This post was written by Maggie Lloydhauser, a current GiveWell Philanthropy Advisor.
I’m writing to share a few open roles at GiveWell for which we expect that an ideal candidate might come from a variety of nontraditional backgrounds. We often hear from individuals interested in leveraging their abilities in support of effective altruism who aren’t sure how best to apply their skills, and want to highlight two open roles that might be a good fit for a wide range of people interested in having a high-impact career.
GiveWell’s outreach team is hiring for two donor-facing roles: a Philanthropy Associate role and a Philanthropy Advisor role. The roles are similar, and we expect that Philanthropy Associates may grow into the Philanthropy Advisor role as they become fluent in our work. If you’re unsure of which role to apply to, we encourage you to indicate that you’re open to either opportunity.
We want to emphasize two main things about these roles:
- Prior experience isn’t necessary. We think successful candidates for these roles might be coming straight out of college, transitioning from a corporate role, or coming from another nontraditional background. More important indicators that you might be good in one of these roles are an ability to synthesize and communicate complicated information, a genuine curiosity about people, a willingness to engage in challenging conversations, and a deep enthusiasm for conversation.
- These are very high-impact roles. A well-guided conversation with a Philanthropy Advisor or a thoughtful exchange with a Philanthropy Associate can greatly increase someone’s engagement with effective giving, and therefore their donations. It’s hard to quantify the exact counterfactual impact frontline fundraisers at GiveWell have, but we know of many examples where an individual has changed the course of a donor’s support by hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes in a single conversation.
My personal path to the Philanthropy Advisor role was not through a fundraising or sales background. I had been considering shifting to a fundraising career based on personal reflection about my skills and interests, but wasn’t entirely sure that GiveWell would be a fit for me before engaging with the application process. The application process was fairly extensive, but GiveWell paid me for my time and the skills-based assessment style gave me a better sense of the role and helped me feel confident that I would enjoy the day-to-day responsibilities of the position.
I’ve found GiveWell to be a phenomenal employer. The institutional values of considerateness, maximizing global well-being, truth-seeking, and transparency make for a progressive and flexible workplace. The benefits are so thoughtfully considered that I find I receive benefits I wouldn’t have thought to ask for, like a wellness stipend. I’ve been particularly grateful for both the benefits and the flexibility of the workplace since starting my family shortly after joining the team. In my role, I get to meet interesting people whose support of GiveWell is motivated by a wide range of experiences and beliefs. I get to keep our supporters up to date on our work, answer their thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, and get to know them as individuals. I work with a skilled team highly motivated to save and improve lives, and like them, I’m driven by the knowledge that what I bring to my job each day meaningfully contributes to life-saving work.
If you think you see yourself in what I’ve written here, we encourage you to apply. If you see a friend in this description, send it to them! Applications have just been extended to July 5th; we encourage you to apply soon.
