Recap
If you’ve been following along with the guide, you’ve done quite a bit of thinking about your career. In part 1, we started to think about what it actually means to make an impact or do good in the world. This involved reflecting on different approaches to helping others, understanding your own values and moral views, and looking into potentially important causes to work on.
In part 2, we thought about the different considerations to keep in mind when thinking about the potential good you could do in a career. We talked about using the SELF framework to assess individual roles and opportunities, then wrapped up with a few extra considerations to keep in mind when assessing how much good you could do in specific jobs. This includes the counterfactual impact you could have in a role and the career capital you’d gain along the way.
In part 3, we explored how you might apply these concepts to your own job search. We started by setting a scope for possible options. Then, we explored how to compare your options, update based on new information, and prioritize further investigation.
Potential next steps to take
After all this researching and planning, it’s time to take some next steps. Though these will look different for everyone, we recommend you firmly commit to taking 2-3 actions that make the most sense for you. You could start by applying for a free 1-1 career advising call with our team. We’ll provide professional advice based on your circumstances, connect you with a professional network, and help you find promising job opportunities. Otherwise, here are some of our top suggestions for potential next steps:
- Choose 2-4 careers you’re excited about, then spend a week deep-diving into potential opportunities within each one. Our career profiles could help you get some ideas.
- Talk to 1-3 people in a field you’re considering. Ask them questions that would help you decide if you want to further pursue that field.
- Volunteer with an organization that could give you a better understanding of the cause area, field, or type or work you’re interested in. You can use this opportunities board to filter volunteer opportunities that may be especially impactful.
- Ask relevant people in the field what kind of aptitudes are needed for specific career paths, then try to come up with some ways to build on these.
- Find concrete job opportunities and apply to the top 10 that excite you. You can start looking for promising opportunities on these job boards.
- Create a list of the top 5 specific roles you would be interested in, then assess their potential impact with the SELF framework.
- Commit to doing some sort of side project alongside your current job.
- This could be creating a blog, taking on a small research project or assisting in one, making a demo or something else. The important part is that you have a weekly time commitment, and that it helps you either decide on, or get accepted to, a job you want.
- Cast a wide net and apply to lots of opportunities.
- Statistics vary per region, but on average, people apply to 21-80 opportunities before landing a role. It’s worth dedicating some time every day to apply for multiple opportunities – even those which seem promising but aren’t your top choices.
- Improve your chances of success
- If you’re going to spend the time finding & applying for opportunities, it’s worth making them count. Ask a Manager by Alison Green, a former manager who writes practical career advice, provides detailed guidance on strengthening your application materials, having successful interviews, searching for jobs, and numerous other topics. We generally recommend most of her materials.
- Make connections and network
- Many experts say that nearly 80% of jobs are filled by networking, so it’s easily worth putting extra effort into. Depending on your field, this might mean going to conferences, reaching out to your current networks, collaborating on other’s projects or finding other avenues of expanding your network.
Prioritize progress over certainty
Have another idea in mind that could help you concretely explore or pursue your preferred career path? Go for it. There’s no perfect approach, and these examples are only a few of our suggestions. What’s important is to get the ball rolling and start making progress.
Still unsure? Just try picking a couple next steps and trying them out. Finding a fulfilling and impactful career is possible – but it won’t happen by accident. So—seriously—go back and choose at least two things you can definitely do this week. Even if you end up going back to the drawing board, you’ll likely gain information and keep the momentum going.
