Alex Lawsen on avoiding 10 mistakes people make when pursuing a high-impact career

Alex Lawsen on avoiding 10 mistakes people make when pursuing a high-impact career

Author: The 80,000 Hours team September 7, 2023 Duration: 2:17:36

In this episode of 80k After Hours,  Luisa Rodriguez and Alex Lawsen discuss common mistakes people make when trying to do good with their careers, and advice on how to avoid them.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

  • Taking 80,000 Hours’ rankings too seriously
  • Not trying hard enough to fail
  • Feeling like you need to optimise for having the most impact *now*
  • Feeling like you need to work directly on AI immediately
  • Not taking a role because you think you’ll be replaceable
  • Constantly considering other career options
  • Overthinking or over-optimising career choices
  • Being unwilling to think things through for yourself
  • Ignoring conventional career wisdom
  • Doing community work even if you’re not suited to it


Who this episode is for:

  • People who want to pursue a high-impact career
  • People wondering how much AI progress should change their plans
  • People who take 80,000 Hours’ career advice seriously


Who this episode isn’t for:

  • People not taking 80k's career advice seriously enough
  • People who've never made any career mistakes
  • People who don't want to hear Alex say "I said a bunch of stuff, maybe some of it's true" every time he's on the podcast

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer and editor: Keiran Harris
Audio Engineering Lead: Ben Cordell
Technical editing: Milo McGuire and Dominic Armstrong
Additional content editing: Luisa Rodriguez and Katy Moore
Transcriptions: Katy Moore


From the team behind 80,000 Hours comes 80k After Hours, a companion podcast that ventures beyond the main feed's structured career advice. Here, the researchers and producers gather for more informal, wide-ranging conversations that reflect their ongoing curiosities. You'll hear discussions that dig into the nuances of effective altruism, grapple with complex ideas in philosophy and policy, and explore unexpected topics in culture and science-all through the lens of how we might better understand and improve the world. The tone is conversational and exploratory, often feeling like you're listening in on a lively lunch debate among experts who don't take themselves too seriously. While the core mission of finding impactful ways to do good remains, this podcast allows for the tangents, personal reflections, and deeper dives that don't always fit a standard format. It’s a space for the team to think out loud, test arguments, and share the interesting, sometimes quirky, material they're engaging with in their own work. For listeners of the main show, it offers valuable background and new perspectives; for newcomers, it provides an accessible entry point into a community of ideas focused on practical problem-solving and self improvement. Tune in for a blend of thoughtful documentary-style analysis, societal deep dives, and candid chats that aim to be both intellectually substantive and genuinely enjoyable.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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