational qualifications. My guess is that the value of some credentials will really drop, while others will increase, but I defer to Ben Todd’s excellent article on which those are.
Hi RobotDeChair. Thanks for the question—I always appreciate the chance to engage with people who don’t think they’re represented enough in EA.
As you say, it can be hard to give very broad advice here, but I think the first thing to say is that there are loads of ways you can have impact without formal education/​qualifications. For starters, you can filter for jobs without formal education requirement on the PG jobs board, and as someone who has worked in and around recruiting in EA for a few years now, I do think hiring managers in this community put less stock in credentials than hiring managers in large swathes of the corporate world. Applying to some of these roles and doing work tests and interviews is unlikely to be wasted effort.
Of course ‘EA jobs’ are not the only way to have impact. Building demonstrable skills, experience, and connections is going to be useful in whatever sector you work in, and if you develop good career capital, there’s every chance you’re able to put that to good use in the longer term. It’s hard to be more specific without knowing more of your background, but I’d be excited to discuss that if you want to DM me, or apply for our 1:1 advising.
It’s not exactly what you were asking, but I also think it’s hard to say how a future with increasingly powerful AI will change the market for educational qualifications. My guess is that the value of some credentials will really drop, while others will increase, but I defer to Ben Todd’s excellent article on which those are.
Thanks again for the question!