NLWhy these jobs?
How a job ends up on this board, and where we might be wrong.
Three checks
A role gets onto the board only if it passes all three. Under every listing we write how it passed, so you can judge for yourself.
Is the problem pressing?
The work has to bear on one of five problems we think are unusually large, solvable and neglected. Most good causes are not on the list. Not because they do not matter, but because one more person adds more where almost nobody is working yet.
Does the approach hold up?
Within one problem, some approaches achieve far more than others. Where an independent evaluator or an EA funder has already vetted the organisation, we rely on that. Otherwise the judgement is ours.
Does this role move it?
Some roles command more than their own hours: they direct money, write rules a whole sector follows, or produce research anyone can use. Others are the way into the teams that do. Generic support at a good organisation is usually not enough.
The five problems
Four kinds of role
What passes lands in one of four groups, each here for a different reason.
Look outside the Netherlands first
If you are genuinely optimising your career for impact, the strongest opportunities are usually not in the Netherlands. Much of the work on these problems is concentrated in London, the Bay Area, Washington and Nairobi. These three boards cover it better than we do, and you should look at them first.
- 80,000 HoursThe largest list of roles at organisations working on these problems, with detailed career research alongside it.
- Probably GoodRoles and career advice, with more weight on global health and animal welfare.
- EA OpportunitiesAlso internships, fellowships, research programmes and shorter projects — useful if a permanent job is not the right next step.
Not everyone can move. A partner with a job here, children in school, caring responsibilities, a residence permit — or you simply do not want to leave. That is a reasonable trade-off, not a lack of commitment. This board is built for that situation: the best options we can find in the Netherlands. We would rather say so up front than let you work it out later.
Why the problem comes first
Problems differ enormously: in how many people or animals they affect, and in how much money and talent already goes to them. One more pair of hands adds little to a problem thousands work on, and a lot to one almost nobody is looking at. 80,000 Hours estimates that the choice of problem alone can make more than a hundredfold difference.
That is not a verdict on what anyone cares about. It is a reason to think hard about where you put your one career.
This argument is 80,000 Hours’, not ours. Read it in full:
Why is climate not here?
Not because we think climate change does not matter. It is not here because in the Netherlands it is not neglected: a great deal of money, talent and political attention already goes to it. That is good news. The problems on this board do not have that attention, which is exactly why we single them out.
Which climate work is genuinely underrated remains a good question — and a separate one. Effective Environmentalism takes it seriously and has research and a community around it. That is a better place to start than a handful of employers here would have been.
This board is still in beta
We are showing it to the Dutch community while it is unfinished, because we would rather hear what is wrong with it now than in six months.
What you will notice: the list is not complete — we follow dozens of Dutch organisations, but nowhere near all of them. The reason we write under each vacancy is our judgement, and it can simply be wrong. The problem-area explainers are not in English yet. And some vacancies close before we catch it.
None of that is a reason to wait before telling us what you think. The opposite.
Want to understand this first?
Start with our free course: about 100 minutes in six short units, at your own pace, with no sign-up. To go further, apply for the EA Fellowship: five weeks of reading and discussion in a small group. Also free, but selective.