Just a little update after coaching for a year, with a maximum of 3 clients a week (about 80h in the whole year).
My clients report benefits to themselves, the time I spend coaching is usually a pleasure for me, and everyone likes the feeling that the money is going to effective charities. I don’t think I’ve been stealing too much work from professional coaches because the majority of the people I have worked with have signed a promise to donate when they are better off/in a different legal situation, so they wouldn’t have been able to pay someone now (or perhaps even to qualify for subsidies). And for those who have made donations already, the sum of that is greater than what I paid to be listed on a coaching site, so it is cost-effective if we don’t take into account my own time.
But as an EA, I think it makes sense to take into account my own time, in which case it’s not totally clear that this is the most effective thing I could do. I’ll be working with a coach who specializes on academics drawn to industry for a few weeks to think through alternative “business” plans, but will probably continue coaching just as I do now for another 6 months.
Addition 2022-02-06: In total, taking into account preparation, website creation, email, and actual coaching, I spent about 110 hours over 2 years, and resulted in a total of 1495€ being donated to effective charities, therefore at a rate of about 13 €/h. Without taking direct benefits to the coachees, this does not seem a very effective way for me to do good, taking into account my own time. As for the possibility of specializing on academics, that seems to be a niche that is already well populated, and my approach does not appear to be a low-hanging fruit for me.
Just a little update after coaching for a year, with a maximum of 3 clients a week (about 80h in the whole year).
My clients report benefits to themselves, the time I spend coaching is usually a pleasure for me, and everyone likes the feeling that the money is going to effective charities. I don’t think I’ve been stealing too much work from professional coaches because the majority of the people I have worked with have signed a promise to donate when they are better off/in a different legal situation, so they wouldn’t have been able to pay someone now (or perhaps even to qualify for subsidies). And for those who have made donations already, the sum of that is greater than what I paid to be listed on a coaching site, so it is cost-effective if we don’t take into account my own time.
But as an EA, I think it makes sense to take into account my own time, in which case it’s not totally clear that this is the most effective thing I could do. I’ll be working with a coach who specializes on academics drawn to industry for a few weeks to think through alternative “business” plans, but will probably continue coaching just as I do now for another 6 months.
Addition 2022-02-06: In total, taking into account preparation, website creation, email, and actual coaching, I spent about 110 hours over 2 years, and resulted in a total of 1495€ being donated to effective charities, therefore at a rate of about 13 €/h. Without taking direct benefits to the coachees, this does not seem a very effective way for me to do good, taking into account my own time. As for the possibility of specializing on academics, that seems to be a niche that is already well populated, and my approach does not appear to be a low-hanging fruit for me.