- Some (most?) positions that exist are hard for MCPs to access, partly because AI safety orgs rely a lot on recommendations for hiring - I suspect Denis's friend, although qualified, was outside the referral network. This is part of why I proposed the hand-holding and reverse headhunting components: guiding people through various resources and actively finding the most promising roles for them.
- Alsi, this is one reason why, in an ideal world, the pipeline ends in founder matching rather than job placement: the strongest MCPs should create new openings in the field + new orgs to absorb a lot more funding.
These are my rough takes -- hope this answers your question a bit!
Thank you for sharing your friend's story in the last post! It crystallized some thoughts that I'd been chewing on for a bit in the background, and finally got me to write some takes down. Really appreciate it :)
I still don’t know how to solve the field’s salary problem, and I imagine your friend has settled into her new job by now – but if she’d ever like to be connected to the Praxis folks, or to another friend of mine whose Generator project helps people transition in, let me know!
u shld come by, u might be able to meet Tilly if u get lucky tho she has not replied yet, i'm sure she just missed the email. next term starts around october
The positions seem to often be valuing the wrong thing in applicants. They tend to judge candidates based on publications in certain conferences/journals and coding tests, when what they actually need is not that (for a MCP).
But do the positions exist? The linked comment from Denis tells a story of a highly qualified MCP spending years unable to get hired.
Hey! Thanks for your comment, really good point. A couple of thoughts:
- AI safety is struggling to hire for generalist roles (see https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/k3nq7FxBCsrNFmAYi/ai-safety-s-biggest-talent-gap-isn-t-researchers-it-s-2), so open roles do exist.
- Some (most?) positions that exist are hard for MCPs to access, partly because AI safety orgs rely a lot on recommendations for hiring - I suspect Denis's friend, although qualified, was outside the referral network. This is part of why I proposed the hand-holding and reverse headhunting components: guiding people through various resources and actively finding the most promising roles for them.
- Alsi, this is one reason why, in an ideal world, the pipeline ends in founder matching rather than job placement: the strongest MCPs should create new openings in the field + new orgs to absorb a lot more funding.
These are my rough takes -- hope this answers your question a bit!
Perhaps somewhat predictably I strongly agree with this post! Thank you for writing it!
Thank you for sharing your friend's story in the last post! It crystallized some thoughts that I'd been chewing on for a bit in the background, and finally got me to write some takes down. Really appreciate it :)
I still don’t know how to solve the field’s salary problem, and I imagine your friend has settled into her new job by now – but if she’d ever like to be connected to the Praxis folks, or to another friend of mine whose Generator project helps people transition in, let me know!
hmm my mums slightly unemployed and has a history of working opps, think i might talk to her to see abt this stuff
thanks for another world-shattering read
<333 missing cam a lot rn!!
u shld come by, u might be able to meet Tilly if u get lucky tho she has not replied yet, i'm sure she just missed the email. next term starts around october
The positions seem to often be valuing the wrong thing in applicants. They tend to judge candidates based on publications in certain conferences/journals and coding tests, when what they actually need is not that (for a MCP).