Hi Sai! Thanks for taking the time to answer question! I am working on a high-impact career pivot from traditional US Healthcare (non-profit health systems and payer roles) into the global health space. A couple of questions:
What do you see as the most transferrable skills from for-profit business into the global health grantmaking space? What skills have proven most valuable in grantmaking and are most sought after by GiveWell?
How do you view mental health as a potential cause area for GiveWell either as a standalone or contributing factor to overall health? We know mental health increases medical costs, increases mortality, and diminishes quality of life and ability to address the most pressing social determinants of health, however it is rarely a topic I hear about in action-oriented EA conversations.
I think “grantmaking” can encompass a lot of different kinds of work; the skills you’d need to be an excellent program officer looking at high-impact global health funding opportunities or writing intervention reports, are quite different from the skills that would make you a great CFO or grants administrator or communications liaison. Overall my view is that almost all skills can be transferable in some way from a for-profit environment into a non-profit or mission-focused organization. I’d advise looking for roles where you have some anchor between your skill set and the requirements of the job.
And then, when you are expressing interest or applying for a role, try to be specific, authentic, and personal when you are describing how you might be able to perform the job functions. We see a lot (A LOT) of super generic, likely LLM-generated application responses come through our hiring pipeline. In that environment, a response that is specific and personal to you will be what stands out.
The last thing I’ll add on this front is that, in my (admittedly limited) experience in cost-effectiveness/impact focused organizations, it’s okay—preferable, even—to be uncertain about how you might fit for a given role. I think the common approach is for job applicants to be extremely confident, in sell mode, in their responses. But at least for the roles that I screen for at GiveWell, and in my experience hiring talent over the last 15 years, I definitely prefer when a candidate is honest and calibrated about their skills as well as their uncertainties.
As to your second question, I’m definitely not the right person to ask about intervention area research! But as far as I know, we haven’t found mental health oriented activities that are as or more cost-effective than opportunities in our existing program areas.
Hi Sai! Thanks for taking the time to answer question! I am working on a high-impact career pivot from traditional US Healthcare (non-profit health systems and payer roles) into the global health space. A couple of questions:
What do you see as the most transferrable skills from for-profit business into the global health grantmaking space? What skills have proven most valuable in grantmaking and are most sought after by GiveWell?
How do you view mental health as a potential cause area for GiveWell either as a standalone or contributing factor to overall health? We know mental health increases medical costs, increases mortality, and diminishes quality of life and ability to address the most pressing social determinants of health, however it is rarely a topic I hear about in action-oriented EA conversations.
Thanks!
Hi Madeleine!
I think “grantmaking” can encompass a lot of different kinds of work; the skills you’d need to be an excellent program officer looking at high-impact global health funding opportunities or writing intervention reports, are quite different from the skills that would make you a great CFO or grants administrator or communications liaison. Overall my view is that almost all skills can be transferable in some way from a for-profit environment into a non-profit or mission-focused organization. I’d advise looking for roles where you have some anchor between your skill set and the requirements of the job.
And then, when you are expressing interest or applying for a role, try to be specific, authentic, and personal when you are describing how you might be able to perform the job functions. We see a lot (A LOT) of super generic, likely LLM-generated application responses come through our hiring pipeline. In that environment, a response that is specific and personal to you will be what stands out.
The last thing I’ll add on this front is that, in my (admittedly limited) experience in cost-effectiveness/impact focused organizations, it’s okay—preferable, even—to be uncertain about how you might fit for a given role. I think the common approach is for job applicants to be extremely confident, in sell mode, in their responses. But at least for the roles that I screen for at GiveWell, and in my experience hiring talent over the last 15 years, I definitely prefer when a candidate is honest and calibrated about their skills as well as their uncertainties.
As to your second question, I’m definitely not the right person to ask about intervention area research! But as far as I know, we haven’t found mental health oriented activities that are as or more cost-effective than opportunities in our existing program areas.
Thank you @Sai_Jahann_GW, I really appreciate the insight! It is encouraging to hear this perspective as I navigate this high-impact career pivot!