The 80000 Hours Career Guide — Find a fulfilling career that does good

Part 4: Want to do good? Here’s how to choose an area to focus on.

48 snips
Sep 3, 2023
Explore the process of choosing a career focus that can make a difference by considering scale, neglect, urgency, and impact. Prioritize neglected areas for social impact, like healthcare in poor countries. Choose an area to focus on by identifying big, neglected, and solvable problems. Select the right problem for maximum impact by examining the criteria for identifying pressing problems.
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ADVICE

Choosing a Cause

  • Start by identifying global problems needing attention.
  • Consider working on issues like education, climate change, or poverty.
ANECDOTE

Benjamin's Climate Focus

  • Benjamin initially focused on climate change due to personal interest, not careful analysis.
  • This approach risks working on less impactful or harder-to-solve problems.
ADVICE

Assessing Problem Urgency

  • Use three questions to assess which problems are most urgent.
  • Consider scale, neglect, and solvability, based on research by Open Philanthropy and the Global Priorities Institute.
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