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  Introduction
  Your most important decision
  Summary
  Foundations
  A definition of impact
  Future generations & their moral significance
  Effective altruism
  Global priorities
  Why problem selection is crucial
  The case for reducing existential risks
  This could be the most important century
  Our current list of pressing problems
  Solutions
  The best solutions are far more effective
  Leverage
  What is leverage, and how to get it?
  Our list of high-impact careers
  Personal fit
  Fit is more important than you think
  Strategy
  What is career capital?
  How much to explore?
  Coordination and impact
  Balancing impact and doing what you love
  Aim higher: a rational case for dreaming big
  Three career stages
  Conclusion
  How much do careers differ in impact?
  Read the full guide →
- Problem profiles Find out about the world's biggest and most neglected problems.
  Top areas to work on
  Positively shaping the development of AI
  Global priorities research
  Building effective altruism
  Reducing the risk of catastrophic pandemics
  Nuclear security
  Improving institutional decision making
  Extreme climate change
  Other promising areas
  Mitigating great power conflict
  Global governance
  Space governance
  See all →
  Go to problems hub →
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- Career reviews Learn about high-impact career paths.
  Key categories of high-impact careers
  Government and policy
  Organisation-building at effective nonprofits
  Research
  Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
  Earning to give
  The highest-impact career paths we've found
  Long-term AI policy
  AI safety technical research
  Grantmaker
  Roles in effective altruism organisations
  Founder of new projects
  Research into global priorities
  Biorisk research, strategy, and policy
  China specialist
  Forecasting research and implementation
  Sometimes-recommended paths
  High-impact but especially competitive
  Promising but under-researched
  Impactful if you’re an especially good fit
  Career capital building steps
  Making the most of your current job
  Doing good in any career
  How to invest in yourself
  See all our career reviews →
- Planning & decision making Use our tools to make concrete plans.
  Create a high-impact career plan
  8-week career planning course
  Summary
  Career plan template
  Annual career check-up
  Make good career decisions
  Make an immediate decision
  Improve your decision-making skills
  See all planning resources →
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- Browse all our content Pick a topic to explore or check out our most popular pieces.
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  Meta-causes
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  See all topics →
  Top articles from outside our guides
  What makes for a dream job?
  Best charities to donate to
  Misconceptions about effective altruism
  High-impact research questions
  What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?
  How many lives does a doctor save?
  What's the impact of voting?
  Advice for undergraduates
  All articles →
  
  2017 career guide
  All career guide pages →
Introduction
Your most important decision
Summary
Foundations
A definition of impact
Future generations & their moral significance
Effective altruism
Global priorities
Why problem selection is crucial
The case for reducing existential risks
This could be the most important century
Our current list of pressing problems
Solutions
The best solutions are far more effective
Leverage
What is leverage, and how to get it?
Our list of high-impact careers
Personal fit
Fit is more important than you think
Strategy
What is career capital?
How much to explore?
Coordination and impact
Balancing impact and doing what you love
Aim higher: a rational case for dreaming big
Three career stages
Conclusion
How much do careers differ in impact?
Read the full guide →
Top areas to work on
Positively shaping the development of AI
Global priorities research
Building effective altruism
Reducing the risk of catastrophic pandemics
Nuclear security
Improving institutional decision making
Extreme climate change
Other promising areas
Mitigating great power conflict
Global governance
Space governance
See all →
Go to problems hub →
Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.
Key categories of high-impact careers
Government and policy
Organisation-building at effective nonprofits
Research
Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
Earning to give
The highest-impact career paths we've found
Long-term AI policy
AI safety technical research
Grantmaker
Roles in effective altruism organisations
Founder of new projects
Research into global priorities
Biorisk research, strategy, and policy
China specialist
Forecasting research and implementation
Sometimes-recommended paths
High-impact but especially competitive
Promising but under-researched
Impactful if you’re an especially good fit
Career capital building steps
Making the most of your current job
Doing good in any career
How to invest in yourself
See all our career reviews →
Create a high-impact career plan
8-week career planning course
Summary
Career plan template
Annual career check-up
Make good career decisions
Make an immediate decision
Improve your decision-making skills
See all planning resources →
Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.
Selected topics
Moral philosophy
Skills
Job satisfaction
Anonymous advice
Unconventional advice
What to study
Advocacy
Catastrophic risks
Meta-causes
Priority paths
See all topics →
Top articles from outside our guides
What makes for a dream job?
Best charities to donate to
Misconceptions about effective altruism
High-impact research questions
What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?
How many lives does a doctor save?
What's the impact of voting?
Advice for undergraduates
All articles →

2017 career guide
All career guide pages →
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Big picture (88)
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Strategies (110)
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- Earning to Give (79)
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Updates (41)

Topic archive: Meta-causes

Subtopics in "Meta-causes":

Global Priorities Research (33)
Improving Decision Making (25)
Promoting Effective Altruism (60)

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2021

November

The growth of effective altruism: what does it mean for our priorities and level of ambition?
Blog post

2020

August

Why I’ve come to think global priorities research is more important than I thought
Blog post
Misconceptions about effective altruism
Blog post

April

Anonymous contributors answer: How should the effective altruism community think about diversity?
Blog post
What programmes will 80,000 Hours provide (and not provide) within the effective altruism community?
Blog post

March

Anonymous contributors answer: What are the biggest flaws of the effective altruism community?
Blog post

February

Anonymous contributors answer: Should the effective altruism community grow faster or slower? And should it be broader, or narrower?
Blog post

2019

May

Recap: why do some organisations say their recent hires are worth so much?
Blog post

2018

October

What skills or experience are most needed within professional effective altruism in 2018? And which problems are most effective to work on? New survey of organisational leaders.
Blog post

2017

November

What are the most important talent gaps in the effective altruism community?
Blog post

2016

December

80,000 Hours has a funding gap
Blog post

February

We can learn a lot from Tara, who left pharmacy to work in effective altruism
Blog post
Plan change story: interview with Dillon Bowen, founder of Effective Altruism group at Tufts University
Blog post

2015

November

Working at effective altruist organisations: good or bad for career capital?
Blog post
One of the most exciting new effective altruist organisations: An interview with David Goldberg of the Founders Pledge
Blog post

July

Effective altruists love systemic change
Blog post

June

Announcing the effective altruism handbook
Blog post
Donating to Giving What We Can is higher impact than donating to GiveWell recommended charities.
Blog post

April

The four big challenges
Blog post

2014

December

Interview with a project manager at the Copenhagen Consensus
Blog post

September

Cause overview: cause prioritisation
Blog post
Conversation with Paul Penley of Excellence in Giving
Blog post

August

Conversation with Paul Christiano on Cause Prioritization Research
Blog post
Conversation with Owen Cotton-Barratt of the Global Priorities Project
Blog post

July

Interview with Caroline Fiennes about opportunities in effective philanthropy
Blog post

April

The Copenhagen Consensus speaks to 80,000 Hours about global prioritisation
Blog post

January

Which cause is most effective?
Blog post
Case study: choosing between working at effective altruist organisations, earning to give, and graduate school
Blog post

2013

November

An attempt to create a new AMF
Blog post
Case study: Working in the financial sector to promote a flourishing long-term future
Blog post
What should you do with a very large amount of money?
Blog post
Thoughts on my experience working at GiveWell
Blog post

October

Why I’m doing a PhD
Blog post
Interview with the founder of Giving Games
Blog post

July

Looking for a seriously high-impact job using your managerial skills?
Blog post

June

How to add value in international development: an interview with Eva Vivalt
Blog post

May

Looking for a seriously high impact job using your analytical skills?
Blog post

April

Interview with Holden Karnofsky, co-founder of GiveWell
Blog post

2012

November

Interview with Brian Tomasik
Blog post

April

The haste consideration
Blog post

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We're affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford.

1aA

We're affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford.

We're part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, and work closely with Giving What We Can.

80,000 Hours is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1149828) and a registered 501(c)(3) Exempt Organization in the USA (EIN 47-1988398).

Please contact us to suggest ideas, improvements, or corrections.

We do our best to provide useful information, but how you use the information is up to you. We don’t take responsibility for any loss that results from the use of information on the site. Please consult our full legal disclaimer and privacy policy.

© 2021 – all rights reserved. Please contact us if you wish to redistribute, translate, or adapt this work.

80,000 Hours is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1149828) and a registered 501(c)(3) Exempt Organization in the USA (EIN 47-1988398).

Please contact us to suggest ideas, improvements, or corrections.

We do our best to provide useful information, but how you use the information is up to you. We don’t take responsibility for any loss that results from the use of information on the site. Please consult our full legal disclaimer and privacy policy.

© 2021 – all rights reserved. Please contact us if you wish to redistribute, translate, or adapt this work.