Thank you to Peter Wallich, Peter Barnett, and Megan Jamer for their encouragement and feedback on draft versions. 

I would like to share my experience applying for junior to mid-level operations roles at EA-aligned organisations. This is my first post on the EA Forum, and I was encouraged to write it for two reasons: to seek community feedback, and to venture what could be a potential blindspot in recruitment faced by EA-aligned orgs. (Noting here that these orgs are not "one thing," but vary team to team.)

Summary (TL;DR)

80,000 Hours and others point to pressing talent gaps, for example in operations. Perhaps part of the problem is that experienced, EA-aligned people go unnoticed because they don't tick clear boxes of EA involvement and are unknown in EA networks. If there are many people like this, then finding them could be a win.

My experience

In my career I have worked for 18 years as a structural engineer and project manager in senior roles at small, niche companies. I've been fully remote for several years, have worked with teams on five continents, and have always worked hard to excel as a people manager and to produce rigorous technical work and robust, efficient systems under challenging conditions.

From 2015 to 2020, I did this work while travelling slowly through sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world by bicycle. I came to intently question the chasm of inequality between my own life and that of the people I met every day. This led me to build a deep interest and knowledge of EA through investigating the principles and ideas of the movement.

My partner and I ended our journey primarily to try to get more involved in EA. We decided to try pursuing work in the movement. First, I kept working in the engineering world so that she could pursue EA-aligned volunteering full-time. It has been awesome that this translated into contracting and employment. Now we've swapped, and I have been volunteering at two EA-aligned orgs, and have applied for six junior operations roles.

Through EA volunteering work and other recent non-EA work I have been assessed as experienced, engaged, and self-directed in my operations work. I received a single response from the six applications and was removed from consideration there before an interview. 

I am fully aware of the competitiveness of EA roles. I'm also aware that there are several potential reasons I did not progress in the application process, and that a team's needs can be idiosyncratic (unfortunately, I have not received feedback yet on what else I could have done to improve my candidacy). I'd love to connect with anyone who might be able to provide feedback on how I could improve how I present myself.

But it does seem like there could be an incongruity here - I do have several years of relevant experience, I am strongly EA aligned, and I didn't receive responses from five applications.

I’ve discussed this with people working in EA orgs and they suggest that it could be because I don’t have any material EA signalling, specifically:

• EA work experience (I am volunteering, but it started while I was applying so was not on my CV, and prior to this I had a full time non-EA role) 
• I’m not yet known in EA networks
• No EA Forum posts to my name (I’ve have been passively engaged for 4 years but felt intimidated to comment, kudos to everyone who posts here, rising above the fear and self-doubt) 
• I don't have shared connections on LinkedIn with other EAs
• I didn't have an EA Virtual Programs on my CV (I am now working through the In-Depth EA Program)
• I have not applied for 80,000 Hours coaching
• I haven't participated in any virtual EA groups yet
• I have donated to EA Funds for the last few years, but I haven't taken a GWWC pledge

I want to be clear that I personally do not lament this situation. As well, I accept the possibility that maybe there is not a place for me at present as a contractor or staff member of an EA-aligned org. Right now I am focusing on building EA experience through volunteer positions and productive networking, as I have the means to do so.

Rather, I intend the value here in this post to be about bringing awareness to the EA community that this may be a blindspot in identifying potentially promising candidates. 

Relatedly, it could also prevent potentially good candidates from getting into EA because they cannot commit unpaid time to building EA experience through volunteering, engaging on the EA Forum, in virtual groups, local groups, etc. Certainly, we can all point to examples of someone we know in EA who may have less of certain types of privilege or access, and this is a great democratising principle about the internet. But in general, I would argue that a history of volunteering, unpaid internships, and significant unpaid time invested in EA engagement, not to mention donating, is more accessible for people with the time and financial stability to do it.

So, if certain EA involvement signals are used, this could also tend to restrict EA from becoming more diversified, which I think few would argue, is still quite lacking in the movement, recent efforts and improvements notwithstanding.

Understandably, with so many applications, hiring managers need an efficient system for selecting the preferred candidates. And EA interest, knowledge, commitment, and/or alignment is understandably a primary consideration.

Possible ideas for improvement

• It could be useful for EA-aligned orgs, if they haven't already done so, to explicate the assumptions that inform the keywords or signals they use to screen applicants for EA interest, knowledge, or alignment. 
  • Consider making the importance of these signals transparent to candidates, e.g., “We prefer candidates with evidence of involvement with EA, this could include taking part in virtual programs, writing forum posts, or organising a local group”
• Consider adjusting or broadening the ways that EA interest and alignment is measured in applicants.
• Consider experimenting with a “speed-dating” style, quick-fire 10 minute interview system, with the goal of catching possible outliers among a larger number of candidates.
• If a team has gone through the process of reflecting on what EA alignment signals they use and are happy with them, there could be some productive knowledge sharing among hiring managers at multiple orgs, to discuss best practices and unanswered questions.

I welcome feedback, particularly if it relates to considerations I’ve missed, gaps in the reasoning I’ve shared here, or other ideas for improvement.