No one knows what the Opportunities board is, and other updates

Agnes Stenlund 🔸

Last week I asked a group of very online EAs if they’d heard of the Opportunities board. To my surprise, not one of them had.

So before sharing recent updates: The Opportunities board lists opportunities that require less time or expertise than a full-time role. It includes internships, volunteer opportunities, part-time roles, events, funding opportunities, training programs, and more. If you know someone who would benefit from the board, consider letting them know it exists!

We’ve rolled out some UI updates

You can now access all filters without scrolling, and we’re making space to add more. You can also see more information about the opportunity up front: which type of opportunity it is, the exact time it got posted, and how many opportunities are currently on the board.

View the board

In the next few weeks we'll also add bigger pieces of functionality:

Email alerts
More filters (tell us which ones you’re missing)

What's next for the board

Sarah recently posted about how the CEA Online team will put some time towards improving the board (after seeing that the board did surprisingly well in the 2024 EA Survey given its relatively low resources^[1]).

After this initial UI refresh, I’ll focus on clarifying the criteria for which roles we include and defining the niche the board should fill alongside the 80k job board and the Probably Good job board. It’s likely we’ll focus on becoming an accessible entry point to start working on important problems, no matter where in the world you live.

We'll also start talking more about the board to increase awareness, and find ways to reach a broader audience.

Ways you can help

Share the board with someone who could use it: effectivealtruism.org/opportunities
Give us feedback (via comments or this form)
For organizations: submit opportunities to add to the board
For group organizers: request a Slack integration
For people interested in opportunities: Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter

Thanks to those who’ve given feedback so far. It’s been very helpful in shaping the direction of the project.

View the board

^{^}
3,7% cited it as one of the factors with the largest positive influence on their personal ability to have an impact

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Vasco Grilo🔸Sep 247

Thanks for the update, Agnes. Could you clarify how the Opportunities board complements the 80,000 Hours' and Probably Good's job boards? Both can be filtered in many ways for experience (including entry-level), location (including remote), and role type. I guess there are some roles which are in the Opportunities board missing from 80,000 Hours' and Probably Good's, but that they would be open to adding them in some way.

Here are 80,000 Hours' options for experience and role type.

Here are Probably Good's options for experience and role type.

Agnes Stenlund 🔸Sep 2513

This is something we’re still trying to figure out since taking over the project earlier this year (and it is, for good reasons, the most common question I get when talking to users about the board). For many people the other boards will already do a good job if you’re looking for these types of roles. We’re still evaluating the amount of resources we want to spend on improving the board, alongside talking to students and group members to better understand what they find useful.

My thinking on the unique value of the Opportunities board is still developing, but here are some ways I’m thinking about the board being useful:

A less intimidating space for the specific audience it’s targeting. Many group organisers use the board to show group members or people who just heard about EA.
By focusing only on part-time roles we may be able to get much more breadth here than the other boards are able to, including opportunities that don’t fit neatly on a job board. I’m especially optimistic about finding ways to source more local opportunities outside of US and Europe (something 80k isn’t focusing on right now but which @Conor Barnes 🔶 mentioned has been requested)
I could also imagine the EA brand and EA website being more effective at driving traffic than e.g. Probably Good, which may mean we should in fact not be strongly niched but instead also start showing full time roles (especially with 80k’s move towards more AI Safety roles)
More exposure to good opportunities seems valuable in general. Some people will come across 80k or Probably Good, others will find the Opportunities board. We’ve already heard impact stories from people who found a role here they wouldn’t otherwise have seen, either because it wasn’t on the other boards, or because they weren’t looking there at the time.

I’m still exploring if this is the right niche and how to communicate it more clearly. For now I’m fairly optimistic the board is helping people find work they otherwise wouldn’t, which makes me excited to keep developing and growing it.

Damin Curtis🔹Oct 75

I get updates from all these lists emailed to me, and the EA Opportunities Board is one of my favorites because it often has part-time opportunities (eg fellowships, courses, part time work) which I think don't make it into some of the other lists' headlines (either because the opportunity is small, or too EA-niche). Just my two cents.