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All of itty's Comments + Replies

Announcing the EA Angel Group - Seeking EAs with the Time and Money to Evaluate and Fund Early-Stage Grants
itty6y2
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I imagine it's complicated to release details about projects that aren't selected to receive a grant. Presumably there are reasons the project wasn't selected. If EA Grants wanted to publicize their rejects, seems like they have two main options:

1) Make the project public without explaining their reasons for rejecting it. In this case, EA Grants might be making it more likely that a bad project is funded, by bringing it to the attention of other funders without warning them of possible pitfalls.

2) Make the project public AND explain their reasons. This mi... (read more)

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Sanjay
6y
Thanks for engaging with this itty. I agree that option (2) would be onerous for EA grants. However I don't see how option (1) makes things worse? They could simply publish the grant applications without endorsement or indeed any comment beyond the fact that those projects didn't make the cut. If they don't do this, funders like me are simply left to find funding opportunities on their own.
Hi, I'm Holden Karnofsky. AMA about jobs at Open Philanthropy
itty6y4
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The job description for Research Analyst says that the best candidates will have "comfort thinking in terms of expected value and using systematic, quantitative frameworks." How quantitative should a candidate be to apply? For example, if a person feels comfortable with basic expected value concepts but finds GiveWell's CEA overwhelming (and probably could never produce something similar to GiveWell's CEA), is that not quantitative enough?

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Chris Leong
6y
What's Givewell's CEA?
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Holden Karnofsky
6y
GiveWell's CEA was produced by multiple people over multiple years - we wouldn't expect a single person to generate the whole thing :) I do think you should probably be able to imagine yourself engaging in a discussion over some particular parameter or aspect of GiveWell's CEA, and trying to improve that parameter or aspect to better capture what we care about (good accomplished per dollar). Quantitative aptitude is not a hard requirement for this position (there are some ways the role could evolve that would not require it), but it's a major plus.
Hi, I'm Holden Karnofsky. AMA about jobs at Open Philanthropy
itty6y5
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Who is likely to manage new Grants Associates, Operations Associates, and Research Analysts?

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Holden Karnofsky
6y
All bios here: https://www.openphilanthropy.org/about/team Grants Associates and Operations Associates are likely to report to Derek or Morgan. Research Analysts are likely to report to people who have been in similar roles for a while, such as Ajeya, Claire, Luke and Nick. None of this is set in stone though.
Hi, I'm Holden Karnofsky. AMA about jobs at Open Philanthropy
itty6y0
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GiveWell is also hiring for several roles right now. How should a person decide whether to apply to GiveWell or Open Phil? Are there significant differences in the work culture? Do Research Analysts at each org take on similar types of tasks?

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Holden Karnofsky
6y
They're different organizations and I don't know nearly as much about the GiveWell role. One big difference is the causes we work on. If you're interested in both, I'd recommend applying to both, and if you are offered both roles, there will be lots of opportunities to learn more about each at that point in order to inform the decision.
Hi, I'm Holden Karnofsky. AMA about jobs at Open Philanthropy
itty6y9
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What are things that previous Research Analysts have struggled with at Open Phil? What are reasons others have found it not to be a good fit?

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Holden Karnofsky
6y
A few things that come to mind: 1. The work is challenging, and not everyone is able to perform at a high enough level to see the career progression they want. 2. The culture tends toward direct communication. People are expected to be open with criticism, both of people they manage and of people who manage them. This can be uncomfortable for some people (though we try hard to create a supportive and constructive context). 3. The work is often solitary, consisting of reading/writing/analysis and one-on-one checkins rather than large-group collaboration. It's possible that this will change for some roles in the future (e.g. it's possible that we'll want more large-group collaboration as our cause prioritization team grows), but we're not sure of that.