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Direct work means that you work on solving an important problem yourself. It can be, for example, as a doctor, entrepreneur or through work in a charity organization.
Certain factors mean that you should think before taking a job that helps others directly. For one thing, such jobs are rarely overlooked. As we’ve mentioned before, doctors in rich countries probably don’t make much of a difference on the margin because there are so many of them, which means that the most important interventions will be performed regardless of whether you actually become a doctor or not. Due to diminishing marginal returns, one has the opportunity to make a bigger difference in areas that receive less attention.
Another counterargument is that many charities are more constrained by funding than by interested job applicants. If you don’t take the job, it will probably be pretty easy to find someone else who would do just as well. For example, imagine a lawyer who wants to do good and therefore volunteers at a soup kitchen. It might feel good to the person in question. But if the goal is to make a big difference, it would have been more strategic to spend the equivalent time in the well-paid job and use part of the salary to fund the work of more, potentially more suitable, people. Or he could have helped an efficient organization with pro bono legal work. For the world, the important thing is not that you do the work, but that as much as possible is done.
Another risk with direct work is what we mentioned earlier: when evaluating the effect of various community initiatives and charitable organizations, it has been found that many unfortunately only have a small effect, or no effect at all. If you start working for an organization without ensuring that it achieves what it aspires to, you risk making no difference at all. No matter how hard you work or how good your intentions are.
But there can be good opportunities to make a big difference by working directly on important problems. There are organizations that are very efficient and they are sometimes limited by a lack of competent employees. Then there are conditions for the right person to make a large contribution. So when you’re considering whether to work for an organization that does good right away, you should ask yourself:
- Is this organization good at solving important problems?
- Is this organization limited by a lack of competent staff? Could you successfully fill such a role?
If the answer to both questions is yes, you may have found your best option to make a big difference.
A major advantage of non-profit organizations is that they can work on problems that other actors have no incentive to tackle and are therefore overlooked. Many agree that it is desirable to create a good future for future generations, but few focus on it in their daily work. Profit-making companies have their shareholders to think about and politicians need to attract votes for the next election. Non-profit organizations can address issues that lack commercial interests, conduct research that is not academically prestigious, or carry out advocacy work for groups that cannot do it themselves, such as animals or future generations.