AI Disclosure: I used Claude Opus 4.8 to help draft this post, and it likely contains >20% AI-generated text, but I’ve edited/rewritten it and endorse it.
TL;DR: Scaling Altruism is running a six-week Career Planning Course, built around the 80,000 Hours career guide and a structured exercise workbook. It helps people think rigorously about how to use their careers to do more good. We're recruiting three kinds of people:
- Participants: work through the readings and exercises, then discuss them with your peers
- Facilitators: moderate the discussions to help everyone get the most value out of them
- Local contacts: promote the course in your network and integrate new members into your community
Key details:
- Application deadline: 7 June 2026 (Sunday, 23:59 GMT+1)
- Course dates: 22 June – 2 August 2026 (6 weeks)
- Cost: Free
- Format (weekly): ~1.5-2 hours preparation (readings and exercises) + 90-minute group discussion
- Location: Online; some cities may offer in-person sessions
- Language: English (other languages if there's enough interest)
- Certificate: Awarded on attending 5 of 6 sessions
What the course is
Finding out how to develop an impactful career is one of the most effective ways you can do good, and information on how to choose well is already available. The harder part is making the time to read it, think it over, and apply it to your own situation.
That's what this course is for. It runs for six weeks in small groups. Each week, you read a section of the 80,000 Hours career guide, do the matching exercises in the workbook, and meet with your group to talk through what you're figuring out and where you're stuck. The guide and workbook do most of the teaching. The group keeps you moving and gives you people to bounce ideas off.
By the end, you should have a better idea of what you're good at, which problems you care most about working on, and a real set of next steps to act on.
Who it's for
It's for anyone who wants their work to matter more and is willing to put in six weeks to figure out how. You don't need to already be involved in effective altruism, and you definitely don't need to have your career sorted out. People early in their careers, people thinking about a change, and people just re-examining where they're headed may all be a good fit.
Ways to get involved
Take the course as a participant
Join a group, do the weekly reading and exercises, and meet up to talk through your own decisions with others doing the same thing. It takes a few hours a week, mostly thinking and discussion rather than busywork. You come out of it with a career plan you've actually worked through, and a handful of people who understand what you're trying to do.
Sign up as a participant here.
Facilitate a group
Facilitators run the groups, so they make a big difference to how the whole thing goes. You'd lead your group through the six weeks: keeping the discussion going, helping people connect the material to their own situations, and making it comfortable for everyone to think out loud. You don't need to be a careers expert. Mostly, you need to be reliable, a good listener, and happy to steer a conversation. One facilitator can help a whole group make better choices, which makes it a great way to contribute. We provide the curriculum, workbook, and support so you can focus on the people in your group.
Apply to facilitate here.
If you're part of a local or university EA group, or you just know a lot of people in your area, you can sign on as a local contact. You'd be the person people nearby can reach out to about the course, help get the word out, and, where it makes sense, help get an in-person or local group going. It doesn't take much time, and it's how the course reaches people it otherwise wouldn't.
Sign up as a local contact here.
Take a look first
Want to see what you'd be doing week to week before you commit? Have a look at the workbook and the course page.
Feel free to share or ask anything in the comments or via email (info[at]scalingaltruism.com): whether you have feedback on the approach or are just unsure about the timing, we’re happy to follow up. And if someone you know has been meaning to get serious about their career, please send this their way!
