I’m glad to see this project go live, as I (and other people) have frequently griped about so many job boards seeming to focus on positions that required experience that I, as a recent college graduate do not have.
At the same time, I’d like to reiterate/reemphasize my comment from the previous post on this project: I would strongly recommend going beyond simply providing a list of high-impact, highly-competitive positions that people like younger me probably would have looked at and said “I’ll focus on applying for these positions,” only to end up being systemically under-qualified/competitive and not get anything. For example, you could include on the site some kind of link to advice that basically says things like “don’t just apply for these positions; also apply for less-competitive internships even if they aren’t directly EA related or even if they aren’t directly related to your field.” (This is where some of the non-EA organization suggestions I’ve had in mind might come into play.)
While I’m supportive of gathering this position information in one place, I could also see it as having potential drawbacks if it causes people to over-focus on these positions: I could totally see myself (someone who has struggled for years with mediocre success to get experience in the fields I’m pursuing) falling into that trap.
On a related note, my general impression has been “if you can manage to get a position in a high-impact area early in your career, that’s great, but the reality is that most positions won’t themselves directly lead to high impact; the key is the experience, professional connections, and future application material you get from such positions.”
I’m glad to see this project go live, as I (and other people) have frequently griped about so many job boards seeming to focus on positions that required experience that I, as a recent college graduate do not have.
At the same time, I’d like to reiterate/reemphasize my comment from the previous post on this project: I would strongly recommend going beyond simply providing a list of high-impact, highly-competitive positions that people like younger me probably would have looked at and said “I’ll focus on applying for these positions,” only to end up being systemically under-qualified/competitive and not get anything. For example, you could include on the site some kind of link to advice that basically says things like “don’t just apply for these positions; also apply for less-competitive internships even if they aren’t directly EA related or even if they aren’t directly related to your field.” (This is where some of the non-EA organization suggestions I’ve had in mind might come into play.)
While I’m supportive of gathering this position information in one place, I could also see it as having potential drawbacks if it causes people to over-focus on these positions: I could totally see myself (someone who has struggled for years with mediocre success to get experience in the fields I’m pursuing) falling into that trap.
On a related note, my general impression has been “if you can manage to get a position in a high-impact area early in your career, that’s great, but the reality is that most positions won’t themselves directly lead to high impact; the key is the experience, professional connections, and future application material you get from such positions.”