Expression of interest: experienced writer
80,000 Hours is considering hiring full-time writers who have demonstrable experience writing for the public and who have a preexisting interest in and understanding of our organisation’s priorities including longtermism and effective altruism.
This announcement is an expression of interest, rather than a role we have formally opened. Because of this, we have a high bar for responding to enquiries (see below), and typically won’t be able to respond.
If we don’t respond, please don’t take it as a rejection! You should feel very welcome to respond to future ads for 80,000 Hours positions.
80,000 Hours provides research and support to help people switch into careers that effectively tackle the world’s most pressing problems.
The 80,000 Hours website gets 1-2 million unique visitors and sees over 100,000 hours of reading time per year. We are also one of the top sources of new members of the effective altruism community.
If you join us as a writer, you’d likely be one of the most widely-read writers in effective altruism.
Writers at 80,000 Hours produce pieces that communicate important ideas and arguments, inform readers about pressing global problems, and give advice to help readers pursue high impact career paths.
Some examples:
- Research pieces — e.g. How replaceable are the top candidates in large hiring rounds? Why the answer flips depending on the distribution of applicant ability
- Key advice articles — e.g. Ways people trying to do good accidentally make things worse, and how to avoid them
- Career reviews — e.g. for being a congressional staffer
- Problem Profiles — e.g. for extreme risks from climate change
The work would involve framing, researching, outlining, and writing articles, as well as generating ideas for additional articles, helping with others’ writing by providing comments, and generally helping grow the impact of the site.
If you’re a writer with a track record of publishing pieces for a popular audience and an interest in 80,000 Hours’ mission, please email [email protected] with
- 300-500 words explaining your interest in joining 80,000 Hours’ mission and the problem areas we prioritise most highly
- Four published writing samples, written for a popular audience
Thank you for your interest in 80,000 Hours! We’ll reach out to discuss a potential role if we think you’re a particularly great fit.