CarolineJ found in her own case that PA work looked more like project management over time, she called it “a tough and high-impact job, that is often undervalued compared to what the person brings”, and she said that important skills include organisation, communication, analytical and generalist
matthew.vandermerwe talks about his time as a Research Assistant and Project Manager for Toby Ord, estimating that “I think I (very roughly) added 5–25% to the book’s impact, and freed up 10–33% of Toby’s time”, but notes re career capital of an RA/PA/etc that “while these jobs are relatively highly regarded in EA circles, they can sound a bit baffling to anyone else.”
Tanya was an Executive Assistant (ExA) to Nick Bostrom and then became Director of Strategy and Operations at the Future of Humanity Institute [edit: In the linked interview she very roughly estimates that she was “freeing up an hour of Nick Bostrom’s time every day”. She says operations roles more broadly are “hard but it’s really exciting. It’s very, very rewarding, I think.” and says one indication of personal fit is “being the person who feels very unsettled if things are broken. Rather than just complaining about them, you’d probably throw yourself at it and patchwork it somehow.”]
A couple of PAs/ExAs mentioned saving the person they were supporting around 10 hours a week
Someone who has been an ExA to several EAs said that they reckon the most impactful tasks/responsibilities are:
inbox management
calendar management (more as a gatekeeper than a calendly)
deadline management
prioritisation support (“a voice of reason when the EA/researcher is led towards spending time on something less important”)
taking small annoying tasks plus the occasional big project off their plate
I’ve only just seen this Forum Question from Sep 2020: Has anyone gone into the ‘High-Impact PA’ path?
Some highlights:
CarolineJ found in her own case that PA work looked more like project management over time, she called it “a tough and high-impact job, that is often undervalued compared to what the person brings”, and she said that important skills include organisation, communication, analytical and generalist
matthew.vandermerwe talks about his time as a Research Assistant and Project Manager for Toby Ord, estimating that “I think I (very roughly) added 5–25% to the book’s impact, and freed up 10–33% of Toby’s time”, but notes re career capital of an RA/PA/etc that “while these jobs are relatively highly regarded in EA circles, they can sound a bit baffling to anyone else.”
Tanya was an Executive Assistant (ExA) to Nick Bostrom and then became Director of Strategy and Operations at the Future of Humanity Institute [edit: In the linked interview she very roughly estimates that she was “freeing up an hour of Nick Bostrom’s time every day”. She says operations roles more broadly are “hard but it’s really exciting. It’s very, very rewarding, I think.” and says one indication of personal fit is “being the person who feels very unsettled if things are broken. Rather than just complaining about them, you’d probably throw yourself at it and patchwork it somehow.”]
A couple of PAs/ExAs mentioned saving the person they were supporting around 10 hours a week
Someone who has been an ExA to several EAs said that they reckon the most impactful tasks/responsibilities are:
inbox management
calendar management (more as a gatekeeper than a calendly)
deadline management
prioritisation support (“a voice of reason when the EA/researcher is led towards spending time on something less important”)
taking small annoying tasks plus the occasional big project off their plate