Benjamin Todd

how can I put myself in the best position to get a high-impact job?

Some people can just walk into their dream job, one that matches all the criteria above, right away.

And if you can do that, go for it.

But for many others, you'll need to build your skills, connections, credentials, and character, what we call career capital.

By doing this, you can open up a wider range of options than just those you think you have today.

In the next chapter, we'll look at how to build career capital and best position yourself for long-term success.

The bottom line.

In which career can you help people the most?

Once you've chosen a problem, as we covered in the previous article, the next step is to work out how best to contribute to solving it.

Think broadly about the paths where you can make the biggest contribution, including research, communications and community building, taking high-earning jobs to donate to charity, government and policy, and organisation building.

Focus on the approaches that are most needed in your problem area.

Some problems are best solved through changing policy.

Others most need research, while others require funding and so on.

Ultimately, in the long term, you want to find the option that does best on a combination of 1.

How pressing the problem is 2.

How large your contribution will be 3.

Your degree of personal fit and 4.

Fit with your other personal goals.

Chapter 7.

Which jobs put you in the best long-term position?