Tl;dr:
In this post, I describe a concept I call surface area for serendipity — the informal, behind-the-scenes work that makes it easier for others to notice, trust, and collaborate with you. In a job market where some EA and animal advocacy roles attract over 1,300 applicants, relying on traditional applications alone is unlikely to land you a role.
This post offers a tactical roadmap to the hidden layer of hiring: small, often unpaid but high-leverage actions that build visibility and trust before a job ever opens. The general principle is simple: show up consistently where your future collaborators or employers hang out — and let your strengths be visible. Done well, this increases your chances of being invited, remembered, or hired — long before you ever apply.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Kevin Xia for your valuable feedback and suggestions, and Toby Tremlett for offering general feedback and encouragement. All mistakes are my own.
Why I Wrote This
Many community members have voiced their frustration because they have applied for many jobs and have got nowhere. Over the last few years, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with people trying to break into farmed animal advocacy or EA-aligned roles.
When I ask whether they’re doing any networking or community engagement, they often shyly say “not really.” What I’ve noticed is that people tend to focus heavily on formal job ads. This makes sense, job ads are common, straightforward and predictable. However, the odds are stacked against them (sometimes 1,300:1 — see this recent Anima hiring round), and they tend to pay too little attention to the unofficial work — the small, informal, often unpaid actions that build trust and relationships long before a job is posted.
This post is my attempt to name and explain that hidden layer of how hiring often happens, and to offer a more proactive, human, and strategic path into the work that matters.
This isn’t a new idea, but I’ve noticed it’s still rarely discussed openly in our space, especially in ways that are actionable and accessible for people just starting out.
When Applying Feels Like a Lottery
One of my favourite comparisons to getting a job through open applications (especially in a competitive movement like ours) is trying to be the first person to squeeze through the main exit at New York’s Grand Central Terminal at rush hour. Everyone’s pushing toward the same narrow door, hoping to get through first.
What if, instead, you stepped aside and found an alternate route — one that’s quieter, slower, but gets you further?
One piece of advice that stuck with me comes from High Impact Professionals: “To stand out, go the other way.”
Instead of trying to win the game everyone else is playing, change the game entirely. Don’t just apply — become someone people want to work with before they’re even hiring.
HIP illustrates this with a pyramid:
- At the base, internal promotions and contacts from staff
- Middle — networking
- Top — direct job applications
Most people start at the top. But the strongest career momentum often starts in the middle and then the base — quietly building trust, value, and visibility over time.
Even highly qualified, thoughtful candidates often don’t make it past the first screen — not because they aren’t good enough, but because the pool is just that competitive and screens aren’t perfect.
This is where building a surface area for serendipity can increase your chances.
What Surface Area for Serendipity Means
“Surface area for serendipity” is a phrase I use to describe the number of ways others can find you, remember you, trust you, and want to collaborate with you. It’s often informal, unpaid, behind-the-scenes and driven by relationships. But in practice, it’s what gets people hired, invited, funded, or pulled into projects.
Of course, nothing here is guaranteed. Serendipity, by definition, is a matter of luck. But from what I’ve seen, increasing your surface area for serendipity significantly improves your odds — and helps you build skills, relationships, and confidence along the way, whether or not it leads to a specific role.
Job hunting takes time, whether it is through conventional applications or serendipity building. In a competitive job market, you may quickly find yourself writing 50-100 applications at 1.5-2 hours each.
That’s already 75 - 200 hours spent purely on applications, often in hiring rounds with 1–2% acceptance rates.[1] Even if I land one offer, the largest share of my time is poured into a system where most of my effort quietly disappears.
Now imagine putting that same time into serendipity-building:
- Volunteering ~2 hours a week
- Sharing useful ideas or feedback in public
- Hosting a small event or contributing to community spaces
- Reaching out to potential collaborators or mentors
- Making your thinking and values visible
That’s enough time to create dozens of touchpoints — and a reputation for being thoughtful, proactive, and easy to work with. And from what I’ve seen (at Hive and beyond), this kind of sustained presence and contribution can lead to 2–3 low-competition, high-trust opportunities a year [2],including:
- Being invited to apply for closed application rounds before they’re posted as official job ads
- Being invited for a work trial for projects or teams that aren’t formally hiring
- Co-creating a new role with someone who already knows your value
- Freelance or consulting work that builds into something bigger.
And even if none of them convert this year, the relationships, confidence, and visibility you build continue to compound, unlike just applying for job ads. They can help as you apply for direct job applications too.
Of course, the outcomes will depend on your timing, approach, and context. Some people might see quick results; others may need more time for trust and reputation to build. Sometimes it’s about being at the right place at the right time. But in general, this strategy gives you more compounding benefits — and more agency — than pouring all your energy into cold applications.
One important caveat here is that I think applying for jobs is still a good idea, especially if you are thoughtful about which jobs you apply for and put together good applications. Even if you don’t get the job, it can lead you to your next opportunity.
What It Looks Like (with Examples)
The general principle is: show up consistently where your potential collaborators or employers hang out, and let your strengths be visible.
Platforms like the EA Forum, Hive Slack, and LinkedIn are great places to start. Before diving in, ask yourself:
What do I want people to think about me? That I’m strategic? Reliable? Knowledgeable? A good communicator? Let your actions reflect that.
Visibility doesn’t have to mean posting constantly or being loud online. It can be:
- Thoughtful comments
- One-on-one DMs
- Behind-the-scenes help
- Quiet consistency
There’s no one right style — the key is being findable and showing your strengths in your voice.
Some common ways I’ve seen people build surface area for serendipity:[3]
- A short, thoughtful DM that sparks a real conversation
- Commenting on others’ work with insight or encouragement
- Sharing helpful resources or tools in relevant spaces
- Taking on a small task or pilot project to demonstrate your skills
- Making your thinking visible, even if it’s rough — e.g., blog posts, notes, frameworks
- Hosting or starting something informal: a reading group, online event, or small collaboration
- Volunteering your skills where they’re needed most, not just where they’re asked for
- AAC just recently published a new post about Marketing Yourself in Animal Advocacy with more ideas you can use.
Case Study: Kevin’s Path to Becoming Hive’s Managing Director
One of the clearest examples I’ve seen is how we hired Kevin Xia, Hive’s current Managing Director and my second-in-command.
Kevin had been quietly but consistently showing up in our Slack space: contributing to discussions, inviting others in, and sharing project ideas. A few months after joining Hive, he launched a project surveying German speakers about effective animal advocacy — it didn’t get funded, but it got our attention because Kevin publicly posted about it on Slack and asked for our feedback.
A few months later, he drafted a curriculum for an Effective Animal Advocacy course and asked the community for feedback. That was the first time I thought: If someone can do this quality work without being asked or paid, imagine what they could do in an official capacity.
We invited him to start as a volunteer. His work was so thoughtful, consistent, and high quality that we soon hired him for a paid role as a generalist. Less than a year later — after my co-founder stepped back — Kevin became Hive’s Managing Director and the person I trust most to help lead the organisation.[4]
It’s not a role I would have publicly hired for — it’s the kind of position that requires deep trust, alignment, and shared vision. And getting to know Kevin over time is what made it possible.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
These are some of the most common mistakes I see from new community members, and a few tips on how to avoid them.
- Disappearing after 2 weeks.
Consistency builds trust. Keep showing up, even if just a little. - Not following up.
If someone offers a volunteering opportunity, reply quickly. Show you're interested. - Not circling back with those who helped you.
If someone gave advice or connections, let them know what happened, even if you chose another path. It shows respect and builds trust. - Spamming or oversharing.
Quality > quantity. You don’t need to be perfect, but try to share thoughtful, intentional posts. - Being unreliable.
Do what you say you’ll do. Be on time. Deliver great work — even when it’s unpaid. Early references often lead to paid roles. - Leaving a bad impression.
Hiring managers notice rude comments or negative stories. Be kind and respectful — even in casual messages. It matters.
If you’re not sure what to post or do, be the person who:
- Asks great questions
- Summarizes key ideas for others
- Celebrates and supports others' work.
Share Your Journey
If you’ve found your way into a role or project you love — especially through a nontraditional path — I’d love to hear:
What helped you get there?
What kinds of unofficial work helped others say yes to you?
Maybe this could inspire others to take some steps towards growing their own Serendipity Surface Area.
This is the first post from my new Substack, Notes from the Margin. I will aim to cross-post EA-related posts here, but you can subscribe to get more posts like this in your inbox.
- ^
I took the average hiring numbers from this post, but I saw some anecdotal data recently that makes me think that the job market in EA is now more competitive than 3 years ago.
- ^
Note for hiring managers: While this post focuses on job seekers, I acknowledge that informal hiring has trade-offs, too. Trust-based hiring can be efficient, but it can also reinforce bias or miss out on unexpected talent. At Hive, we try to strike a balance by running lightweight open rounds when possible.
- ^
This kind of surface area-building isn’t equally accessible. Time, energy, and public confidence are unequally distributed, especially for people with caregiving responsibilities, chronic illness, or less psychological safety. While this post isn't prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach, I think it’s worth naming those limitations so we can approach these practices more thoughtfully and equitably.
- ^
Of course, not every path will look like this — Kevin’s story involved a lot of serendipity and good timing, and not everyone is in a position to volunteer. But it does show how visible, consistent contributions can build trust over time.
Great post, thanks for writing! I think volunteering is underrated in EA.
This is just an anecdote, but when I was trying to get into the EA mental health space, I was volunteering for SoGive. We happened to start working on a project on mental health. It allowed me a chance to connect and attend a call with the director of StrongMinds, despite having heard of EA only a few months ago.
Thanks so much for reading and for sharing your story Gergo! I completely agree — volunteering is often underrated in EA, and your experience really shows why it can be so powerful. I wrote a post about it ages ago (my first EA Forum post!) that I didn't link here.
That’s such a great example of how volunteering can create unexpected opportunities and connections. I love that you were able to get on a call with the director of StrongMinds so early on — it really highlights how being proactive, even in small ways, can lead to meaningful experiences.
This matches my experience:
Thanks a lot for reading and sharing your story Rowan! Love this story through volunteering, which led to a paid role, which in turn led to another paid role!
I think that it's a really valuable takeaway, that we don't need a whole lot of opportunities, we just need one high quality opportunity, and then build from that.
I also appreciate the point familiarity/trust vs experience/education. I think that people often believe that they have to be better than all the candidates, and there is some truth to it, but often it's about standing out, building trust and credibility over the long run.
I think this is a great explanation of an important dynamic and opportunity. I feel confident that doing the sorts of things explained in this post has benefited my career a lot.
Appreciated the footnote about informal hiring having tradeoffs; it's not clearly good that hiring often operates this way. But the good news is that "just start really trying to do useful/impactful things" is not only helpful for the world, but helpful for people's high-impact job search. A win-win!
Thanks for reading and for your comment Jamie! Exactly, in an ideal world, we’d run perfect, open hiring rounds for everything. But given how much hiring still happens informally, I think it’s worth naming this strategy publicly so more people can take advantage of it should they chose to. Even if it doesn’t lead directly to a job, it might be what gets someone noticed in a future hiring round. And as you said, it’s a win-win: impactful projects get done, and people build visibility along the way. Something I maybe didn't highlight clearly enough but is worth adding is doing side things and being more visible about it can also be very exciting and enjoyable. So a win-win-win :)
I skimmed most of this post, and it seems great! Thank you for writing it.
However:
I’m not sure what you mean by “introduce” here? I read it as “here is this new phrase that I’m putting forward for use” — unless I’m misunderstanding, I’m quite confident that’s wrong. You’re definitely not the first person to use the phrase.
Consider editing it to be:
Or something similar.
Thanks so much for the kind words and thoughtful comment Saul!
You're totally right — I didn’t coin the phrase surface area for serendipity, and I appreciate the nudge to be clearer about that. What I meant by “introduce” was more “bring into this post / share how I use it,” especially because some people here may not be familiar with it — but I can see how that could read as staking some originality claim I didn’t intend.
I’ve now updated the wording to “describe a concept I use,” as you suggested — thank you again!
I love this post, Sofia! Glad you wrote it, and I think it’s great advice. For readers interested in operations jobs, I think volunteering at EA events is a great way to quickly gain experience and demonstrate competence.
This is also how I landed my first EA job! The head of events at CEA reached out to ask if I would apply to her job opening, in part because I had volunteered at an EA Global a few years prior and stuck out in her memory (we didn’t otherwise know each other). I applied for and ended up taking that job, and then later switched roles internally at CEA.
Obviously volunteering is not a sure-fire way to land a job, but I think showing up invested / keen / with high ownership goes a long way to building a reputation for competence. The work is also impactful (and IMO fun xD) — these events can’t run without help from volunteers!
Hey Angelina, thank you so much for the kind words and for sharing your story — it’s super inspiring! I love your tip about volunteering at EA events; I try to share those kinds of opportunities regularly in our community too.
I actually wrote a bit about this in an earlier post on volunteering — I think one of the reasons it’s such a powerful way to open doors is because it’s accessible, memorable (like in your case!), and a great way to show your character and skills in action.
It reminded me of when I volunteered at a TEDx event back in 2017 in Poland — it was such a fun and energising experience. The organiser kept thanking us, but I remember thinking I should be the one thanking them for the opportunity! One more detail I wanted to add: that organiser ended up offering to invest in my then new start-up, I never proceeded because I got into animal advocacy, but I think it was because I kept showing up consistently.
Really appreciate you chiming in here!
Thanks for the amazing post. I’m adding it to EA Turkey’s syllabus of career mentorship program for inspiration 🙌
Ahh that made my day, thank you! Wishing you all the best with the mentorship program, sounds like such a valuable initiative
Nice! I replied on substack. Your suggesitons largely jive with my experience.
Thanks a lot for reading and commenting Seth! Responded :) And appreciate your link with extra examples.
Good post. Parts of this remind me of the book "Never Eat Alone", on networking tactics. I got one of my first jobs as a direct result of implementing one of its suggestions (at a conference, organize a side event and invite the people who you most want to impress). It's sometimes hyperbolic like most works in the genre—in fact I'm eating alone right now—but it's got a lot of useful stuff. I'd recommend it for early-career people who want to understand what this sort of thing can look like concretely.
Thanks a lot Sarah! Thanks for mentioning the book and your story! Linking a summary for folks' convenience. I recently read the summary of the book and really wished I read it in my early twenties. It's so useful and full of tips which are applicable to EA.
On the side events you mentioned, such a great example! They are surprisingly simple to organise. Most conferences will either be happy for you to host their existing meetup, or welcome meetup submissions before the conference to host at the venue, or a satellite event, and you get often get free venue. I do think that facilitation requires a bit of skill, know-how and up-front organisation, but it's definitely doable, especially if you seek advice from experienced organisers beforehand.
Thank you for writing this post! I definitely fall into the camp of trying to get my foot in the door of the EA space (I've been struggling to even get a volunteering role). I do a lot of projects/research in my own time, but completely neglect the networking aspect of it (trying to get better).
Thanks for reading Leroy! If you're doing projects you're passionate about, it may be easier to talk about them more publicly in a way that is lower effort for you, even if it's just DMs asking for feedback/input :) Good luck with your search!
Thanks Sofia. New to the EA space but this is profound. I'll try it
Thanks a lot for reading and hope you find it useful Marie!