The Nonlinear Library EA - On failing to get EA jobs: My experience and recommendations to EA orgs by Ávila Carmesí
Apr 23, 2024
08:17
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: On failing to get EA jobs: My experience and recommendations to EA orgs, published by Ávila Carmesí on April 23, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
This is an anonymous account (Ávila is not a real person). I am posting on this account to avoid potentially negative effects on my future job prospects.
SUMMARY:
I've been rejected from 18 jobs or internships, 12 of which are "in EA."
I briefly spell out my background information and show all my rejections.
Then, I list some recommendations to EA orgs on how they can (hopefully) improve the hiring process.
This post probably falls under the category of "it's hard, even for high-achievers, to get an EA job." But there's still the (probably bigger) problem of what there is for "mediocre" EAs to do in a movement that prizes extremely high-achieving individuals.
If this post improves hiring a little bit at a few EA orgs, I will be a happy person.
BACKGROUND
Entry-level EA jobs and internships have been getting very competitive. It is common for current applicants to hear things like "out of 600, we can only take 20" (CHAI), or "only 3% of applicants made it this far" (IAPS) or "It's so competitive it's probably not even worth applying" (GovAI representative). So far, I haven't been accepted to any early-career AI safety opportunities, and I've mostly been rejected in the first round.
ABOUT ME
I'll keep this section somewhat vague to protect my anonymity. I'm mostly applying to AI safety-related jobs and internships.
I am graduating from a top university with honors and a perfect GPA. I have 3 stellar letters of recommendation, 3 research internships in different areas, part-time work at a research lab, I lead two relevant student clubs, I've also worked part-time at 3 other non-research (though still academic) jobs. I can show very high interest and engagement for the programs I am applying to. I've co-authored several conference papers and have done independent research.
I've done a couple of "cool" things that show potential (but mentioning them here might compromise my anonymity). I've also gotten my resume reviewed by two hiring professionals who said it looked great. Most of this research and leadership experience is very relevant to the jobs I am applying to.
One potentially big thing working against me is that I'm neither a CS nor public policy/IR person (or something super policy-relevant like that).
JOBS/INTERNSHIPS/FUNDING I'VE APPLIED TO
Rejections
Horizon Junior Fellowship - Rejected on round 3/4
GovAI summer fellowship - Rejected first round
ERA<>Krueger Lab - Rejected first round
fp21 internship - Never heard back
BERI (full-time job) - Rejected first round
MIT FutureTech (part-time) - Job filled before interview
PIBBSS Fellowship - Rejected first round
Berkeley Risk and Security Lab - Never heard back
CLR Fellowship - Rejected first round
ERA Fellowship - Rejected first round
CHAI Internship - Rejected first round
UChicago XLab - Rejected first round
EA LTFF research grant - Rejected
Open Phil research grant - Rejected
Acceptances
None yet!
Note: I've also applied to jobs that align with my principles but are not at EA orgs. I'm also still applying to jobs, so this is not (yet) a pity party.
MY EXPECTATIONS
Although I expected these to be quite competitive, I was surprised to be eliminated during the first round for so many of them. That's because most of these are specifically meant for early-career people and I'd say I have a great resume/credentials/demonstrated skills for an early career person.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO EA ORGS
As someone who's spent a lot of time doing EA org applications, below are some tentative thoughts on how to (probably) improve them. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Increase the required time-commitment as the application progresses.
By this I mean, start out with sh...
This is an anonymous account (Ávila is not a real person). I am posting on this account to avoid potentially negative effects on my future job prospects.
SUMMARY:
I've been rejected from 18 jobs or internships, 12 of which are "in EA."
I briefly spell out my background information and show all my rejections.
Then, I list some recommendations to EA orgs on how they can (hopefully) improve the hiring process.
This post probably falls under the category of "it's hard, even for high-achievers, to get an EA job." But there's still the (probably bigger) problem of what there is for "mediocre" EAs to do in a movement that prizes extremely high-achieving individuals.
If this post improves hiring a little bit at a few EA orgs, I will be a happy person.
BACKGROUND
Entry-level EA jobs and internships have been getting very competitive. It is common for current applicants to hear things like "out of 600, we can only take 20" (CHAI), or "only 3% of applicants made it this far" (IAPS) or "It's so competitive it's probably not even worth applying" (GovAI representative). So far, I haven't been accepted to any early-career AI safety opportunities, and I've mostly been rejected in the first round.
ABOUT ME
I'll keep this section somewhat vague to protect my anonymity. I'm mostly applying to AI safety-related jobs and internships.
I am graduating from a top university with honors and a perfect GPA. I have 3 stellar letters of recommendation, 3 research internships in different areas, part-time work at a research lab, I lead two relevant student clubs, I've also worked part-time at 3 other non-research (though still academic) jobs. I can show very high interest and engagement for the programs I am applying to. I've co-authored several conference papers and have done independent research.
I've done a couple of "cool" things that show potential (but mentioning them here might compromise my anonymity). I've also gotten my resume reviewed by two hiring professionals who said it looked great. Most of this research and leadership experience is very relevant to the jobs I am applying to.
One potentially big thing working against me is that I'm neither a CS nor public policy/IR person (or something super policy-relevant like that).
JOBS/INTERNSHIPS/FUNDING I'VE APPLIED TO
Rejections
Horizon Junior Fellowship - Rejected on round 3/4
GovAI summer fellowship - Rejected first round
ERA<>Krueger Lab - Rejected first round
fp21 internship - Never heard back
BERI (full-time job) - Rejected first round
MIT FutureTech (part-time) - Job filled before interview
PIBBSS Fellowship - Rejected first round
Berkeley Risk and Security Lab - Never heard back
CLR Fellowship - Rejected first round
ERA Fellowship - Rejected first round
CHAI Internship - Rejected first round
UChicago XLab - Rejected first round
EA LTFF research grant - Rejected
Open Phil research grant - Rejected
Acceptances
None yet!
Note: I've also applied to jobs that align with my principles but are not at EA orgs. I'm also still applying to jobs, so this is not (yet) a pity party.
MY EXPECTATIONS
Although I expected these to be quite competitive, I was surprised to be eliminated during the first round for so many of them. That's because most of these are specifically meant for early-career people and I'd say I have a great resume/credentials/demonstrated skills for an early career person.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO EA ORGS
As someone who's spent a lot of time doing EA org applications, below are some tentative thoughts on how to (probably) improve them. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Increase the required time-commitment as the application progresses.
By this I mean, start out with sh...