Additional resources on US policy careers

As Director of EA DC, I often speak with people interested in pursuing impactful careers in US policy. Since my last post on US policy career resources in March 2024, a lot of useful content has been added to one of the main resources I highlighted, Emerging Tech Policy Careers. I wanted to share a quick update and reminder about these resources for anyone interested in high-impact US policy work.

Emerging Tech Policy Careers offers great advice and resources for people interested in US government and policy careers, especially for those focusing on emerging tech issues like AI policy or biosecurity policy. Some of the career guides I commonly recommend to people I advise include an introduction to policy careers, testing your fit for policy careers, policy internships, policy fellowships, working in Congress, working in think tanks, advice for undergraduates, and graduate school advice.

The website’s content has significantly expanded over the past few months, including recent guides on working in multilateral governance (e.g. UN, NATO, OECD), the intelligence community (e.g. CIA, NSA), and state-level policy work. These guides explain what working in these organizations is like, pros and cons, opportunities to work on emerging tech issues, and early-career opportunities.

Since my last update, other newly published articles on the website include: 

• Overviews of executive branch AI and biosecurity policy,
• Short-term policy programs and new fellowship guides on the Google Public Policy Fellowship (for students), AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship (for STEM PhDs), and TechCongress (for anyone with a STEM/technical background),
• A political campaigning guide,
• Tactical guides on finding and applying for policy roles, including policy resumes and cover letters, using LinkedIn for policy roles, publishing in policy outlets, and pitching yourself,
• New federal agency profiles, including on:
  • the Executive Office of the President and its offices most relevant to emerging tech (OMB, NSC, OSTP, and NEC & DPC),
  • the Department of Defense
  • the Department of Health and Human Services (including profiles on their subagencies, like NIH and CDC),
  • Advanced Research Project Agencies (ARPAs)
• A guide on researching federal agencies and offices, and
• an expanded opportunities section for the policy internships page.

Two more excellent resources for those interested in US policy careers are: 

• 80,000 Hours guides on policy careers, such as:
• Policy and political skills profile (part of their series of professional skills profiles)
• AI governance and policy career review
• Biorisk research, strategy, and policy career review
• Policy careers focused on other pressing global issues
• 80,000 Hours Job Board filter for US policy
• Go Government from the Partnership for Public Service, which includes many helpful resources on working for the US federal government, including this new Federal Internship Finder (a large database of internship opportunities with government agencies).

I’d encourage anyone interested to explore these resources and share them with anyone you think might benefit! And if you want to chat with me about EA DC, feel free to reach out here.