{"id":35328,"date":"2016-04-13T06:11:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T06:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hhvm.hgv.dev\/?page_id=35328"},"modified":"2024-01-26T12:30:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T12:30:08","slug":"career-guide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Find a fulfilling career that does good"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Introduction:<\/a><\/small> Why read this guide?<\/a><\/h2>\n

Answer:<\/strong> You have 80,000 hours in your career. That’s a long time. Spend one or two of those hours on this guide to help you work out how to use the rest. We believe you might be able to find a career that is both more satisfying and has a greater positive impact.<\/p>\n

Start now<\/a><\/p>\n

Or read a two-minute summary<\/a> of the entire guide.\n<\/div>\n

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Part 1:<\/a><\/small> What makes for a dream job?<\/a><\/h2>\n

Answer:<\/strong> Research shows that to have a fulfilling career, you should do something you’re good at that makes the world a better place. Don’t aim for a highly paid, easy job, or expect to discover your “passion” in a flash of insight.<\/p>\n

Find out the six key ingredients of fulfilling work:<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Part 2:<\/a><\/small>How much difference can one person make?<\/a><\/h2>\n

Answer:<\/strong> Many common ways to do good, such as becoming a doctor, have less impact than you might first think. Other, more unconventional options, have allowed certain people to achieve an extraordinary impact (including one particular Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet military).<\/p>\n

Find out why your choice of career really matters for the world:<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Part 3:<\/a><\/small>Can you change the world without changing jobs?<\/a><\/h2>\n

Answer:<\/strong> With the right approach, you can make a major difference to the lives of others without changing jobs, or making a major sacrifice. You can do this by giving 10% of your income to the world’s poorest people, promoting important causes, or helping others to have a greater impact.<\/p>\n

Learn about three ways to make a difference in any job:<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Part 4:<\/a><\/small>Where should you focus to have the most impact?<\/a><\/h2>\n

Answer:<\/strong> To maximise your impact, work on areas (1) that are large in scale, (2) that others neglect, and (3) where it’s possible to make progress. Many people fail to compare the scale of different problems, work on the same problems as everyone else, and support programmes with no evidence of impact.<\/p>\n

Learn how to compare global problems:<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Part 5:<\/a><\/small>What’s the biggest and most urgent problem in the world?<\/a><\/h2>\n

Answer:<\/strong> Most people in rich countries who aim to do good work on health, poverty, and education in their home country. But health in poor countries is a bigger, more solvable problem, and only receives 4% of charitable donations. And we argue there are even bigger and more neglected issues, such as those involving existential risks and smarter-than-human AI.<\/p>\n

Find out what we’ve learnt about the world’s most urgent problems:<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’re interested in a specific area, see our:<\/p>\n