Great post! I think once you've identified a pressing problem in the world, your highest goal should not be "get a full time job in that field." It should be "get exceptionally good at the skills for solving the problem." That's what actually matters. Insofar as you care about (AI risk, animal suffering, global health, ___), you should see a job as one of many instrumental ways to get good at solving the problem, not "getting good enough" as instrumental to getting a job. Which one is your north star? It's easier said than done, but getting so good they can't ignore you is still underrated advice, and can help you shift your focus to more medium term skill building trajectories.

As you describe in the post, that can take many forms short of "full time capital E capital A work right away." Here are some slides on this theme (and trying to concretize strategies) from a recent talk I gave if it's helpful for anyone. And the 80,000 Hours career guide has many career capital tips.

And on AI timelines, people should probably think more seriously about opportunity costs when weighing between specific options, but I agree it shouldn't be their only factor or close off longer term skill building priorities. We should maximize our impact across the distribution of plausible outcomes- if AGI comes tomorrow, I'm probably not in a position to help directly anyway.

Hi Libby! I'm glad you're applying broadly to a range of roles. I think consulting can provide a solid foundation for generalist skills, but if you're able to find work for a directly impactful organization that aligns with your values, I'd encourage you to consider that. Sometimes these organizations can provide valuable networks, growth opportunities, and context for the pressing problems you care about. In addition, many impactful causes allow you to work on personal projects in your evenings/weekends to upskill if ops isn't your goal forever (BlueDot courses, personal writing projects, putting work on a GitHub, etc.) Depending on where you work, consulting sometimes provides less work life balance to continue this kind of learning.

Without knowing your specific cause area interests and longer term goals, it's hard to say more. But I'd encourage you to check out Consultants for Impact's resources on the pros and cons of a consulting career, as well as 80,000 Hours' many guides (high impact ops, top problems, etc.)

Hi Warren, thanks for this comment. I feel for your situation- in my undergrad I jumped between majors and wasn't sure what skills I wanted to develop, and I was worried that coming from a non-prestigious public college in Canada that there wouldn't be a place for me in these more competitive roles. This sounds like a cliche, but it was helpful for me at the time: relentlessly focus on what you can control. We don't choose the cards we're dealt to start out in life, but you have a remarkable amount of freedom in college to try out projects, explore different options, and get really good at something. College can be your 'training montage.' 

As you identified with the GED, there's no speed limit. Once you've identified a rare and valuable skill that helps solve a pressing problem, you should try to obsessively improve at it. If you haven't identified that yet, test your fit with small projects that let you try out different skills and interests efficiently, like taking a range of courses, writing something for a personal site, trying a weekend coding project, etc. You'll want to balance explore/exploit strategies.

The specifics will really depend on your situation. One way to look for your advantage is to ask yourself "which things feel like work for other people, but energize me?" For myself it started with a political philosophy course that I loved (and which introduced me to Peter Singer), but maybe you just haven't found that spark yet. I'd encourage you not to compare yourself to others who got luckier or are farther along, but to compare to where you've been and where you might have been if you didn't step up. You should be proud of getting your GED and being where you are now.

Also, I don't think your writing was messy. It seems like you've identified a feeling a lot of people have.

You might consider the Talos Fellowship if EU AI governance is on your radar. I think the responsible and safe development of artificial intelligence is an incredibly pressing problem today. Consultants for Impact has some resources about how/whether to build skills for an impactful career in consulting. If you're passionate about climate change, I'd recommend keeping a laser-focus on evidence-backed interventions that are tractable, neglected, and have a significant GHG reduction potential. Hannah Ritchie and Johannes Ackva have had interesting podcasts about this. Lastly, I'd want to highlight 80,000 Hours' argument for why climate change, while still a very important issue, might not be the most pressing at current margins.

Sounds really cool! I'd recommend the space governance career profile and checking out what the Center for Space Governance is working on. If technical governance is exciting to you, you might consider ways you can test your fit for various policy skills and decide which part of that ecosystem you think you'd best fit in with. As a student I'd encourage you to keep building career capital and getting 'so good they can't ignore you,' even if it means your first job out of college is more about skill building than direct impact right away.

I wonder if you might have relevant skills and experience for AI safety research, and/or for high impact cybersecurity? It sounds like you enjoy working on technical problems and research projects directly. I made this list of technical AI safety upskilling resources which might help you test out whether you'd enjoy improving those skills.

I know you mentioned not being energized by policy work as much, but given your political science + technical skills, I wonder if emerging tech policy would feel more rewarding? https://EmergingTechPolicy.org is a great resource. Technical AI governance skills are often in demand. Our job board might have some cool ideas for you. As to your other uncertainties, I think you should practice doing "cheap tests" such as a small project over evenings/weekends, or talking to people who are already working in the roles you're considering about what their job looks like. Conferences can be great for this.

Hi Mokhantso, thanks for the question. I think some of the advice I gave in this other comment might apply: it can be hard to find opportunities in some situations, but no one has a monopoly on applying these principles to effectively reduce suffering and save lives. One option might be to look at Charity Entrepreneurship's charity incubation program to start a health charity of your own inspired by these principles. If you are able to join the civil service, you might implement effective programs and build state capacity- for example I know Lead Elimination Project has worked closely with government officials in various countries to help implement their program. In the future I'd also encourage you to look out for regional EAGx conferences that you might attend to learn more and network with high impact health professionals, such as the EAGx Nigeria conference that just happened. And I'd definitely keep an eye on ProbablyGood's job board and resources.

I'm not sure if this is a full answer to your question, though. I feel for your situation and admire that you want to use your career to reduce suffering and have a positive impact.

Hi Clare! I think this varies a lot by industry. For one example, here is a guide to policy/government resumes with some tips and examples. In general I think tailoring your resume to the specific posting and emphasizing the relevant skills can be useful, just be sure to accurately represent your experience. Paying close attention to the job posting can also help you try to get in the mindset of a hiring manager. But it can be hard to know specific answers from the outside. I think this is why networking among colleagues, peers, hiring managers in your industry, etc for informal advice and conversations can help model others' expectations. For example I could see you discussing this at an EAG or EAGx conference.

A similar question has been answered a couple times in this thread, so I'd encourage reviewing those comments. Hopefully this technical AI safety upskilling resources list can help- it has advice from experts, overviews of the field, fellowships and courses, etc.

Hi Kamil, this sounds like a great approach so far. I don't have a complete answer, but wanted to flag a couple ideas. For freelance, fractional, or volunteer gigs, networking and building relationships can often really help. This might mean going to EAGx Berlin in October, doing outreach to organizations whose work you respect, or continuing to 'work in public' by putting yourself out there on the forum/twitter/substack/whatever. The EA Opportunities Board sometimes has cool projects as well.

You mention hoping to land a role in Global Health and Development. I try to flag to advisees that this is unfortunately a really difficult time to be job searching in that field- the USAID and broader funding cuts have led to thousands of people job searching all at once, and many orgs have had to cut back on hiring. You might've already known that, but I don't want you to feel discouraged if you're not finding traction at the moment. Keep focusing on core skills and getting 'so good they can't ignore you.' I really like this post on what skills you need to be successful in operations, and how to identify and develop them.

Lastly, I'd also recommend Consultants for Impact, who have career advice tailored to consultants trying to use their specific skillset for good.