Hi EA Forum,
I'm Holden Karnofsky I'm here to answer any questions about jobs at Open Philanthropy. I'll be here today from 9:30am to 12:30pm Pacific time (with some breaks) and will likely respond to comments later on as well.
We'd hate to miss out on strong applicants because of misconceptions about the roles, so I hope people will ask whatever is on their mind, on topics from office environment to day-to-day work to the likely long-term trajectory of the role. I think Open Philanthropy jobs are among the best possible ways for effective altruists to have impact, and I hope anyone who could imagine performing well in these jobs will at least consider applying!
Please post different questions as separate comments, for discussion threading.
Looking forward to it!
Added 12:32pm Pacific time: This concludes the "official" portion of the AMA, but feel free to post more questions; we may respond to them later on!
(I work for Open Phil.)
Comparing to academia, I'd say that research at Open Phil is (1) consistently targeted at what will help us do as much good as possible rather than what is most intellectually interesting or prestigious, (2) aimed at informing our actions as cheaply as possible, meaning that we cut corners when we don't think doing so will change our bottom-line conclusions, rather than trying to live up to the standards for thoroughness etc. expected in academia, and (3) only aimed at what academia would consider "novel research" when that's what is required to help us do the most good.
Wow. Working at Open Phil sounds like a dream compared to academia. You've identified three things I spend huge amounts of time doing as part of my research and find intensely irritatingly.