The following is my career advice for high schoolers and college students. It is based on my own experiences, conversations I’ve had, and ideas from the blog 80,000 Hours. It is primarily geared towards the average middle class individual who has a moderate level of conscientiousness and intelligence. I don’t examine the questions of whether it is worth it to go to college or whether it is worth it to go to an expensive college because I am unsure about those topics. As with all advice, be critical of my suggestions and consider whether they really apply to your own life.

1. Be risk-averse.
   • Why:
     1. If someone offered you a 5% chance of getting two million dollars and a 95% chance of becoming $20,000 in debt, you should not take the offer because, on average, accumulating debt makes your life much worse than gaining the same amount of money.
   • How:
     1. Measure a career by its expected value and worst-case outcome rather than focusing on the best outcome.
        1. For example, if there’s a 30% chance that you will be unable to secure a job with a degree, consider instead pursuing a degree that gives you a much higher chance of getting a job.
     2. If a career has many steps to go through, examine what career you would have to do if you only completed some of its steps.
        1. For example, if you are interested in becoming a doctor, consider what career you would do if you only got a bachelor’s degree.
     3. As a corollary, pursue a bachelor’s degree that is desirable by itself whenever possible.
        1. Why:
           1. If one’s bachelor’s degree is unnecessarily specialized for one field, that can substantially reduce one’s career options.
              1. For example, to become an actuary, one does not need to get a bachelor’s in actuarial science, but a bachelor’s in actuarial science does reduce one’s career options. As such, a more general bachelor’s degree such as one in mathematics or finance should be considered more desirable.
              2. Similarly, to become a therapist, one does not need a bachelor’s in psychology, but a bachelor’s in psychology does reduce one’s career options. As such, a more general bachelor’s degree in biology should be considered more desirable.
        2. How:
           1. Determine which bachelor’s degrees a career allows you to pursue and then choose the one that is most desirable by itself.
2. Be conscientious about money.
   • Why:
     1. The more savings you have, the more financially independent you will be.
        1. This will allow you to have more control over your life, and it will reduce the risk that an institution or a set of individuals makes your choices for you.
   • How:
     1. Go to a community college before transferring to a university.
        1. By going to a community college, you can get the exact same college credits but at a much cheaper rate.
     2. Attend an in-state university.
        1. Why:
           1. An in-state university is typically tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than an out-of-state university.
     3. Consider a discount university such as Western Governors University or University of the People.
        1. Why:
           1. Discount universities are tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than typical universities.
              1. Additionally, if you complete a very inexpensive bachelor’s degree, you are more likely to have the resources to afford a master’s degree, which can substantially increase your lifetime earnings.
     4. Learn to reduce your spending by reading financial advice from authors in the early retirement movement.
        1. Why:
           1. Typical finance advice assumes that you will retire at the age of sixty five, which means that it encourages you to arbitrarily correlate your spending with your income. In contrast, finance advice from those in the early retirement movement focuses on making trade-offs between short-term and long-term goals.
        2. How:
           1. Read the book Early Retirement Extreme, which teaches how to reduce one’s spending from the perspective of a man who lives on less than $7,000 a year.
           2. Read the blog Mr. Money Mustache, which teaches how to save money from the perspective of a man who retired at the age of thirty.
3. Be scientific about what career you would like to pursue.
   • Why:
     1. As 80,000 Hours argues, seriously considering a wide range of career options can increase one’s chances of finding a satisfying career.
   • How:
     1. First, identify twenty different careers you could see yourself doing.
        1. Start your career search by looking at high-paying in-demand jobs.
           1. For a list of the fastest growing occupations, look at Career Onestop’s “Fastest-Growing Careers.”
              1. Currently, the fastest growing occupations are in computer science, finance, and public health.
           2. For a list of the highest paying occupations, look at Career Onestop’s “Highest-Paying Careers.”
              1. The highest paying careers are in medicine, law, STEM, and finance.
              2. Most of these careers require many years of training so they may not be ideal for the average person.
     2. Second, gather the following information about each career:
        1. The exact steps needed to enter the career
           1. Such as degrees, projects, internships, exams, and training programs.
        2. The total duration of these steps in years.
        3. The total cost of these steps, including the cost of living.
        4. Your chance of succeeding at entering the career.
           1. Account for factors such as how likely you are to complete the education and how likely you are to secure a job with your education.
        5. How good you will be at the career.
        6. How meaningful the career will be.
        7. The median salary if you receive some education or training but are unable to enter the career.
        8. The career’s median salary
     3. Third, based on this information, reduce your list to just seven careers.
        1. Be conscientious about how much risk you are willing to take and err on the side of caution by including careers you are unsure about in your final list.
     4. Fourth, for each career, actively seek out information that will help you determine if it is the right fit for you.
        1. Watch a YouTube video or read an article about what it is like to do the career.
        2. Read a text that is directly related to the career, such as a popular science book, a textbook, or an academic article.
        3. Contact people currently working in the career to ask them questions about their job.
        4. Get experience in the career, such as by doing an internship or volunteering.
        5. Do a project that gives you a sense of whether you would like the day-to-day tasks involved in the career.
   • Note:
     1. This section is heavily based on the 80,000 Hours’ article “How to find the right career for you”, which you may want to check out yourself.      
4. Cultivate a resilient personality.
   • Why:
     1. Your life almost certainly will not go how you expect. By developing a resilient personality, you can focus your effort on making the world a better place for yourself and for others rather than being bogged down by negative emotions of regret, disappointment, jealousy, anger, and grief.
   • How:
     1. Embrace imperfection.
     2. Embrace uncertainty.
     3. Embrace failure.
     4. Embrace misfortune.
     5. Embrace suffering.
5. If you are unsure about what career to pursue, take a gap year.
   • Why:
     1. Historically, college was much cheaper than it is today. As a result, it made sense to take a variety of classes in different fields to get a sense of how much one would like to work in a specific field.
     2. Unfortunately, nowadays, college is so much more expensive than it used to be that one is unlikely to have sufficient resources to determine their desired career in college.
   • How:
     1. If your parents are affluent, you may be able to convince them to let you take a gap year.
        1. By stating that you have seriously thought about this and that you are trying to be risk-averse, you may be more likely to convince them.
     2. During this gap year, consider taking the scientific approach to determining which career is best for you.

        If you’re looking for more career advice, I would recommend checking out 80,000 Hours, which is an evidence-based guide on how to pursue the most impactful career.