80,000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good.
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Summary
Find a fulfilling career that tackles the world's most pressing problems， using this guide based on five years of research alongside academics at Oxford。
You have about 80，000 hours in your career: 40 hours a week， 50 weeks a year， for 40 years。 This means your choice of career is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make。
Make the right choices， and you can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems， as well as have a more rewarding， interesting life。
For such an important decision， however， there's surprisingly little good advice out there。 Most career advice focuses on things like how to write a CV， and much of the rest is just （misleading） platitudes like "follow your passion。" Most people we speak to don't even use career advice - they just speak to friends and try to figure it out for themselves。
When it comes to helping others with your career the advice usually assumes you need to work as a teacher， doctor， charity worker， and so on， even though these paths might not be a good fit for you， and were not what the highest-impact people in history did。
This guide is based on five years of research conducted alongside academics at the University of Oxford。 It aims to help you find a career you enjoy， you're good at， and that tackles the world's most pressing problems。
It covers topics like:
1。 What makes for a dream job， and why "follow your passion" can be misleading。 2。 Why the most effective ways to make a difference aren't always the obvious ones like working at a charity， or becoming a doctor。 3。 How to compare global problems， like climate change and education， in terms of their scale and urgency。 4。 How to discover and develop your strengths。
It's also full of practical tips and tools。 You'll come away with a plan to use your 80，000 hours in a way that's fulfilling and high impact。
What people are saying
"Based on evidence and good sense， not platitudes"
- Steven Pinker， New York Times bestselling author Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University。
"This incredible group is helping people have a greater social impact with their careers。"
- Sue Desmond-Hellmann， CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation。
"Every college grad should read this"
- Tim Urban， creator of Wait But Why。
Read more online
This book is based on the free guide you can find on the 80，000 Hours website， where you can find many more articles and our most up-to-date content。 All profits from the book are used to fund 80，000 Hours， expanding our research and enabling us to reach more people。
About the authors
80，000 Hours is an independent non-profit founded in Oxford in 2011。 It performs research into career choice， and provides online and in-person advice。
Benjamin Todd is the CEO and co-founder of 80，000 Hours。 He grew the organization from a student society at Oxford to a non-profit that's raised $1。3m in donations， and has 100，000 monthly readers。 He has a Master's degree in Physics and Philosophy from Oxford， and speaks Chinese， badly。
Ben is advised by the rest of the 80，000 Hours team， including Professor Will MacAskill， author of Doing Good Better， co-founder of the Effective Altruism movement， and one of the youngest tenured professors of philosophy in the world。
You have about 80，000 hours in your career: 40 hours a week， 50 weeks a year， for 40 years。 This means your choice of career is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make。
Make the right choices， and you can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems， as well as have a more rewarding， interesting life。
For such an important decision， however， there's surprisingly little good advice out there。 Most career advice focuses on things like how to write a CV， and much of the rest is just （misleading） platitudes like "follow your passion。" Most people we speak to don't even use career advice - they just speak to friends and try to figure it out for themselves。
When it comes to helping others with your career the advice usually assumes you need to work as a teacher， doctor， charity worker， and so on， even though these paths might not be a good fit for you， and were not what the highest-impact people in history did。
This guide is based on five years of research conducted alongside academics at the University of Oxford。 It aims to help you find a career you enjoy， you're good at， and that tackles the world's most pressing problems。
It covers topics like:
1。 What makes for a dream job， and why "follow your passion" can be misleading。 2。 Why the most effective ways to make a difference aren't always the obvious ones like working at a charity， or becoming a doctor。 3。 How to compare global problems， like climate change and education， in terms of their scale and urgency。 4。 How to discover and develop your strengths。
It's also full of practical tips and tools。 You'll come away with a plan to use your 80，000 hours in a way that's fulfilling and high impact。
What people are saying
"Based on evidence and good sense， not platitudes"
- Steven Pinker， New York Times bestselling author Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University。
"This incredible group is helping people have a greater social impact with their careers。"
- Sue Desmond-Hellmann， CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation。
"Every college grad should read this"
- Tim Urban， creator of Wait But Why。
Read more online
This book is based on the free guide you can find on the 80，000 Hours website， where you can find many more articles and our most up-to-date content。 All profits from the book are used to fund 80，000 Hours， expanding our research and enabling us to reach more people。
About the authors
80，000 Hours is an independent non-profit founded in Oxford in 2011。 It performs research into career choice， and provides online and in-person advice。
Benjamin Todd is the CEO and co-founder of 80，000 Hours。 He grew the organization from a student society at Oxford to a non-profit that's raised $1。3m in donations， and has 100，000 monthly readers。 He has a Master's degree in Physics and Philosophy from Oxford， and speaks Chinese， badly。
Ben is advised by the rest of the 80，000 Hours team， including Professor Will MacAskill， author of Doing Good Better， co-founder of the Effective Altruism movement， and one of the youngest tenured professors of philosophy in the world。
Reviews
Dominik
，
Just wow， if in the future I have an option to recommend only one book to my children， it will be this one， incredible stuff， can’t imagine having it 10 years ago。
Aditya Mehta
，
A must-read for anyone in knowledge work society: a first step to the gateway of career and work， which will consume 80000 hours of your life。An easy-to-read book， gives many insights about finding a fulfilling career
David Marqués García
，
Un ensayo muy cuidado sobre escoger una carrera profesional que haga del mundo un lugar mejor， muy recomendable
Johanna Ternström
，
This is a very important book that should be read by anyone early in their career。 Many evidence based recommendations on how to have an impactful life。 Useful advices even for people outside of the EA community。 I was positively surprised on how many different aspects this book covered including basics on how to take care of your self。
Thomas Fratkin
，
“Rather than “follow your passion”， our slogan for a fulfilling career is: get good at something that helps others。 Or simply: do what contributes。”If you need a guide to finding a fulfilling career that helps others， this is the book。
Will
，
Part effective altruism， and part self-help guide， this book aims to convince people that they should plan their career in ways that will have the most positive impacts on other people， offering advice based on research。
Jlpayne
，
Basically a less engaging version of "Doing good better"。 I appreciated some of the tips in the job search chapter， but aside from that learned very little。 The book is also poorly formatted with graphics that would make Tufte very upset。 E。g。， the "Lives saved by" series is comically bad。 Basically a less engaging version of "Doing good better"。 I appreciated some of the tips in the job search chapter， but aside from that learned very little。 The book is also poorly formatted with graphics that would make Tufte very upset。 E。g。， the "Lives saved by" series is comically bad。 。。。more
Richard I Porter
，
Who should read it: Anyone deciding what they want to be when they grow up。 If you are wondering what to do with your life， If you are driven by purpose or mission， If you want to make the world a better place。 You should read this book。 Very few of us will get the chance to allocate millions or more of dollars of charitable giving to make the world better。 But we will all invest enormous amounts of time and energy in our professional lives。 In fact on average， you will devote 80，000 hours to yo Who should read it: Anyone deciding what they want to be when they grow up。 If you are wondering what to do with your life， If you are driven by purpose or mission， If you want to make the world a better place。 You should read this book。 Very few of us will get the chance to allocate millions or more of dollars of charitable giving to make the world better。 But we will all invest enormous amounts of time and energy in our professional lives。 In fact on average， you will devote 80，000 hours to your professional life （get it！？） So， wouldnt it be worth it to spend a small amount of that on considering HOW that a work will be allocated and what purpose it will be for？ If you were to spend only 1% of your working life reflecting and planning on what work to do， what impact to have or how to do it that would 800 hours or a full 20 working weeks 5 working months。 Maybe you could consider that stretched over your whole career， but why not start by reading this guide written by very thoughtful people on important causes your work could go toward， and methods by which you can make tradeoffs and value judgements both on your own purpose， and how to serve it through the biggest investment you can control: your work life。 Full of thought experiments， provocations to reflect， references to further guides and considerations and practical guides to get working on now （lots of hyperlinks to their website）。 This book is a great value for the low price you might pay for it。 Or you can download a free copy of the digital book here。 （PLEASE dont fall victim to the bias that something you don't pay for isn't worth your time and thought， I PROMISE this one is。） https://80000hours。org/book/ 。。。more
Koti Syamala
，
Good read for those who are deciding which career to pursue from Academia to Corporate。Worth reading once to get a better perspective about what are options available if you are thinking about changing career or to grow。
Shivam Gupta
，
I agree with the book's major theme; it provides an excellent framework for choosing a career on which we will spend 80000 hours of our life。 So giving some thought to how we are going to utilise those 80000 hours is indeed important I agree with the book's major theme; it provides an excellent framework for choosing a career on which we will spend 80000 hours of our life。 So giving some thought to how we are going to utilise those 80000 hours is indeed important 。。。more
Isa Cuervo
，
If you spend 80 000 hours in average in your lifetime at your job， wouldn´t you choose one that benefits the world and has a positive impact？ That´s the premise of the book。 I DO like the fact that they i）justify this idea ii）study which careers are more likely to be effective at having that impact iii）drawing a roadmap on the biggest career paths and the ways you could escalate。 There is also some quite good advice on how to figure what you want to study， how to build career capital， what to lo If you spend 80 000 hours in average in your lifetime at your job， wouldn´t you choose one that benefits the world and has a positive impact？ That´s the premise of the book。 I DO like the fact that they i）justify this idea ii）study which careers are more likely to be effective at having that impact iii）drawing a roadmap on the biggest career paths and the ways you could escalate。 There is also some quite good advice on how to figure what you want to study， how to build career capital， what to look for in your dream job， how to negotatiate your salary， when to make certain job decisions， etc。I DO NOT like the fact that the book is VERY elitist at times （it has a clear privilege bias） and a lean towards careers that are not liberal arts。 It also pushes Effective Altruism （which is something I don´t disagree with but which will not vibe with everyone） and it´s not really clear from the book extract。 Some examples are:"as a college graduate in a developed country today， you have an enormous opportunity to help others through your career。""Thinking more broadly， Roger Bacon and Galileo pioneered the scientific method， without which none of these discoveries would have been possible （along with the industrial revolution and much more）。 You could make a good case for their work having a far greater impact still。""We know we’re rich， but we don’t think of ourselves as the richest people in the world – we’re not the bankers， CEOs or celebrities。 But actually， if you earn $53，000 per year and don’t have kids， then globally speaking， you are the 1%。 As we saw， the average US college graduate will earn $68，000 over their lives， so if you’re reading this， you will probably be somewhere in that big spike on the right of the graph""Since we introduced the concept of earning to give in 2011， hundreds of people have taken it up and stuck with it。 Most give around 30% of their income， and some more than 50%。 Collectively， they’ll donate tens of millions of dollars to high impact charities in the coming years。"。。。Bottomline being， good career advice， not very grounded in terms of socioeconomic positions though。 There is a lot of privilege not being challenged。 I would just recommend reading it if you do agree with working for a purpose， but being VERY aware of the lens through which the authors see the world， and how it´s different depending on socioeconomic status and countries in which you live to work towards certain causes， even if memorable。 。。。more
Tine Putzeys
，
Like several other readers， I'm not sure how to rate this book。 I'm a long-time listener of the 80k podcast， so I'm very familiar with the way of thinking and the topics in the book。Let's start with the positive: when listening to the podcast， I often get the idea that only truly exceptional people should walk this path and I'm not one of them。 The book seemed to cover a wider group of people and gave me the feeling that， at least in terms of talent， I could be someone that does good with their Like several other readers， I'm not sure how to rate this book。 I'm a long-time listener of the 80k podcast， so I'm very familiar with the way of thinking and the topics in the book。Let's start with the positive: when listening to the podcast， I often get the idea that only truly exceptional people should walk this path and I'm not one of them。 The book seemed to cover a wider group of people and gave me the feeling that， at least in terms of talent， I could be someone that does good with their career。 If I had read something like this when I was much younger， I'm sure it would have been a great boost for my career and would have given me much more direction than I had in real life when I started out。That said， it is quite elitist。 The book seems to assume that if you want to study something， you can just go study that thing。 That if you want a job in field X， you can somehow magically get that job。 Even if it's "just" as a freelancer or intern and not the specific thing you wanted to do。 It assumes that you just have the luxury of exploring jobs and that you have friends or family where you can crash for several months if somehow it all doesn't work out。 It must be great to live in the world of the authors。 I don't。 They have this plan A/B/Z model， which I like in theory， but they don't really dig into what plan Z should be if you don't live in this magic world of backup options。 They clearly know that not everyone is in the same situation， because they do say this: "If you do face serious risks， however， such as having people who depend on your income， then you'll want to seriously consider what you would do if Plan A and B don't work out。 Knowing the downside makes it less scary， and having a back-up plan makes it more likely you'll cope。" And that's it。 That's the entirety of the discussion of how to approach this if you don't live in magic world of jolly career exploring。 Seems a bit light for an organisation that has 4-hour long podcasts and blogposts with tens of thousands of words on other topics。I had similar issues with the section on networking， though it is much more comprehensive than the discussion on "Plan Z"。 It seems to think that networking is something anyone can just do。 As if people with social anxiety or autism etc just don't exist。 The two points above lead me to think that， even though in terms of talent I might just be the kind of person that does good with their career， in all other areas I'm just not who this is aimed at。 I guess that's fine if that is what the authors intended， but then just say it out loud。Maybe there's a market for an 80000 hours spin-off aimed at the less fortunate among us （and yes， I know I'm still part of the 2% in global terms）， that guides the people that don't 100% match the 80k profile。 We'll probably do "less good" than the people 80k has in mind， but it still seems better than just having any job？ 。。。more
Saumya
，
It's a good book for anyone who is confused about career choice。 You can read it even if you have already chosen your career path。 It gives you some good concepts like career capital， effective altruism ， flexibility。 A must read。 It's a good book for anyone who is confused about career choice。 You can read it even if you have already chosen your career path。 It gives you some good concepts like career capital， effective altruism ， flexibility。 A must read。 。。。more
Hoàng Việt
，
It contains very up to date， helpful information， especially for people who's about to start their career， even tho it's quite over emphasised on tech and consulting- most people they have worked with came from that area， I didn't get much information from career on Physics， agriculture， sustainable development or service sector like travel etc。。。 It contains very up to date， helpful information， especially for people who's about to start their career， even tho it's quite over emphasised on tech and consulting- most people they have worked with came from that area， I didn't get much information from career on Physics， agriculture， sustainable development or service sector like travel etc。。。 。。。more
Duc Anh Pham
，
I was torn between giving it 3 or 4 stars。 Wouldn't I have read 'What Color is your parachute？' （the most popular career book） first， I would have rated it lower。Together the books give great insight， general direction， and suggestions for immediate next steps。 I'd argue that these books complement each other and it's only a question of the order in which you should read them。 I believe that depends on where you are in your career。 For students and people with little experience， I'd recommend st I was torn between giving it 3 or 4 stars。 Wouldn't I have read 'What Color is your parachute？' （the most popular career book） first， I would have rated it lower。Together the books give great insight， general direction， and suggestions for immediate next steps。 I'd argue that these books complement each other and it's only a question of the order in which you should read them。 I believe that depends on where you are in your career。 For students and people with little experience， I'd recommend starting with 80k hours。 For people that worked a few years or tried a few jobs， I'd start with Parachute。 Paradoxically I didn't pursue the 'new path' I identified thanks to Parachute， instead， this became my future plan B。 My plan A is a new idea that got strongly reinforced through reading 80k hours。 My career vision has got a clear foundation， this can be greatly attributed to these 2 books。 All in all， they've been of great importance to me。 。。。more
Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I received this book as a gift from the publisher。 It was okay and reasonably easy to understand， but it was simplistic to the point it read like a Google how-to article。 The data was well presented， but I found very little of it helpful。 For someone who has no idea how to enter the workforce， it may be worth reading。 For most， I think it will be largely unhelpful。Three stars。
Patricia Rodrigues
，
The last half of the book when the authors kind of summarize what had been said before felt a bit repetitive。 But overall a very nice book with a great message and a lot of actionable insights for those looking to have more impact with their careers
Jordan
，
Time to go back to grad school for economics
Polina
，
This a nice guide， worth reading for a short list of factors to take into account while choosing a workplace。 I'll definitely use it in the future！ This a nice guide， worth reading for a short list of factors to take into account while choosing a workplace。 I'll definitely use it in the future！ 。。。more
Clara
，
Because of this book， I am going to change my donations from a small monthly amount of church tithing to a small monthly amount to GiveDirectly， which I feel will help those who is currently in need of help in developing nations more。 This is all I could afford to give。。。Well-researched and well-argued， evidence-based approach， talks about earning to give and other ways besides earning to give， in order to do good in society。
Tristan Williams
，
I should note that I think time is a critical factor here， me first picking this up in 2022， over 6 years after it was initially published。 Another important factor here is that I've interacted with some resources on the 80，000 hours website， including the mega piece included at the end of the standard EA introductory fellowship template。 Where I basically wound up is feeling that Chapters 1-6 were super introductory EA and also better covered by the articles on the website （more up to date and I should note that I think time is a critical factor here， me first picking this up in 2022， over 6 years after it was initially published。 Another important factor here is that I've interacted with some resources on the 80，000 hours website， including the mega piece included at the end of the standard EA introductory fellowship template。 Where I basically wound up is feeling that Chapters 1-6 were super introductory EA and also better covered by the articles on the website （more up to date and more in depth in places）， with chapter 7 offering some novelty but not much importance， chapter 8 being quite informative and important， and chapter 9 falling a bit flat。 I also felt there was some within book repition in the Appendices that could get quite dulling at times。 Overall， I share sympathy that the summary of the book really seemed to capture a lot of the general arc， and that it didn't need to be nearly as long as it is。 My recommendation for 80，000 would be to stop production， and focus on the fantastic guides and various articles on the website， which are much easier to update and seemingly already of higher quality。 I think this might have been a fantastic book in 2016， and also would probably be much better if I knew nothing about EA， but as it stands I think there are better books for introducing EA， and better work generally on this material on the website， so I'd point someone there before I'd point them to this book。TLDR: read the articles on website instead。PS: I'd be remiss to not to include a website as an example of what I mean， like this larger guide https://80000hours。org/career-guide/how-to-be-successful/ or like this specific article on personal fit https://80000hours。org/articles/personal-fit/ 。。。more
Victor Salomonsson
，
I wish that someone gave me this book to read when I was at Uni。 Good to know， some of the content is more up to date on their website - the recommendations and tips in the book still makes sense today though。
Hanh
，
First half of the book is quite insightful。 The second half is mediocre， vague and sounds just the same as other career books。
Atanas Nikolov
，
The book is good for anyone， who doesn't know what to do with their life， and is just out of high school/college/university。 Why did I read it then？ Because of its thesis of effective altruism。 I wanted to learn more about how one arrives at its conclusions and also what philosophy fuels the arguments。Sadly， I was not impressed and there are a lot of holes to poke。 For example， the book claims that becoming a doctor is relatively low impact， so it's not really worth it。 But it also claims that b The book is good for anyone， who doesn't know what to do with their life， and is just out of high school/college/university。 Why did I read it then？ Because of its thesis of effective altruism。 I wanted to learn more about how one arrives at its conclusions and also what philosophy fuels the arguments。Sadly， I was not impressed and there are a lot of holes to poke。 For example， the book claims that becoming a doctor is relatively low impact， so it's not really worth it。 But it also claims that being an assistant to a world-class researcher is high impact， because in a sense you are making that research happen。 Can you see the flaws in this reasoning？ Let me point them out。 Firstly， the only reason they see being a doctor as low impact， is because there are a lot of doctors and you are not likely to make much of a difference。 But that's kinda dumb， because medicine has a ton of problems （refer to Ben Goldacre's Bad Science and Bad Pharma， as well as Science-Based Medicine）， which you can aim to solve， especially if you are the kind of person to read this book。 You can have tons of impact as a doctor， if you so wish。 If you are just going with the flow though， you wouldn't even care to read the book， would you？ So it's a moot point that being a doctor is low impact。Secondly， according to the book's own thesis， having second-hand impact is just as important， so being an assistant researcher can indeed be very impactful。 But why not extend that to third-hand impact， fourth-hand impact and so on？ I mean， the babysitter of that researcher's kids is effectively allowing the research to happen， so impact， right？ At least that's right in line with the book's logic， but the book doesn't actually say anything about that and would classify babysitting as a low-to-zero-impact job。 However， logically speaking， as long as you are not in an actively harmful field， you are actually making huge impact， you just don't know the degrees of separation （though scientifically speaking， they are fewer than 6 most likely）。I don't know， the book can be a useful guide， but its underlying philosophy is a bit questionable。 Yes， I understand the book is not supposed to be this great defense of the philosophy， but the author TRIES to convince you he's right in the first part of the book。 So what's that about then， if the arguments are weak？ Not to mention that utilitarianism and consequentialist ethics grind my gears。 Though that's a completely separate issue and I don't base my assessment on it。 。。。more
Margarida
，
A very complete guide to effective altruism， with plenty of actionable steps。 I'm seriously considering sending a free copy to every 18-25 year-old I know！ A very complete guide to effective altruism， with plenty of actionable steps。 I'm seriously considering sending a free copy to every 18-25 year-old I know！ 。。。more
AMAN SHARMA
，
Brilliant book with some fantastic practical recommendations。
Ridallah
，
I wish i had this book when I was 16:）
Mohamad Ahmad
，
Good advice on how to think in terms of highest impact， finding a community， and choosing a career that does good to you and others。
Jaka
，
Every student should read this！
R R
，
Great set up with the summaries and bottom lines at end of each chapter。 Practical， transparent， truthful。 First half of the book made me extremely motivated， gave me tips to research things deeper， a couple new options to think about， tangible examples of people’s impactful careers。 Everyone has one’s path。 The second half I found a bit repetitive but bearable， still gives good advice。 Thank you author！
tpg0
，
As an AI language model， I do not have personal preferences。 But speaking objectively， "80，000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good" by Benjamin Todd provides thought-provoking insights on how individuals can align their career goals with making a positive impact in society。 The book showcases effective strategies that can help individuals make career decisions that are not only personally fulfilling but also lead to making a meaningful difference in the world。
tpg1
，
As an AI language model， I don't have a personal opinion。 However， the book '80，000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good' by Benjamin Todd provides practical advice on how to choose a career based on the impact it can have on the world。 The author discusses the importance of finding a career that is aligned with one's values and provides steps to identify one's strengths， passions， and potential career paths。 The book also explores various ways to have a positive impact， including earning to give or directly working in high-impact career paths， such as global health or artificial intelligence safety。 Overall， it's a valuable resource for anyone who wants to make a difference with their career。
tpg2
，
As an AI language model， I cannot provide my opinion since I do not have personal preferences or beliefs。 However， I can provide the book’s description。 The book '80，000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good' is a guide for people who want to have an impact in the world through their careers。 It argues that finding a fulfilling and impactful career is not just a matter of following your passions or doing what pays the most。 Instead， it proposes a systematic approach for finding the highest-impact career paths based on rigorous research and analysis。 The book covers a wide range of topics， including how to identify the most pressing global problems， the best ways to work on them， how to acquire the skills and credentials necessary to succeed in high-impact careers， and how to navigate the job market。 It also includes case studies and interviews with individuals who have chosen careers that align with their values and are making a significant difference in the world。 Overall， '80，000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good' is a useful resource for anyone who wants to create a meaningful career and make a positive impact in society。
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