[Career review] “Software engineering” by Benjamin Hilton

Software engineers can contribute directly to solving some of the world’s most pressing problems. There is a shortage of software engineers at the cutting edge of research into AI safety. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (01:34) In a nutshell: (02:02) Pros (02:21) Cons (02:50) Key facts on fit (03:06) Sometimes recommended -- personal fit dependent (03:18) Review status (03:47) Why might software engineering be high impact? (04:29) How to do good as a software engineer (07:44) Software engineers can help with AI safety (09:57) Software engineer salaries mean you can earn to give (12:07) What does a software engineering career involve? (13:26) Working for a large software company (15:12) Key career stages at large tech companies (17:55) Working for a startup as a software engineer (19:49) Moving to a direct impact software engineering role (19:55) Working in AI safety (22:05) Working on reducing global catastrophic biological risks (23:33) Other important direct work (24:44) Reasons not to go into software engineering (25:36) How much do software engineers earn? (26:50) Software engineering salaries in the US (30:11) Software engineering pay in other countries (32:35) Software engineering job outlook (33:44) Software engineering job satisfaction (34:52) Examples of people pursuing this path (34:57) Nova DasSarma (35:49) Roman Duda (36:38) How to predict your fit in advance (37:56) How to enter this field (38:30) Learning to program (40:50) Getting your first job in software engineering (43:38) Want one-on-one advice on pursuing this path? (43:59) Learn more (44:02) Top recommendations (44:19) Further recommendations (44:25) Articles from 80,000 Hours (45:00) Other reading (45:51) Find a job in this path (46:02) Learn about other high-impact careers The original text contained 9 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: February 4th, 2022 Source: https://80000hours.org/career-reviews/software-engineering --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. --- Images from the article: Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.