Introduction:
In the fast-paced and ever-evolving career landscape, we meet many individuals who often find themselves at crossroads, searching for concrete career choices that align with their interests, strengths, and EA aspirations. And many of us run into hurdles along the way: finding career/career building opportunities, having time/money restrictions, running into practical limitations, facing motivational dips, and other personal challenges. We all have our own obstacles and inspirational (TED) talks can't solve them all. That's why we designed these sessions: because not a general topic but your own current situation is leading.
What we'll do:
We organise these dynamic 3.5-hour sessions hosted by Laurens van der Vuurst (a facilitator, coach and design thinking expert) and several experienced Effective Altruists, where participants come together to support and guide each other in making informed career decisions. You will be part of a diverse peer group, ensuring a rich exchange of perspectives and experiences - to collaborate and embark on a practical journey of self-discovery, exploration, and solutions using Design Thinking steps.
First we focus on empathy and understanding. Participants actively listen to each other's stories, experiences, and career aspirations. By sharing personal challenges and successes, you develop a deeper understanding of each others' individual contexts and dilemmas. All participants will finish this phase by completing the question: "Given my situation, how can I ...?" That will help focus the brainstorm that follows, for a plethora of ideas, strategies, and solutions to address your defined challenges. To conclude, you will order the ideas you received based on how easy and effective you expect each of them to be.
You'll make a first prototype/draft of the best idea you select - translating the best idea to tangible action plans, setting short-term goals and milestones. Feedback and constructive criticism can be exchanged within the groups, enabling refinement and improvement of the prototypes, making it way easier to realise the solution in the days to come. The session ends with practical implementation of the solution(s), as the first steps are often the hardest to make. Perhaps you'd even like to stay in touch with fellow peers to keep encouraging each other.
An experiment:
The format has already proven itself in other settings. We would like to experiment with this format in an EA career support setting. You can already have a positive impact by participating in one of the sessions and providing your valuable feedback afterwards!
Target audience & accessibility:
We think these sessions are particularly effective for Individuals who are thinking about their next career step (or step in their EA plans) and are interested to incorporate the principles of Effective Altruism in their decisions. Both people who are new on their impact journey and those who have been engaging with EA longer are warmly invited.
Some familiarity with Effective Altruism is required (read a book, listened to some podcasts and/or followed an intro course). Are you hesitant? Spend a few hours on 80,000 hours and err on the side of signing up!
Prefer to speak Dutch? If enough participants, we'll try form a Dutch group!
The place is also easy to access for people with disabilities.
How to sign up:
Just get a 'ticket'. We'll send a short email before the session with a prepartion question and make sure this session is worth your time.