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Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Don’t think, just apply! (usually), published by MichaelA on April 12, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. TL;DR Don’t spend too long thinking about the pros and cons of applying to an opportunity (e.g., a job, grant, degree program, or internship). Assuming the initial application wouldn’t take you long, if it seems worth thinking hard about, you should probably just apply instead. Key Points It’s very easy to end up spending a similar or greater amount of time figuring out whether to apply than it’d take just to actually apply, given that it often takes just 30-120 mins to fill out the initial application form. You should probably just apply instead! It’s very hard to predict what you’ll get offers for, so it’s usually better to just apply and find out what actually happens. When you apply, or when you do each later stage of the process, you’re not deciding whether you’d want to accept the opportunity if offered - you’re just deciding whether to spend the time on whatever the first/next stage of the application process is. And given that most applicants to most opportunities get rejected anyway and that it’s often hard to work out whether you’d want to accept the opportunity, you should probably not bother thinking much about that till you actually have an offer (or perhaps a many-hour work-trial task).. You’ll also often get some benefits even from the application process alone (e.g., learning about your personal fit for the role, improving your career capital). I suggest a heuristic of applying for ~20 things a year if you are looking for work and ~5 things a year even if you think you probably don’t want to / can’t take a new opportunity. Epistemic status and authorship: This was drafted quickly by Michael and then edited and expanded by Akash and Michael. It mostly reflects Michael’s thinking, and parts of that thinking might be off. Apply to things! If someone wants to test their fit for a given line of work or build their career capital, my key recommendation is usually to apply for lots of "actual" jobs, grants, degree programs, internships, or other such things. (See the final section for collections of opportunities to apply to.) I think this is more useful than focusing on reading up on an area, doing independent projects, taking little courses, etc. It can make sense to also do the latter things, but that’s probably less good than just making loads of applications. So you should probably only do the other things on top of making many applications and if you happen to have extra time, rather than instead of making many applications. Why am I such a fan of applying to things? Applying to things often has good expected value, because: You might actually get one of these opportunities, which could allow for a lot of testing of fit, building of career capital, and direct impact. You’ll get at least some evidence about your fit for that opportunity and for similar opportunities/paths The evidence comes from seeing what the work tests or interviews involve, seeing how you feel you did in the work tests / interviews and how much you enjoyed them, and seeing how far through the selection processes you get. To be clear, getting a single rejection provides only a small amount of data, since rejection is essentially the default outcome. But lots of rejections for a given type of role eventually provides a decent bit of evidence, as does getting far in one work test or getting an offer. You may build career capital from the selection process, even if you don't get or accept an offer. This career capital comes from: building your skills and knowledge during the work tests the hirers recommending you for other roles or connecting you with other people, even if they don’t make you an offer for their role at this time or even if you don’t accept it the hirers reaching ...