However, both of these suggestions miss out on one of the big reasons the chasm needs to be filled—strong vetting is nice, but there’s no replacement for simply trying many things and seeing what works.
I don’t follow how the second route (working on non-EA projects) to accumulate career capital misses out on the “big reason the chasm needs to be filled.”
Wouldn’t a plausible path be:
work on non-EA projects to accrue career capital
once you’re past some threshold of career capital, flip the switch to start working on EA projects
I agree EAs underrate going into non-EA projects to buy themselves skills and also time to work on their project as as side-project while it gains traction. However, I’ve been a bit surprised how frequently this doesn’t seem to have worked and people go into non-EA projects and never come back to EA. I’d be curious to learn more about that and whether the EA Hotel can be a better option.
I imagine EA’s getting into all sorts of fields and industries while staying in the community, and this seems so valuable that it makes me second-guess the hotel.
People don’t stay in the community because, if you’re not involved professionally, there’s not much left to gain. We should change that.
I’ve proposed a solution to this problem here and here
To avoid people becoming overly dependent, we do have a hard limit of 2 years for stays at the hotel (most people seem to be going for somewhere in the range of 3-12 months).
Well, I’ve worked on “non-EA projects” and I’ve “accrued career capital” (in the software industry) but I don’t think I could just flip a switch and start working on EA projects with other EA people. At present it’s easier to get into the EA hotel than to get a grant from an EA org, which in turn is probably easier than getting a job at an EA org. And note that if I got a grant I would still be isolated from other EAs as I don’t live near an EA hub; EA hotel solves the “loneliness” problem.
Good point. Either route seems viable. The EA hotel route might be slightly higher EV as the way you’re gaining skills and status has the potential to do a lot of good, but I think probably many ways to cross/fill the chasm are needed.
Thanks for writing this up!
I don’t follow how the second route (working on non-EA projects) to accumulate career capital misses out on the “big reason the chasm needs to be filled.”
Wouldn’t a plausible path be:
work on non-EA projects to accrue career capital
once you’re past some threshold of career capital, flip the switch to start working on EA projects
I agree EAs underrate going into non-EA projects to buy themselves skills and also time to work on their project as as side-project while it gains traction. However, I’ve been a bit surprised how frequently this doesn’t seem to have worked and people go into non-EA projects and never come back to EA. I’d be curious to learn more about that and whether the EA Hotel can be a better option.
I imagine EA’s getting into all sorts of fields and industries while staying in the community, and this seems so valuable that it makes me second-guess the hotel.
People don’t stay in the community because, if you’re not involved professionally, there’s not much left to gain. We should change that.
I’ve proposed a solution to this problem here and here
I do worry that the EA Hotel gives people too easy of an excuse to not have to do the hard thing of finding something outside of EA. This kind of phenomenon came up in the comments of the widely acclaimed “getting a job in EA is hard” post.
To avoid people becoming overly dependent, we do have a hard limit of 2 years for stays at the hotel (most people seem to be going for somewhere in the range of 3-12 months).
Well, I’ve worked on “non-EA projects” and I’ve “accrued career capital” (in the software industry) but I don’t think I could just flip a switch and start working on EA projects with other EA people. At present it’s easier to get into the EA hotel than to get a grant from an EA org, which in turn is probably easier than getting a job at an EA org. And note that if I got a grant I would still be isolated from other EAs as I don’t live near an EA hub; EA hotel solves the “loneliness” problem.
Good point. Either route seems viable. The EA hotel route might be slightly higher EV as the way you’re gaining skills and status has the potential to do a lot of good, but I think probably many ways to cross/fill the chasm are needed.