Executive summary: The author reflects on their experience leaving and returning to the Effective Altruism (EA) community, offering career advice for EA-aligned graduates that emphasizes skill-building over prestige, managing rejection in job seeking, and the importance of engaging with the non-EA world.
Key points:
Focus on skill-building rather than the impressiveness factor of a job or organization. Valuable skills can be gained at less prestigious places with better effort-payoff.
Entry-level positions at EA organizations may not provide the best skill development compared to mainstream grad roles, despite their competitiveness.
Repeated job rejections can be emotionally difficult. Adjust your mindset and/or ambitions to manage this, to avoid becoming disheartened and leaving EA entirely.
Engaging with the non-EA world, both professionally and socially, is crucial for effective communication, collaboration, and personal well-being.
Taking time away from EA can help reset one’s relationship with the movement and lead to a more sustainable, balanced engagement.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: The author reflects on their experience leaving and returning to the Effective Altruism (EA) community, offering career advice for EA-aligned graduates that emphasizes skill-building over prestige, managing rejection in job seeking, and the importance of engaging with the non-EA world.
Key points:
Focus on skill-building rather than the impressiveness factor of a job or organization. Valuable skills can be gained at less prestigious places with better effort-payoff.
Entry-level positions at EA organizations may not provide the best skill development compared to mainstream grad roles, despite their competitiveness.
Repeated job rejections can be emotionally difficult. Adjust your mindset and/or ambitions to manage this, to avoid becoming disheartened and leaving EA entirely.
Engaging with the non-EA world, both professionally and socially, is crucial for effective communication, collaboration, and personal well-being.
Taking time away from EA can help reset one’s relationship with the movement and lead to a more sustainable, balanced engagement.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.