[Article] “4 biases to avoid in career decisions” by Benjamin Todd

Over the last couple of decades, a large and growing body of research has emerged which shows that our decisions are far from rational. We did a survey of this research to find out what it means for your career decisions. It turns out that we likely don't know as much as we think we do, are overconfident, tend to think too narrowly and continue with paths that are no longer best for us. We need to be more sceptical of our decisions than we might be inclined to be; find ways to broaden our options; and take a more systematic and evidence-based approach to career choice.

Narrated by AI.

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Outline:

(00:53) 1. Thinking narrowly

(01:04) What's the evidence for this?

(01:48) Why is it a problem for careers?

(02:31) What can you do about it?

(03:02) 2. Getting stuck

(03:12) What's the evidence for this?

(03:34) Why is it a problem for careers?

(04:17) What can you do about it?

(05:00) 3. Misjudging our chances

(05:10) What's the evidence for this?

(06:04) Why is it a problem for careers?

(06:39) What can you do about it?

(07:17) 4. Relying too much on your gut

(07:33) What can you do about it?

The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
October 26th, 2014

Last updated:
April 7th, 2017

Source:
https://80000hours.org/articles/4-biases-to-avoid-in-career-decisions

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.