Personal fit is a measure of a person’s chances of excelling in a particular job.
Formally, personal fit it may be defined as the ratio of the person’s productivity in the job to the average productivity of other candidates likely to take that job. Personal fit is one of the factors in 80,000 Hours’ original career framework, as well as a key element in their current list of strategic considerations.[1]
Personal fit measures a person’s absolute advantage in a job. But a person’s comparative becomes relevant when coordination is feasible. In such cases, a career with lower personal fit may have a greater community impact.[2]
Further reading
Todd, Benjamin (2021) Personal fit: why being good at your job is even more important than people think, 80,000 Hours, September.
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Todd, Benjamin (2019) A guide to using your career to help solve the world’s most pressing problems, 80,000 Hours, March.
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Todd, Benjamin (2018) Doing good together—how to coordinate effectively, and avoid single-player thinking, 80,000 Hours, September 21, section 3.