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MathiasZaman comments on Open thread, January 25- February 1 - Less Wrong Discussion

8 Post author: NancyLebovitz 25 January 2014 02:52PM

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Comment author: MathiasZaman 27 January 2014 12:50:42PM 2 points [-]

Is there a good way of finding what kind of job might fit a person? Common advice such as "do what you like to do" or "do what you're good at" is relatively useless for finding a specific job or even a broader category of jobs.

I've did some reading on 80000 hours, and most of the advice there is on how to choose between a couple of possible jobs, not on finding a fitting one from scratch.

Comment author: memoridem 28 January 2014 02:46:30AM *  2 points [-]

I think for most people who ask this question, the range of fitting jobs is much wider than they think. You learn to like what you become good at.

If I were to pick a career right now, I'd just take a long list of reasonably complex jobs and remove any that contain an obvious obstacle like a skill requirement I'm unlikely to improve at. Then from what is left, I'd narrow the choice by some other criteria than perceived fit, income and future employment prospects for example and then pick one of them either by some additional criteria or randomly. I'm confident I'd learn to like almost any job chosen this way.

If you make money you can do whatever you like in the future even if you chose your job poorly in the first place. So please don't choose to become an English major.

Comment author: ChristianKl 27 January 2014 10:58:39PM 2 points [-]

Is there a good way of finding what kind of job might fit a person?

That's a strange question.

Either you want to know how to pick up the skill of being a career adviser. Alternatively you want to find a job for yourself. You might also be a parent who tries to find a job that fits his child instead of letting the child decide for themselves.

I think the answers to those three possibilities are very different.

Comment author: MathiasZaman 28 January 2014 05:56:41PM 0 points [-]

Alternatively you want to find a job for yourself.

It's this option, although the general skill of being a career advisor also sounds appealing in the abstract.