If you're considering taking a job for altruistic reasons, remember to do alternatives analysis:
If you don't take this job, will someone else be hired? What will their effectiveness be relative to yours? What alternative are you (and your hypothetical replacement) likely foregoing?
See here for a more detailed outline of this type of analysis.
My impression is that this particular job is standard secretarial work, with some personal assistant tasks (groceries? cleaning?) on the side.
If you don't take this job, will someone else be hired? What will their effectiveness be relative to yours? What alternative are you (and your hypothetical replacement) likely foregoing?
It seems to me like this is something that most people won't have good information on until after they've applied, made it through the interview process, and been offered the job, so this is not a reason to not apply.
My impression is that this particular job is standard secretarial work, with some personal assistant tasks (groceries? cleaning?) on the side.
Right, but...
If funding were available, the Centre for Effective Altruism would consider hiring someone to work closely with Prof Nick Bostrom to provide anything and everything he needs to be more productive. Bostrom is obviously the Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, and author of Superintelligence, the best guide yet to the possible risks posed by artificial intelligence.
Nobody has yet confirmed they will fund this role, but we are nevertheless interested in getting expressions of interest from suitable candidates.
The list of required characteristics is hefty, and the position would be a challenging one:
The research Bostrom can do is unique; to my knowledge we don't have anyone who has made such significant strides clarifying the biggest risks facing humanity as a whole. As a result, helping increase Bostrom's output by say, 20%, would be a major contribution. This person's work would also help the rest of the Future of Humanity Institute run smoothly.