Isn’t this what most (regular / non EA) charities will do (about their specific issue of concern)? 

Interesting point, and I agree things like party conferences require you to be a real party member. But once they hold policy positions everyone wants to talk to them and, at least in the way the UK is still functioning, they will have to listen - and it’s tough getting anything in the radar without some previous engagement to back you up. So I think there is value in approaching early, if anything, to at least gauge what are they saying/thinking about any given issue. 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this - I *also* have been rejected frequently from EA jobs and I quietly follow/read the discussions on this topic (on which, as you mention, there are many). I fully agree the ‘dream’ timeline is a fantasy but (and I fully appreciate the supportive and empathic sentiment) I would be genuinely surprised if anyone really had that fantasy, as not only in EA but in the job market in general such paths are virtually non-existent. Most careers are very, very squiggly! Not even the most structured, old fashion career ladders (lawyer, doctor, accountant) are as linear as that and haven’t been for a while.

My one observation is that the overall EA rejects space is so heavily focused on early career people (fair, as it’s the majority of applicants) that it misses out what the intense rejection rate means for folks like me, who already have 9+ years of work experience (in non-EA jobs). I support the spirit and lesson of being rejected as just part of the process, and that there are many ways to stay engaged with EA. Although…. 

There is truth in the “go out in the world and come back”, but, honestly, for us mid-careers getting an EA aligned job can also be extremely hard or ~impossible, and things like earn to give would mean pivoting in very weird ways (for example, if you have been a fundraiser (or X role) for big/non-EA charities or a UN body for 14 years, suddenly transitioning out of a low paying industry and becoming a high-salary person in the corporate ladder is not easy).

You mention the extreme competitiveness - yes! It can get a bit demoralising, but it’s also fascinating how these things work - for someone early in a PhD who has been essentially headhunted by 80K Hours marketing (1) or some university EA group, someone with a lot of front line experience may seem like a “threat” as, in theory, they’d have a lot of that desirable career capital and skills; but for those of us mid-career with robust skills from the ‘normal’ world, all of the youngsters sharpened by attending EAGx since they were teens and reading all the longtermism books.. they own the EA networks way more than us, and are the ones that feel like the real threat. 

TBH I have not done any research (stalking) to verify who got the positions that I have personally been rejected from (I’m sure they are awesome people and doing a great job, which, as an EA heart, is what I want), but from observations of other orgs my gut feeling is that people who are more EA-native (but have less career capital from the ‘normal’ world) (2) outweigh those who were trained in the non-EA job market. (3)

I don’t mean to be a negative Nelly but I think it’s worth opening up this end of the discussion on how decoupling yourself from the EA world, at least professionally speaking, can happen, and it’s not just that you were demoralised by multiple rejections! 

(1) I do not mean to be pejorative, 80K Hours marketing and comms are doing great at casting a wide net to inspire people to have impactful careers. This is great news and they should absolutely keep doing it!
(2) With this I mean, less traditional work experience in paid positions. I know a lot of EAs start very early while in college/university doing a ton of volunteering that absolutely counts.

(3) This is a personal take based on nothing but feels and casual monitoring of EA orgs news and ‘team’ pages
 

PS. Sorry for the weird formatting with the footnotes - having a device glitch!