Career lessons from twelve years of jumping around
My career path is jagged, with sharp pivots formed by a handful of difficult decisions. The three biggest ones—from my PhD to McKinsey, from McKinsey to a startup I quit after two weeks, and from Microsoft to AI & biosecurity policy—stand out as defining moments1. The year since leaving Microsoft has been rewarding and illuminating, and I was fortunate to spend extra time in liminal space2. After leaving Microsoft I undertook the creative program from The Artist’s Way: writing, exploring, and making art for 12 weeks. I also got involved in the Seattle climate scene, working from the amazing 9Zero community and co-organizing the Seattle Climate Hackathon. And I’ve enjoyed advising some early- and mid-career folks this year.
I recently started a three-month fellowship in AI policy through the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS). During this fellowship I’m doing research at the intersection of AI and biosecurity as a Contributing Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. This fellowship marks an exciting new chapter in my career. This new beginning and recent conversations I’ve had with others making their own career transitions have me feeling reflective about the lessons I’ve learned since I first stepped out of academic science twelve years ago.
The lesson I’m sharing here is applicable to most career transitions: People want to help you, so ask for help.
There are a few corollaries I take from this central lesson:
Go where people are offering help
Be bold and ask for help
Be useful
#1 - Go where people are offering help
In hindsight, it’s surprising I left Microsoft to work on AI and/or climate without first talking to anyone working on AI. Though I’d read extensively about AI and knew it was time for a change, I still should have talked to someone about the field and where I might fit. I knew about 80,000 Hours, The Curve conference, and I read lots of blogs about AI. But I only made real progress once I started talking to people.
These are some of the ways I eventually found mentors and resources in AI safety and policy, in chronological order:
AI Safety Quest: Incredibly useful initial navigation call, oriented me to resources and next steps I could take.
AI Safety, Ethics, and Society course from the Center for AI Safety: Excellent course that helped me immerse myself in the AI safety & governance world, thinking more deeply about the challenges and opportunities there. My facilitator and cohort were amazing, they helped me learn in a very supportive environment.
Effective Altruism (EA) Global: Highly recommended, a great place to connect with people working on a wide range of important problems, including AI safety, alignment, governance, and policy—but also animal welfare, global health, and many other cause areas. I volunteered at mine and highly recommend that too. Volunteering gave me a sense of contribution and camaraderie that made the event especially meaningful, and it was another volunteer that told me to talk with Successif.
Successif: They provide fantastic career advising on AI risk reduction for experienced professionals. 80,000 Hours is the parallel organization that gives career advice (including written guides and live advising) for everyone, no matter what career phase they’re in.
IAPS fellowship: Joining the IAPS fellowship has been the highlight of my career transition, particularly because of the generous support and thoughtful community it provides. I’m thankful every day for the opportunity. Over the past year, my learning has mirrored the icon of this blog—an exponential, growing slowly at first, accelerating, and then hitting a singularity. The two-week kickoff of the IAPS fellowship in Washington DC was that singularity, an intense period of learning, connection, and synthesis.
This is what helped me, but it’s specific to my interests and career stage. Whatever you’re looking to do, there’s probably a place where experienced people are offering help to those newer to the field. Finding those places and connecting with people there is very high-value and high-leverage!
#2 - Be bold and ask for help
The most common advice I give to mentees is this: Reach out to more people on LinkedIn, asking for conversations, especially when you have some shared background. Leverage any network you have! People love talking about their paths and giving advice/support. And if you have a high-leverage opportunity coming up, actively seek extensive support—resume review, interview prep, and guidance from anyone willing to help. I’m grateful to everyone who helped review my resume and gave mock interviews for my application to the IAPS fellowship. I’d happily return that favor to anyone in my network.
When I first decided to transition from academic science to consulting, I did the same thing. During my PhD I was also taking classes at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. I got in touch with their consulting club and did mock interviews with just about everyone in the club! I also got resume reviews from dozens of people. I only ever interviewed with one consulting firm (McKinsey). I was rejected with no interview by Bain, BCG, AT Kearney, Booz & Company, Oliver Wyman, and many others. That made my McKinsey interview extremely high stakes, so I did everything I could to maximize my chances. I had a lot of luck and privilege, for sure, but I was also strategic about asking many people for help. Fortune definitely favors the bold.
#3 - Be useful
First, being useful to other people just feels good! I loved co-organizing the Seattle Climate Hackathon, volunteering at EA Global, volunteering in prisons with Defy Ventures, and volunteering at the Rainier Valley Food Bank. These experiences connected me with people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, including AI startup founders, UC Berkeley philosophy undergrads, incarcerated men, and unhoused Seattleites. Those experiences and connections filled me with deep gratitude. And they also kept me from going stir-crazy or getting rusty while I looked for my next opportunity.
About a month before EA Global, after talking to AI Safety Quest, I tried to make a directory website for AI safety resources. I talked about this project with people at EA Global and they convinced me that it wasn’t very high value, and other people had already done it for AI safety generally and emerging tech/AI policy in particular (both are great resources!) Still, this is one early way that I showed people in this community I didn’t just want a job—I wanted to contribute and build things. I think that led to better conversations, even though my idea/prototype wasn’t very good. (And looking back on it now, the resource list I drafted was embarrassingly narrow and incomplete.)
In addition, finding ways to be useful can help you attract people who might provide you support or guidance. I won’t make a defense of the law of attraction here (I’m personally ambivalent about it), but if nothing else, I notice that I’m always particularly excited to help young people who themselves give back in whatever way they can. It’s something we then have in common, and is an indirect sort of reciprocity. It’s hard to explain, but I really think that by giving back, you’re attracting others to give to you.
So what?
Looking back at my journey over the past two years, the most surprising realization is that I didn’t initially follow this advice very well. Asking for help can be incredibly difficult. Yet my experience confirms there’s a real abundance of people eager to give advice and support. They might require effort to find, or some bravery to approach—but they’re out there, eager and willing to share what they’ve learned. If you’re feeling stuck or uncertain, remember this: you’re rarely as alone as you think, and someone is probably waiting for the chance to help you. Now that I’m settling into work deeply aligned with my values and interests, I’m delighted to offer whatever help I can, both one-on-one and through my writing.
Joining the UW Molecular and Cellular Biology PhD program, David Baker’s lab, Revel (a Seattle consulting firm), and Microsoft were big jumps too!
A transitional or ‘in-between’ period, like my time after leaving Microsoft but before deciding what to do next. I also experience this liminality after moving to a new city, before I’ve settled into a new routine. The term comes from the Latin limen, meaning ‘threshold.’ See also one of my favorite books, Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray.
Very cool to see your story, Matt! Quite the accomplishment across a variety of areas. I’ve always pictured the process as being a willing ball in a plinko game. Bounce off of things until you find where your value settles and don’t be afraid to drop into the game again.