A ridiculously in-depth guide to finding a fulfilling career that does good.
Get your free copy and get help finding work that’ll stay relevant, pay the bills, and make a difference.
“If you're worried about wasting your life, read this book.”
—Rutger Bretman
—author of Humankind
“If this had been published a decade earlier, it'd have saved me many restless nights.”
—Hannah Ritchie
—author of Not the End of the World
“Every college grad should read this.”
—Tim Urban
—creator of Wait But Why
Your career is the most important decision you’ll ever make
A typical career lasts 80,000 hours: 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, for 40 years. Choose well, and you can have a more rewarding, interesting life, and also help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Choose poorly, and you could waste decades. So what should you do?
Most advice is based on zero research, instead offering (misleading) platitudes like “follow your passion.” It’s surprisingly out of date, focusing on traditional paths rather than those most likely to thrive in an age of AI. And if you want to help others, the advice is even more simplistic: telling you to choose careers like nurse or doctor, when there are paths in which almost anyone can save more lives.
Drawing on 15 years of research, the book introduces a tried-and-tested toolkit that has already led thousands of people to change their path. It covers:
What makes for a dream job?
And why it probably doesn’t involve “following your passion.”
Which jobs will be automated?
And how you can take steps to ensure yours isn’t among them.
What are the world’s most
pressing problems?
And why they might involve AI as much as climate change.
Which jobs are highest-impact?
And how you can save more lives than a doctor.
What’s new?
Originally written 10 years ago, the book has been fully revised and updated, including:
Updates for the age of AI, with new chapters on the most valuable skills for an AI future and the most pressing AI risks
Expanded practical advice on career planning, guidance on career decisions, and more useful material for people further into their careers
All new design and layout, with fresh data visualisations and cartoons
Read the guide online, free
A physical copy is easy to return to, mark up, lend, and gift. But if you prefer a digital copy, 80,000 Hours also make the guide available to read for free online.
Read the guide →
What do readers think?
"'80,000 Hours' is nothing short of a masterpiece in the realm of career guidance and personal development."
Birger — ★★★★★ on Goodreads
“A potentially life-changing career guide. '80,000 Hours' presents a different, and more rigorous, approach to choosing a field of study and career than I've seen elsewhere."
Ellen — ★★★★★ on Goodreads
"I loved this book — it completely changed my outlook on life and how to make a difference."
Sabrina — ★★★★★ on Goodreads
*Praise for the previous edition
“The best book ever written about how to have a fulfilling and impactful career.”
—Liv Boeree
—poker champion and science communicator
“A lively, readable, thorough guide to one of life's most consequential decisions.”
—Brian Christian
—author of The Alignment Problem
About the author
Benjamin Todd is the founder and president of 80,000 Hours. Dissatisfied with the career advice he received at university, he began researching the guidance he wished he’d had. Over the next 10 years, he grew 80,000 Hours from a student society in Oxford into a nonprofit with millions of readers that’s been covered in Financial Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and BBC News. Today the organisation has over 50 staff, and has led thousands to change career paths, including people who have helped launch the field of AI safety, taken key roles preventing the next pandemic, and donated hundreds of millions of dollars to charity. Benjamin holds a master’s degree in physics and philosophy from Oxford, and speaks Chinese, badly.
More at benjamintodd.org →
About the organisation
80,000 Hours provides research and support to help talented people move into careers tackling the world’s most pressing problems via online advice, free one-on-one consultations, a job board, YouTube channels, and podcasts.
Their advice has led thousands to change career paths, including people who have helped launch the field of AI safety, taken key roles preventing the next pandemic, and (collectively) donated hundreds of millions of dollars to high impact charities.
More about the organisation →
CAREER
PLAN
CHANGES
3000+
7500+
ADVISING
CALLS
10M+
READERS
Get your free copy
A ridiculously in-depth guide based on 15+ years of research and what 80,000 Hours learned from advising thousands of people.