# Talk to me about your summer/career plans

Last May, I wrote a post called [talk to me about your summer plans](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/eREwP2tom9QKkvCqR/talk-to-me-about-your-summer-plans). I was impressed by the number & quality of people who reached out. Some people found it helpful, so I'm doing it again. 

**TLDR: Please reach out to me if you are interested in learning about summer opportunities or career transitions relating to AI safety**. Also, feel free to **share this post** with people who might benefit (e.g., a researcher who was recently laid off by a tech company; a talented operations specialist who has been following the AI stuff but doesn't know what to do). *You can message me on* [*LessWrong*](https://www.lesswrong.com/users/akash-wasil) *or the* [*EA Forum*](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/users/akash)*.*

Background
==========

I often have 1:1 conversations with people who want to reduce AI x-risk. A few observations:

*   Peoples' motivations often don't match up with their plans. 
*   It's often hard for people to keep track of all the posted opportunities.
*   It's even harder for people to keep track of all the *unposted* opportunities.
*   Sometimes people don't realize how their skills can be useful.
*   Sometimes, short conversations with me seem to lead someone to seriously consider changing how they spend their summer/career.

What I can do
=============

**If you're interested in summer opportunities or career opportunities in AI safety, please reach out to me**. Specific things I can do:

*   Connect you with opportunities/people that you might not know about.
*   Help you consider faster or more ambitious ways to spend your summer.
*   Ask [questions](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/uqcKKTRWcED6y3WFW/questions-that-lead-to-impactful-conversations) to help you consider [wider action spaces](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/HmDSQQtJkkfcXQibu/three-reflections-from-101-ea-global-conversations)

Specific things I will try *not* to do:

*   Tell you what you should do.
*   Make you feel guilty if you have considerations for how to spend your time that go beyond maximizing the utility of the universe.

What to do if you're interested
===============================

Send me a message with:

*   Who you are
*   Your current level of knowledge/familiarity with AI safety 
*   What your current plans are
*   What your biggest strengths/skills are
*   Miscellaneous information about your engagement with EA or your aptitudes (e.g., I completed an intro fellowship; I submitted a proposal to the ELK contest; I'm competent in operations and people management).

**Please spend less than 5 minutes on this**; I will ask you if I need more information.

Who should do this?
===================

I expect I will be most helpful to people who are interested in technical AI safety, AI strategy/governance, operations/events, and outreach/field-building. I'm still happy to talk to people with other interests, though, and I'm also happy to connect them to others.

*Caveats: I am not a professional career advisor, some of my advice will be wrong, you should also get advice from other people, etc. *