I mean, it’s kinda intertwined, right? Presumably you are earning to give to fund people to do stuff. So someone needs to do that stuff. That person could be you. Or you could be the one funding. I think it really comes down to comparative advantage / personal fit (how good are you personally at doing vs. earning?) and marginal resources (of the orgs you would donate to or work for, how much do they want a talented person versus more money?).
In short, I think getting general examples of people having a high impact by working in an EA org would be misleading for anyone actually making this kind of career path decision.
I mean, it’s kinda intertwined, right? Presumably you are earning to
give to fund people to do stuff. So someone needs to do that
stuff. That person could be you. Or you could be the one funding. I
think it really comes down to comparative advantage / personal fit
(how good are you personally at doing vs. earning?) and marginal
resources (of the orgs you would donate to or work for, how much do
they want a talented person versus more money?).
How do I do this Peter? I would think I need to start with what values
of impact I can get with ETG and working at an EAorg? And based on the
outcome I can choose to get better/pursue in ETG or GR-sills.
For example, if it turns out that 30k donation is enough to meet the
EA org impact, then I would do an MS and get a job in the FAANG and
30k would be easy to donate. But if it turns out that working at
GiveWell creates an impact of 200k as a GR, then I would rather spend
the next few years doing focused practice on GR-skills as I know for
that 200k in donations is going to be super hard unless I do something
like trading (which I can’t). I would like to maximize my impact.
So I am looking for examples that show how people came to the
conclusion that it is better to work in research in an EAO rather than
ETG. These examples would include replaceability and other factors I
think.
In short, I think getting general examples of people having a high
impact by working in an EA org would be misleading for anyone actually
making this kind of career path decision.
I don’t want general examples. I would like specific examples of
impact of people in GR and management positions in Open Phil (and the
like), AI safety (technical researcher) positions in OpenAI (and the
like) etc...
AT WHAT ETG DO I BECOME INDIFFERENT TO WORKING IN EA ORGS
(specifically GR, Safety strategy research and management positions)?
To make a very long story very short, I think you should focus on trying to get a direct work job while still doing what is needed to keep your FAANG* options open. Then apply to direct work jobs and see if you get one. If you don’t, pivot to FAANG.
Also, while doing a FAANG job, you could still aim to build relevant skills for direct work and then switch. This is what I did (except I didn’t work in FAANG specifically).
Also, from what I know, donating $200k/yr while working in FAANG is possible for the top ~10% of engineers after ~5 years.
~
*For those following along who don’t know, FAANG = Facebook Amazon Apple Netflix Google
To make a very long story very short, I think you should focus on
trying to get a direct work job while still doing what is needed to
keep your FAANG* options open. Then apply to direct work jobs and
see if you get one. If you don’t, pivot to FAANG.
So it looks like you are suggesting that ALL DIRECT WORK (DW) any
day is better than FAANG type of work, provided you get a job, EVEN if
THE MARKET pool IS has many strong applicants. Is that correct?
I think I can focus on one, either on keeping FAANG open or on DW
opportunities. I am 29, Indian by birth and working in Netherlands
right now. The common route to a Big Bucks FAANG job (hence
California), would require 50k$ in costs and a Master’s degree to get
into the US. And I probably need to start masters in 1-2 years max, if
I hope to be a FAANG guy in US (Guess, feeling). So prepping on this
from “now” on would be option 1.
I don’t think I will make it to Direct work jobs now based on what I
have seen. I would need to work intensely on it separately as well,
depending on what type of job. This would be option 2 provided I know
what to focus on. Focusing on option 1 and 2 I think will be hard at
the same time I think in this case! Thoughts?
Direct work in what? Each seems to need its own separate prep: GR,
AI safety tech researcher, Management positions
How do I compare different opportunities? It circles back again I
think to calculations, examples of values.
On the other hand I could try to COPY YOU.
Get a Data Science Job in the US (by doing a Master’s maybe?)
Be REALLY GREAT at something! Have atleast a Triple Master Rank on Kaggle
(for e.g.,) (2-3 years maybe)
Be involved with EA community (treasurer, research manager-->No idea
how to get there though!)
Build relevant skills for direct work (Not sure what “relevant
skills” mean)
And SOMEHOW IT WILL WORK OUT! (possibly because there is a lot of
overlap between research, Data science?)
Also, while doing a FAANG job, you could still aim to build relevant
skills for direct work and then switch. This is what I did (except I
didn’t work in FAANG specifically).
Can you give 2 examples of relevant skills you built for a particular
direct work? And how you built it?
Also, from what I know, donating $200k/yr while working in FAANG is
possible for the top ~10% of engineers after ~5 years.
I mean, it’s kinda intertwined, right? Presumably you are earning to give to fund people to do stuff. So someone needs to do that stuff. That person could be you. Or you could be the one funding. I think it really comes down to comparative advantage / personal fit (how good are you personally at doing vs. earning?) and marginal resources (of the orgs you would donate to or work for, how much do they want a talented person versus more money?).
In short, I think getting general examples of people having a high impact by working in an EA org would be misleading for anyone actually making this kind of career path decision.
How do I do this Peter? I would think I need to start with what values of impact I can get with ETG and working at an EAorg? And based on the outcome I can choose to get better/pursue in ETG or GR-sills.
For example, if it turns out that 30k donation is enough to meet the EA org impact, then I would do an MS and get a job in the FAANG and 30k would be easy to donate. But if it turns out that working at GiveWell creates an impact of 200k as a GR, then I would rather spend the next few years doing focused practice on GR-skills as I know for that 200k in donations is going to be super hard unless I do something like trading (which I can’t). I would like to maximize my impact.
So I am looking for examples that show how people came to the conclusion that it is better to work in research in an EAO rather than ETG. These examples would include replaceability and other factors I think.
I don’t want general examples. I would like specific examples of impact of people in GR and management positions in Open Phil (and the like), AI safety (technical researcher) positions in OpenAI (and the like) etc...
AT WHAT ETG DO I BECOME INDIFFERENT TO WORKING IN EA ORGS (specifically GR, Safety strategy research and management positions)?
To make a very long story very short, I think you should focus on trying to get a direct work job while still doing what is needed to keep your FAANG* options open. Then apply to direct work jobs and see if you get one. If you don’t, pivot to FAANG.
Also, while doing a FAANG job, you could still aim to build relevant skills for direct work and then switch. This is what I did (except I didn’t work in FAANG specifically).
Also, from what I know, donating $200k/yr while working in FAANG is possible for the top ~10% of engineers after ~5 years.
~
*For those following along who don’t know, FAANG = Facebook Amazon Apple Netflix Google
Peter please bear with me.
So it looks like you are suggesting that ALL DIRECT WORK (DW) any day is better than FAANG type of work, provided you get a job, EVEN if THE MARKET pool IS has many strong applicants. Is that correct?
I think I can focus on one, either on keeping FAANG open or on DW opportunities. I am 29, Indian by birth and working in Netherlands right now. The common route to a Big Bucks FAANG job (hence California), would require 50k$ in costs and a Master’s degree to get into the US. And I probably need to start masters in 1-2 years max, if I hope to be a FAANG guy in US (Guess, feeling). So prepping on this from “now” on would be option 1.
I don’t think I will make it to Direct work jobs now based on what I have seen. I would need to work intensely on it separately as well, depending on what type of job. This would be option 2 provided I know what to focus on. Focusing on option 1 and 2 I think will be hard at the same time I think in this case! Thoughts?
Direct work in what? Each seems to need its own separate prep: GR, AI safety tech researcher, Management positions
How do I compare different opportunities? It circles back again I think to calculations, examples of values.
On the other hand I could try to COPY YOU.
Get a Data Science Job in the US (by doing a Master’s maybe?)
Be REALLY GREAT at something! Have atleast a Triple Master Rank on Kaggle (for e.g.,) (2-3 years maybe)
Be involved with EA community (treasurer, research manager-->No idea how to get there though!)
Build relevant skills for direct work (Not sure what “relevant skills” mean)
And SOMEHOW IT WILL WORK OUT! (possibly because there is a lot of overlap between research, Data science?)
Can you give 2 examples of relevant skills you built for a particular direct work? And how you built it?
Wow. The Power of ETG at FAANG.