It's to build the skills required to solve the problems that you want to solve in the world

[I am a career advisor at 80,000 Hours. This post is adapted from a talk I gave on career capital to some ambitious altruistic students. If you prefer slides, you can access them here. These ideas are informed by my work at 80k but reflects my personal views.]

I’m often asked how to have an impactful fulfilling career. My four word answer is “get good, be known.”

My “fits on a postcard” answer is something like this:

1. Identify a problem with a vast scale of harm that is neglected at current margins and that is tractable to solve. Millions will die of preventable diseases this year, billions of animals will be tortured, severe tail risks like nuclear war and catastrophic pandemics still exist, and we might be on the cusp of a misaligned intelligence explosion. You should find an important problem to work on.
2. Obsessively improve at the rare and valuable skills to solve this problem and do so in a legible way for others to notice. Leverage this career capital to keep the flywheel going— [...]

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Outline:

(00:12) It's to build the skills required to solve the problems that you want to solve in the world

(02:59) First, brief caveats

(04:18) Improve your skills

(07:15) Get good... Okay, how?

(15:17) Caveats: Avoiding Burnout, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, Assessing Personal Fit, Increasing Luck Surface Area, and Finding High-Growth Opportunities

(20:15) Skill issue (affectionate)

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First published:

Source:

Linkpost URL:
https://thatvastvariety.substack.com/p/your-goal-isnt-really-to-get-a-job

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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