Research Into Career Choice, and Provides Online and In‐Person Advice
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Centre for Effective Altruism Suite 2, Littlegate House 16‐17 St Ebbes Street Oxford OX1 1PT United Kingdom www.80000hours.org This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copy editing and interior design by Peter Orr Images by Maria Gutierrez (unless otherwise credited) Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this book including contact information and web addresses is accurate as of the date of publication. However neither the publisher nor author accept any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher and the author have no control over and assume no responsibility for third party websites or their content. Our full legal disclaimer is available at 80000hours.org/legal. 80,000 Hours Find a fulfilling career that does good Benjamin Todd and the 80,000 Hours team About the authors 80,000 Hours is an independent non‐profit organization founded in Oxford in 2011. It performs research into career choice, and provides online and in‐person advice. Benjamin Todd is the CEO and co‐founder of 80,000 Hours. He grew the organization from a student society at Oxford to a non‐profit thatʹs raised $1.3m in donations, and has had one million readers. He has a Master’s degree in Physics and Philosophy from Oxford, has published in climate physics, and speaks Chinese, badly. Ben is advised by the rest of the 80,000 Hours team, including Professor Will MacAskill, author of Doing Good Better, co‐founder of the Effective Altruism movement, and one of the youngest professors of philosophy in the world. Contents Introduction ............................................................................. 1 How to use this guide ..................................................... 3 CHAPTER 1 What makes for a dream job? ....................... 5 Where we go wrong ........................................................ 6 Two overrated goals for a fulfilling career .................. 8 What should you aim for in a dream job? ................... 15 Should you just follow your passion? ........................ 20 Do what contributes to the world ............................... 24 Conclusion ...................................................................... 26 Apply this to your own career .................................... 27 The bottom line: what makes for a dream job? ......... 29 CHAPTER 2 Can one person make a difference? What the evidence says. ....................................................... 30 Some careers have more impact than others ............. 31 What do we mean by “making a difference”? .......... 37 How to make a big difference in any career .............. 39 Take action right now ................................................... 45 Which careers are fulfilling and high‐impact? .......... 48 The bottom line: can one person make a difference? ...................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 3 What are the world’s most pressing problems? ............................................................................... 50 1. Work on problems that are neglected .................... 51 2. Work on problems with the largest scale .............. 53 3. Work on problems that are solvable ...................... 54 4. Your personal fit ........................................................ 56 Example: Developing‐world poverty vs. US poverty ............................................................................ 56 Why is this important? ................................................. 59 So, which global problems are most pressing? ......... 61 Apply this to your own career .................................... 63 The bottom line: what are the world’s most pressing problems? ....................................................... 64 CHAPTER 4 In which career can you help the most people? Why the ideas you’ve heard for doing good with your career aren’t the best. ......................................... 65 Approach 1: Earning to give ........................................ 67 Approach 2: Advocacy ................................................. 74 Approach 3: Research ................................................... 81 Approach 4: Direct work .............................................. 84 Which approach fits the problem? .............................. 88 Do something where you have the chance to excel . 89 Conclusion: in which job can you help the most people? ............................................................................ 91 Apply this to your career ............................................. 94 The bottom line: in which career can you do the most good? ..................................................................... 95 CHAPTER 5 Which jobs put you in the best position for the future? How to avoid two common early‐ career mistakes. ..................................................................... 96 Mistake 1: Ignoring opportunities to invest in yourself ........................................................................... 97 Mistake 2: Not building flexible career capital that will be useful in the future ......................................... 102 Which jobs are best early career? .............................. 106 How can you get flexible career capital in any job? ................................................................................. 116 Conclusion .................................................................... 117 Apply this to your own career .................................. 119 The bottom line: which jobs put you in the best position for the future? ............................................... 121 CHAPTER 6 How to find the right career for you ....... 123 Being good at your job is more important than you think....................................................................... 124 Why self‐reflection won’t work ................................ 125 To find the right career for you, go investigate ...... 129 How to narrow down your options ......................... 130 How to explore: cheap tests first ............................... 133 How to explore: order your options well ................ 134 Jess – a case study in exploring ................................. 136 Conclusion .................................................................... 137 Apply this to your own career: how to work out which career is right for you ...................................... 138 The bottom line: how to find the right career for you ................................................................................. 139 CHAPTER 7 How to make your career plan ................. 140 The A/B/Z plan ............................................................ 141 An example career plan .............................................. 144 Commit to reviewing your plan ............................... 145 Apply this to your own career .................................. 146 The bottom line: how to make your career plan ..... 147 CHAPTER 8 How to find a job ........................................ 148 Stage 1: Leads ............................................................... 150 Stage 2: Conversion ..................................................... 157 Stage 3: Negotiation .................................................... 163 Stay motivated ............................................................. 166 Check out our advice on different jobs .................... 166 Never job hunt again .................................................. 167 Conclusion .................................................................... 167 Apply this to your own career .................................. 168 The bottom line: how to find a job ............................ 169 CHAPTER 9 Why community is key .............................. 170 Introducing our community ...................................... 170 Why get involved? ...................................................... 171 How can we work together more effectively? ........ 173 How to get involved ................................................... 173 A final word ........................................................................ 175 The entire guide, in brief ............................................ 175 What now? ................................................................... 177 The rest of this book .................................................... 177 Summary of key ideas ........................................................ 178 Job satisfaction ............................................................. 178 Making a difference .................................................... 178 The most pressing problems ...................................... 179 Which careers most help others? .............................. 179 Career capital ............................................................... 180 The right career for you .............................................. 180 Career planning ........................................................... 181 How to get a job ........................................................... 182 APPENDIX 1 The meaning of making a difference ..... 183 Definition ...................................................................... 183 The role of value judgements .................................... 184 How do you measure impact in practice? ............... 185 What about justice and the environment? ............... 186 APPENDIX 2 Eleven ways to put yourself in a better position in any job .............................................................