In our reader survey, several of you told us that it’s frustrating to look for work in AI safety if you don’t live in the Bay Area. That makes sense — of the 623 AI safety jobs on our job board, more than half are based in that region (even if some can be done remotely).
I live in New York City, which is an AI safety backwater. I’ve had several roles in the AI safety world, and occasional visits to the Bay Area make it easier for me to stay connected, find jobs, and learn what people are working on and thinking about (so I can write these newsletters for all of you).
I’ve written a Substack post about how I plan these trips. So here are a few tips to get you started:
- Start with a big event where you can meet people. A big event lets you talk to people about their work and get ideas for where you might contribute. It’s also a great way to hear about other, smaller events, so you can structure your trip around them. (Coffee chats are still a thing in the Bay, but you’ll do a lot of your networking at evening events.)
- Effective Altruism Global is ideal for this, but smaller conferences are great too, if there’s one you’re interested in.
- Some places to find events that might be open to the public:
- Talk to people you know about what to do. If you already know people who work on AI safety in the Bay, let them know you’ll be around and see what events they’d recommend and who they think you should meet.
- Make a list of skills someone might hire you for. And be ready to suggest jobs for yourself if the opportunity comes up in conversation.
- Be an easy person to help. Don’t cold-email the most famous person in your space unless there’s a compelling reason for them to meet with you specifically. Don’t ask people for generic advice that makes them do all the work for you. (I like Ben Kuhn’s guide to asking for things.)
- But also, don’t let anxiety about asking for help stop you from meeting people. A lot of your best connections will be people who are just a bit more advanced in their careers than you, aren't as busy, and can offer great advice because they remember being in your shoes.
- Focus on being known, not getting a job in any given conversation. The goal is for people to know you exist and think positively about you.
- Expect an unusual culture: compared to most business environments, AI safety tends to mix the personal and professional, and people will be more frank about their opinions of your work and plans. This can be off-putting — I’ve had my entire life strategy challenged at what I thought would be a chill evening with friends — but it’s also refreshing!
- You might need to pace yourself. There are a lot of things to do and people to meet. If you only expect to go once, feel free to max yourself out socially. But if you might actually move there, try to do at least one trip where you live normally (laundry, nights without a party) and realistically assess whether you’d enjoy living there.
I’ve really enjoyed my trips to the Bay: I almost always end up hearing about a new AI safety idea I’d never thought about before, or meeting someone I’d be excited to work with in the future. If you think you’d enjoy this, I’d recommend giving it a try.
Although these trips have been useful to me professionally, I don’t think they’ve been useful enough that I’d take them if I didn’t actively enjoy meeting new people, or if travel were more costly for me (I’ll probably do this much less once I have a child). So if you’re thinking “this sounds terrible,” a networking trip may not be a great way for you to find your next role — you could join our headhunting database instead.
(For more on planning a successful networking trip, see my full Substack post!)
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