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How much risk to take
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Research in relevant areas
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Recommended paths
The highest-impact career paths we know about
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How to apply your existing skills
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Doing good in any career
How to invest in yourself
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Foundations
A definition of impact
Effective altruism
Moral uncertainty
Why problem selection is crucial
Future generations & their moral significance
Existential risks as a global priority
Strategy
Determine your personal fit
Career capital
How much to explore
Community & coordination
Avoiding accidental harm
How much risk to take
Impact & personal wellbeing
Read the full guide →
Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.

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
Research in relevant areas
Government & policy
Working at effective non-profits
Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
Earning to give
Recommended paths
The highest-impact career paths we know about
More promising career ideas
How to apply your existing skills
Making the most of your current job
Doing good in any career
How to invest in yourself
See all our career reviews →
Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.

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.
Key ideas Understand how to have more impact with your career.
Foundations
A definition of impact
Effective altruism
Moral uncertainty
Why problem selection is crucial
Future generations & their moral significance
Existential risks as a global priority
Strategy
Determine your personal fit
Career capital
How much to explore
Community & coordination
Avoiding accidental harm
How much risk to take
Impact & personal wellbeing
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 →
Career reviews Learn about high-impact career paths.
Key categories of high-impact careers
Research in relevant areas
Government & policy
Working at effective non-profits
Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
Earning to give
Recommended paths
The highest-impact career paths we know about
More promising career ideas
How to apply your existing skills
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 →
Foundations
A definition of impact
Effective altruism
Moral uncertainty
Why problem selection is crucial
Future generations & their moral significance
Existential risks as a global priority
Strategy
Determine your personal fit
Career capital
How much to explore
Community & coordination
Avoiding accidental harm
How much risk to take
Impact & personal wellbeing
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 →
Key categories of high-impact careers
Research in relevant areas
Government & policy
Working at effective non-profits
Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
Earning to give
Recommended paths
The highest-impact career paths we know about
More promising career ideas
How to apply your existing skills
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 →
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Home Topics Strategies

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Big picture (70)
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Topic archive: Strategies

See our key ideas page for a summary of our views on some important topics in career strategy.

Subtopics in "Strategies":

Advocacy (16)
Earning to Give (76)
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- EtG advice (6)
- EtG pros and cons (13)
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Influencing budgets (4)

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All99
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All content tagged "Strategies"

2021

April

#97 – Mike Berkowitz on keeping the U.S. a liberal democratic country
Podcast
#96 – Nina Schick on disinformation and the rise of synthetic media
Podcast

2020

December

#88 – Tristan Harris on the need to change the incentives of social media companies
Podcast

October

If you care about social impact, why is voting important?
Article

September

Benjamin Todd on the core of effective altruism and how to argue for it (80k team chat #3)
Podcast
Benjamin Todd on varieties of longtermism and things 80,000 Hours might be getting wrong (80k team chat #2)
Podcast

August

How to use your career to help reduce existential risk
Article
Misconceptions about effective altruism
Blog post

July

#82 – James Forman Jr on reducing the cruelty of the US criminal legal system
Podcast

June

#79 – A.J. Jacobs on radical honesty, following the whole Bible, and reframing global problems as puzzles
Podcast

April

#75 – Michelle Hutchinson on what people most often ask 80,000 Hours
Podcast

March

Options for donating to fight COVID-19
Article
If you want to help the world tackle COVID-19, what should you do?
Article
#73 – Phil Trammell on patient philanthropy and waiting to do good
Podcast
#71 – Benjamin Todd on the key ideas of 80,000 Hours
Podcast

February

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

2019

December

What’s the best charity to donate to?
Article
#66 – Peter Singer on provocative advocacy, EA, how his ethical views have changed, and drowning children
Podcast

November

#65 – Amb. Bonnie Jenkins on 8 years pursuing WMD arms control, & diversity in diplomacy
Podcast

August

How replaceable are the top candidates in large hiring rounds? Why the answer flips depending on the distribution of applicant ability
Blog post

June

#59 – Cass Sunstein on how social change happens, and why it's so often abrupt & unpredictable
Podcast

May

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

February

#53 – Kelsey Piper on the room for important advocacy within journalism
Podcast

2018

October

Have a particular strength? Already an expert in a field? Here are the socially impactful careers 80,000 Hours suggests you consider first. (First published)
Article

September

Have a particular strength? Already an expert in a field? Here are the socially impactful careers 80,000 Hours suggests you consider first. (Updated)
Article

August

The highest impact career paths our research has identified so far
Article

2017

December

Guide to effective holiday giving in 2017
Blog post

May

Which industry has the highest paying jobs?
Article

April

Should you wait to make a difference? (Updated)
Article
Why and how to earn to give (Updated)
Article

2016

December

The effective altruism guide to donating this giving season
Blog post

November

How much is one vote worth?
Blog post

June

How to do high impact research (Updated)
Article

February

Interview: trying to change the resources industry from the inside
Blog post

January

Just how bad is being a CEO in big tobacco?
Blog post

2015

December

Where should you donate to have the most impact during giving season 2015?
Blog post
Podcast with Ben West, who expects to donate tens of millions for charity through tech entrepreneurship
Blog post
Who should found a startup? Podcast with the founder of Entrepreneur First
Blog post
What’s the easiest way anyone can have a big social impact?
Blog post

November

Why you should focus more on talent gaps, not funding gaps
Blog post

October

Common investing mistakes in the effective altruism community
Blog post

July

Can you have more impact working in a foundation than earning to give?
Blog post
Update: how many extra donations have we caused?
Blog post
Is wealth inequality so extreme that it’s OK to be a ruthless trader?
Blog post
Defining ‘Earning to Give’
Blog post
Effective altruists love systemic change
Blog post
80,000 Hours thinks that only a small proportion of people should earn to give long term
Blog post
Why are wages less stable in skilled professions?
Blog post
What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?
Blog post

June

What’s the best way to spend $20,000 to help the common good?
Blog post
The winner takes all economy
Blog post
Donating to Giving What We Can is higher impact than donating to GiveWell recommended charities.
Blog post
The rise of income inequality and what it means for your career
Blog post
Why I stopped Earning to Give
Blog post

2014

December

Earning to give is systemic change
Blog post

November

Serial social entrepreneur, Michael Norton OBE, speaks in Oxford
Blog post

October

Should you wait to make a difference? (First published)
Article
Update: 7 career strategies for making a difference
Blog post
Tips on careers in journalism from NPR correspondent David Folkenflik
Blog post

September

Why and how to earn to give (First published)
Article
How to do high impact research (First published)
Article

August

Job satisfaction research
Article

July

Foundation influence interview with Kerry Vaughan
Blog post

June

Which university has better entrepreneurs?
Blog post
Increasing your earnings as a doctor
Blog post

April

App Academy interview with Buck Shlegeris
Blog post
How much do people pursuing earning to give actually give?
Blog post

February

Interview with Matt Gibb
Blog post
Case study: should I finish my degree?
Blog post
Case study: earning to give compared to medical research
Blog post
5 ways to make a big difference in any career
Blog post

January

Case study: can I earn more in software or finance?
Blog post
Case study: choosing between working at Effective Altruist organisations, Earning to Give and Graduate school
Blog post
Research into the earnings of software engineers
Blog post

2013

December

An interview on which skills most boost your employability
Blog post
A comparison of medical research and earning to give
Blog post

November

Live Q&A in Oxford with Dame Stephanie Shirley
Blog post
What should you do with a very large amount of money?
Blog post

October

Why consider becoming a trader?
Blog post

July

Show me the harm
Blog post

June

Maximizing your donations via a job
Blog post
Where can I earn the most?
Blog post
Why Earning to Give is often not the best option
Blog post
How to create a Donor-Advised Fund
Blog post

May

How to double your donations with no extra effort
Blog post
Estimation – Part II: How much will you earn?
Blog post

April

How much is 50p worth to you?
Blog post

March

How much do taxes matter if you’re giving to charity?
Blog post

February

How to find out earnings for different jobs
Blog post

January

Trading, donating and charter cities: An interview with Ben Gilbert
Blog post

2012

December

The power of effective activism
Blog post
Christmas gifts, goats and cash-transfer charities
Blog post

September

Is there such thing as a ‘bad’ charity?
Blog post

July

Universalisability – Immoral Industries Part 3
Blog post
Collective Action: working in unethical industries part 2
Blog post
The wider consequences of giving away money
Blog post

June

Following in Schindler’s footsteps
Blog post

May

Donation methods: credit vs cheque
Blog post

March

The replaceability effect: working in unethical industries part 1
Blog post
Why doesn’t everyone use match funding?
Blog post

February

5 ways to be misled by salary rankings
Blog post

January

Is banking harmful?
Blog post

2011

November

It is Effectiveness, not Overhead that Matters
Blog post

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Blog posts73
Podcasts14
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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.