<story><title>Evidence on how to find the right career</title><url>https://80000hours.org/career-guide/personal-fit/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>cup</author><text>I think we really need to have a conversation on what &amp;quot;right career&amp;quot; actually means.&lt;p&gt;Case in point. I&amp;#x27;m a scientist, working on drug delivery technology. I absolutely love research as a career. What I hate though is the poor pay, non-existant job security, irregular work life balance and cult of self-sacrifice.&lt;p&gt;In retrospect, could I go back 20 years and start again I would have pursued a career with greater job security and pay, less stress and more flexible working conditions. Such jobs include regional train driving, trades-crafts or administration to name a few (in my region).&lt;p&gt;These days I value less my career and more my free time with which I can pursue my hobbies.&lt;p&gt;Subnote: With the advances in automation I think we should also consider whether spending x0,000 hours to become great at a career is really important anymore. Is it ethical to tell someone to sacrifice huge swathes of their time&amp;#x2F;life for a career that might not exist when they&amp;#x27;re ready?&lt;p&gt;2nd Subnote: I want to expand my comment again after finishing the article. I think we need to bear in mind that theres a lot of unspoken assumptions in this guide. For instance, the assumption that theres time to explore possible careers or that one can even trial different careers. A lot of people I know from more difficult backgrounds never had the luxury to try things. They had to make money to support their family so they took what they could get. Alternatively, they never had exposure to other fields so didn&amp;#x27;t know what was out there anyway. &amp;quot;Finding the right career&amp;quot; is in retrospect an extremely telling phrase about ones socioeconomic and political position.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>BenjaminTodd</author><text>Hey there - just adding to Rob&amp;#x27;s comment:&lt;p&gt;I actually think automation makes it &lt;i&gt;more&lt;/i&gt; important to gain strong skills rather than less, because it&amp;#x27;s increasing inequality. It&amp;#x27;s just you need to gain transferable skills that are resistant to automation. We go into much more detail here:
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;80000hours.org&amp;#x2F;career-guide&amp;#x2F;career-capital&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;80000hours.org&amp;#x2F;career-guide&amp;#x2F;career-capital&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;I also think it&amp;#x27;s possible for everyone to take an empirical approach to their career to some degree, but it&amp;#x27;s certainly true that it&amp;#x27;s more important if you have more options.</text></comment>
<story><title>Evidence on how to find the right career</title><url>https://80000hours.org/career-guide/personal-fit/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>cup</author><text>I think we really need to have a conversation on what &amp;quot;right career&amp;quot; actually means.&lt;p&gt;Case in point. I&amp;#x27;m a scientist, working on drug delivery technology. I absolutely love research as a career. What I hate though is the poor pay, non-existant job security, irregular work life balance and cult of self-sacrifice.&lt;p&gt;In retrospect, could I go back 20 years and start again I would have pursued a career with greater job security and pay, less stress and more flexible working conditions. Such jobs include regional train driving, trades-crafts or administration to name a few (in my region).&lt;p&gt;These days I value less my career and more my free time with which I can pursue my hobbies.&lt;p&gt;Subnote: With the advances in automation I think we should also consider whether spending x0,000 hours to become great at a career is really important anymore. Is it ethical to tell someone to sacrifice huge swathes of their time&amp;#x2F;life for a career that might not exist when they&amp;#x27;re ready?&lt;p&gt;2nd Subnote: I want to expand my comment again after finishing the article. I think we need to bear in mind that theres a lot of unspoken assumptions in this guide. For instance, the assumption that theres time to explore possible careers or that one can even trial different careers. A lot of people I know from more difficult backgrounds never had the luxury to try things. They had to make money to support their family so they took what they could get. Alternatively, they never had exposure to other fields so didn&amp;#x27;t know what was out there anyway. &amp;quot;Finding the right career&amp;quot; is in retrospect an extremely telling phrase about ones socioeconomic and political position.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>robertwiblin</author><text>Hi Cup - yes you&amp;#x27;re right, what people are looking for in their career is complicated and varies by people.&lt;p&gt;This is part four of our career guide; the first article is all about what actually creates job satisfaction: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;80000hours.org&amp;#x2F;career-guide&amp;#x2F;job-satisfaction&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;80000hours.org&amp;#x2F;career-guide&amp;#x2F;job-satisfaction&lt;/a&gt; . I think we say everything you said on your comment, and a lot more.&lt;p&gt;While people are varied, there are a few factors identified in the psychological literature that are highly predictive of overall job satisfaction and fulfillment for most of us. :)</text></comment>