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by Kenneth_Diao
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Building effective altruismCareer choiceCommunityGlobal health & developmentCommunity experiencesCommunity infrastructureMental health (cause area)Self-care and wellbeing in the effective altruism community
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Summary

  • Claim: young professionals, including many EA young professionals, face significant barriers to finding meaningful work, or even any career-building work at all
  • Claim: few programs specifically focus on early-career professionals, and many professional programs don’t focus strongly on developing the well-being of their participants
  • I propose a program which has as a primary goal the development of a community and support network for young EAs and a secondary goal of career development tailored to young professionals
  • Potential psychosocial benefits include: being able to talk through things, receiving encouragement, having structure, a feeling of common being, and having a community of EAs not contingent on school or work
  • Potential career benefits include: having structure, space for collaboration and networking, sharing wisdom, and receiving specialized career advice
  • Requirements are pretty basic: respect others, attend regularly, and be a young EA professional (last one is flexible)
  • I could use feedback and help on next steps, particularly advertising. Reach out to me if you’re interested in this project!

Motivation

At least for me, being a young professional is hard, and being a young professional who aspires to follow Effective Altruist principles is even harder. In my first year out of undergrad, I experienced a lot of negative emotions, like despair and shame—you can read the longer story here. I can’t be completely sure that my experience is universal, but this survey by Julia Michaels (which I participated in; thanks Julia!) suggests that it is widespread (at least in the EA community). Anecdotally, I and many of my friends struggle to some degree with concerns about our careers, frustration with a lack of opportunities, fear of social isolation, and/or impostor syndrome. And while I know that neither I nor anyone else can take all of that away (unless someone has high-paying EA jobs to throw around, in which case, let me know), I think there are things we can do to make this less unbearable. One of the things which might just help with that is commingling with a group of people with similar backgrounds at a similar stage in life. As far as I know, no close analog of the group I envision currently exists, so I’m setting out to change that.

Outline

Being fully transparent, this group is intended first and foremost to allay the isolation and pain that young (EA) professionals experience. It is already psychologically burdensome to be excluded from meaningful work, and the burden is probably greater for EAs, who have often strongly internalized the importance of impactful work. This group is intended to help improve well-being in the following ways:

  • Talking through things: while I’m no licensed therapist, nor is anyone else expected to be one, just having a space to talk about your issues and feel heard and seen can be immensely gratifying. At the same time, others can provide comfort and insights which can help the one who is suffering. This will be a blame-free, shame-free, judgment-free space with the intention that no one is pressured to produce results or disparaged for not being productive enough.
  • Encouragement: it’s corny, but much of what holds us back is a lack of confidence, reinforced by repeated rejections. This group can encourage people to apply for that job, post that essay to the Forum, or start that initiative.
  • Structure: being out of a job can disrupt the structure which we are accustomed to, leading to psychological distress, further disrupting structure, leading to a vicious cycle. This group could provide some structure and accountability to individuals and hopefully disrupt that cycle.
  • Common Being (or Common Humanity): In today’s world, all we see are the success stories. This can be a particular issue in EA, a community filled with highly intelligent, driven, and competent people where (positive) impact is a premium. This can lead to heavy feelings of impostor syndrome and self-blaming. The hope is that connecting with others who are going through similar experiences can alleviate these feelings.
  • Community: relatedly, I hope this group can create a community for EA young professionals and maintain a sense of community with the broader EA-sphere. For people who were college EAs, graduating and not immediately landing an EA job or a job in an EA hub can very suddenly cut you off from the EA community (and from many of your closest friends!). My hope is that this group can restore some of that.

That being said, this group would also be intended to help with professional development. Here are a few ways it might do so:

  • Structure: this group would be at least one time per week (or whatever the interval between meetings is) where time and space are dedicated to professional development. This could be as simple as coworking time dedicated to applying for jobs/opportunities, editing resumes, searching for connections, etc. I’d also like for this to be a space where people can start their own projects, such as writing articles or doing independent research projects. I’d also want to have a few minutes for a debrief, where people can share any positives or negatives from the session and get validation and feedback.
  • Collaboration/Networking: the most direct form of this is if individuals within the group decide to work together to upskill on the same skill or start their own initiative. Individuals can also share connections and opportunities with one another. Some individuals may technically have opportunities available to them but not wish to pursue them; sharing these opportunities with others could increase allocative efficiency.
  • Sharing Wisdom: Aside from sharing connections and opportunities, individuals can share information with one another. This could range from basic, broad things like how to build a resume, where to look for jobs, how to network, how to interview, etc. to more specific things, like “what skills does X company value for Y type of position?” or “what independent project would demonstrate competence for Z aptitude?” or “which conferences/retreats/events can/should I attend?” 
  • More Specialized Career Advice: This group could also feature career advice and workshops specifically tailored to (EA) young professionals. While I think career advice from 80K and other sources is helpful, I think there are some differences in the advice which applies best to young professionals—especially those not in Ivy League institutions and/or from a relatively disadvantaged socioeconomic/minority background. For example, for young professionals, I would place much greater emphasis on preserving option value and openness to “non-EA” opportunities.

Requirements

Since the group is first and foremost about attending to the psychological well-being of EA young professionals, the only requirements to participate in this group are a commitment to abide by the community’s Code of Conduct, a commitment to regularly attend meetings, and being a young professional with prior engagement with EA, in descending order of importance/strictness.

Abiding by the Code of Conduct: the Code of Conduct will be largely based on the EA DC Code of Conduct, as well as drawing from principles generally practiced in individual and group therapy. 

Hard Rules include:

  • No Harassment: inciting or advocating for violence, intimidation/threats, unwelcome sexual attention, stalking, nonconsensual possession, use, or sharing of photographs or recorded materials, and similarly egregious harassment are all prohibited, and will result in immediate removal from the group.
  • Boundaries and Consent: if someone makes a refusal (e.g., to participate in a discussion of a certain topic, to participate in a proposed activity, to share private information), respect that refusal and do not make subsequent attempts to overturn the refusal. Do not infringe on the space, property, or personal lives of others without their explicit permission. Remember and respect that consent can be revoked at any time, and that this revocation comes into effect immediately.
  • Respect: do not make disparaging remarks toward others, particularly as they relate to identity (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion). Follow the Golden Rule, and Do No Harm. Constructive criticism and disagreements are permitted and encouraged, provided that they are approached respectfully and focus on arguments, statements, and actions rather than individuals.
  • Confidentiality: even when individuals are not identified by name or other details, sharing information provided by others in these meetings is generally discouraged unless consent is explicitly given. Externally sharing such information with identifying details (such as name) is prohibited.
  • Integrity: act in good faith, with the best intentions for others at heart. Be honest, especially in situations where others may be affected.
  • No Sexual or Romantic Communication: don’t use the group’s meetings or communication channels for sharing profiles and/or messages that are sexual or romantic in nature.

Guidelines include:

  • Non-Judgment: do NOT say that others are bad, unworthy, less than, intrinsically defective, or only conditionally worthy of validation. As a rule, avoid making character judgments. Instead, focus on actions and statements or on how you are feeling (e.g., instead of saying “you’re bad,” say “I feel concerned about what you just said because…”).
  • Accountability: take responsibility for your actions and words and, when you have done something wrong to another, apologize.
  • Generosity: work from the assumption that others are acting with good faith and speaking honestly. Even if someone’s reasoning seems foolish or their experience seems implausible, hold space for them as being true to that person. Not only does this help others feel validated, but it also helps foster a deeper understanding of others’ experiences.
  • Active Participation: try to participate in activities, even if they are not naturally the most appealing to you. When a response is invited or a discussion is taking place, share your thoughts! Actively listen and respond to the thoughts and shares of others.

Regular Attendance: Individuals will be expected to attend every regular meeting or to provide a reason for absence. Individuals with ≥3 absences in a 12-week cycle may be asked to write a brief statement (private to me) explaining their absences; failure to provide an adequate explanation may result in removal from the group. This requirement is in place to foster accountability and to maintain the community for the benefit of all group members.

Being an EA Young Professional: This group is intended for individuals who are part of the larger EA community, but is also open to those who are interested in EA but haven’t yet had the chance to engage with it. Individuals who are interested in EA but did not have the chance to participate in an EA program or group will probably just have to go through a brief screening interview, just so I can make sure you’re not a troll or something. Additionally, this group is primarily intended for young professionals, which is something of a nebulous definition. As a rule of thumb, I would define a young professional as someone who has not yet obtained their first paid, full-time, white-collar job (except internships or non-doctoral graduate programs) OR someone not older than 25 at the time of joining. I am open to admitting edge cases, provided that the individual provides a good reason for wanting to join.

Next Steps

My goal is to run something like a pilot which begins roughly around when the Spring 2025 academic semester begins. Before then, I’ll likely be revising and elaborating on the rules and structure I’ve outlined here, as they’re still just a draft. More concretely, I’ll need to build a curriculum for the group and create any infrastructure which needs to be created (e.g., forms, spreadsheets, folders). Perhaps most critically, I will need to effectively advertise this program to EA young professionals.

These are all things where feedback and help would be highly useful; the most useful feedback and help would be in regards to advertisement: how I can market this program to people and what forums and channels it would be ideal to post in. If you have questions or feedback, please comment below, and if you’re interested in helping in any capacity, you can privately message me or send me an email at
kenneth.diao@outlook.com.

(Photo credit: Hannah Busing on Unsplash)

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