Benjamin Todd

This is similar to the solution to the anachronistically named secretary problem in computer science, which is about how long to spend searching for the best candidate to hire from a pool of applicants.

This strategy is most suitable while an undergraduate or in your first couple of jobs, when exploration is easiest and most valuable, and when your uncertainties are greatest.

The main downside of this strategy is that it's costly to try out several paths.

However, it's often possible to reduce the costs significantly by carefully ordering your options.

For example, you can try out a surprising number of paths between undergraduate and graduate school during summer breaks or by putting more reversible options first.

Here's some more detail about how to order your next steps.

1.

Explore before graduate school rather than after and put other reversible options first.

In the couple of years right after you graduate, you're not expected to have your career figured out right away.

Generally, you have license to try out something more unusual like starting a business, living abroad, or working at a non-profit.

If it doesn't go well, you can use the graduate school reset.

Do a master's, MBA, law degree, or PhD, which lets you return to a standard path.

We see lots of people rushing into graduate school or other conventional options right after they graduate, which makes them miss one of their best opportunities to explore.

It's especially worth exploring before a PhD rather than after.

At the end of a PhD, it's hard to leave academia.

This is because going from a PhD to a postdoc and then into a permanent academic position, you're unlikely to succeed if you don't focus 100% on research.

So if you're unsure about academia, try out alternatives before your PhD if possible.

Similarly, it's easier to go from a position in business to a non-profit job than vice versa.

So if you're unsure between the two, take the business position first.

2.