Effective altruism for jews
Effective careers
One of the most effective ways you can help others and pursue justice is with a high-impact career. The EA community has many resources to help you think through how you can have the most impact with your career.
Ea for jews
Pursue justice through a high-impact career
If you want to practice tzedakah, justice, and tikkun olam, repairing the world, doing so with your career might be the best opportunity to do this given the time and energy you’re likely to spend on your career over your lifetime. Indeed, for many people the best way to change the world is often by picking the right job and doing it well. There are many examples of this in our tradition–from Esther using her royal position to save the Jewish people, Nehemiah’s place as cupbearer to the King allowing his restoration of Jerusalem, to Joseph’s work to prepare for famine by stockpiling grain. But most people don’t rigorously analyze the different paths they could take with their career.
Planning a career—especially one that aims to do good—can be overwhelming. Should you follow your passion? Pick a career path that addresses a particularly difficult problem? Work at a nonprofit or build “career capital” at a for-profit before working on an issue you actually care about?
Fortunately for those who are interested in maximizing their positive impact in the world, the EA movement has put a great deal of effort into helping people answer this question. To this end, several groups have developed extremely in-depth resources to help people plan their careers. The organizations below provide a great deal of help to those planning their careers, and even offer one-on-one career planning–for free! EA for Jews is also interested in answering career questions and connecting you to like-minded people in our network working in a field you are interested in learning more about. Contact us to learn more!
career advising
80,000 hours
80,000 Hours is a nonprofit that provides free advice and support to help you use your career to help solve the world’s most pressing problems. The organization has systematically analyzed various cause areas and roles and offers in depth career planning guidance. We recommend that you read the summary of their key ideas first and then explore their website for the topics that will be most useful to you. They also have a regular podcast where they have an unusually in-depth conversations with experts about the world’s most pressing problems and how you can use your career to solve them.
Career mentorship
Women and Nonbinary Altruism Mentorship
WANBAM connects and supports a global network of women, trans people of any gender, and non-binary people interested in effective altruism through mentorship. They have matched and facilitated the mentoring of over 120 people since late 2019. You can find out more about their successes, challenges, and opportunities for impact in their CEO Kathryn’s talk at EAGX Asia Pacific, here.
Career mentorship
Support from EA for Jews
Within our community, we have people in a wide range of careers who can advise you on your fit for similar roles or make introductions to other useful people to speak to. If you would like to be put in contact with other community members who might be able to advise you on your next career move we would love to chat with you. Feel free to reach out to us here!