Why Your Career Choice is Your Life’s Biggest Ethical Decision
3D Art, Langkawi
“Make a habit of two things: to help, or at least do no harm.”
At 17 years old, I’m having a conversation with my family. One of many. It’s evening time, after dinner, and we’re gathered in the living room. Once again, I’ve pulled everyone’s attention away from the television and onto me. By this stage, I’m close to making a decision. I’ve done the research, taken the online quizzes, met with the careers advisor, and done a whole lot of work experience. In a few months’ time, I’ll be submitting my UCAS application, and that’ll be it. Career decided. Simple, right?
“I don’t want to have to worry about whether what I’m doing is ethical or not,” I tell them. “I know there are ethical issues within medicine, but at least I know that with the right intentions, I’ll more or less be doing the right thing.”
Even at 17 years old, I was conscious that my career choice was an ethical decision. I knew that I could use my job to do good every day. I was also keenly aware that the wrong choice might lead me to actions that conflicted with my moral values. I worried that I would fail in certain careers if I refused to compromise my ethics, and this was not a dilemma I wanted to face on a daily basis. On a religious level, as a Muslim, I had two strongly held beliefs to consider. The first related to the concept of karma, or as it’s known in Islam, barakah. This idea that putting good out into the world through my actions and words would increase the amount of good I would receive. The second was the idea that money should be earned in a halal way. This meant that the job I did shouldn’t conflict with any of my religious beliefs; working for a company that sold alcohol, for example, would be out of the question because consuming alcohol and encouraging others to do so would conflict with my religious beliefs.
So, as I thought about choosing an ethical career, there were a few immediately obvious candidates; anything within the healthcare sector, teaching, or social work all seemed like fairly innocuous choices. Then there were the careers with a bad reputation; investment banking and the fossil fuel industry seemed to be full of people wanting to make money at the expense of others or the environment. Then of course, there were the controversial careers, ones you could use for good or evil; politics, journalism, and law could all swing heavily from one end of the spectrum to the other. Even the pharmaceutical industry, despite contributing to millions of saved lives, was marked with controversy (the book Big Pharma by Jacky Law was a popular read at the time). As a 17-year-old with a conscience but a limited understanding of the world, how was I meant to navigate these complexities? The answer was that I didn’t. I simply chose the career in which I thought I could do the most good. Being both ambitious and academic, I chose medicine.
Fast forward years later, after dedicating almost half of my life to being a doctor, and I am reflecting on the impact I’ve had throughout my career. It’s an interesting reflection. When I chose to go down this path, I was under no illusion that I would be saving lives on a daily basis. But I wondered whether the number of lives I had saved, or at the very least improved, outweighed the number of hospital discharge summaries I had written. Probably not. It was with this mindset that I was absent-mindedly scrolling through LinkedIn and came across a company called 80,000 Hours. I was immediately curious.
80,000 Hours is a non-profit organisation whose work is based around the concept that, on average, during our lifespan, every one of us will spend 80,000 hours in the career that we choose. So, they argue that it’s the best opportunity we have to have a positive impact on the world. They use years of academic research and evidence to provide guidance on choosing an ethical career. But they certainly aren’t telling people to go into healthcare, teaching, or social work. They have a bigger mission: to solve the world’s biggest and most neglected problems. Reading through their blog gave me a lot of food for thought. Naturally, their three-part series on why being a doctor doesn’t have the impact that we think was a bit of a damning read. They go on to give their opinions on other careers they feel will have a much bigger impact, but they also explore two alternative options: doing good through money or through power and influence.
It's undeniable that both of these things, if used well, can have a hugely positive impact on the world. A millionaire donating money to improve access to water, sanitation, or sustainable farming methods in a less developed country would save more lives than a doctor in a developed country whose impact might only extend to a handful of people. A politician who influences policies on asylum or renewable energy might save even more lives, arguably for generations to come. But what about the people carrying out the actual work? Access to water and sanitation requires someone to design and actually build a pipe and sewage system. Policies on renewable energy require scientists and engineers to come up with alternative solutions and implement them. Traditionally, these ethical careers don’t come with very large salaries, and we could come up with a long list of reasons why. But perhaps we should focus instead on making these careers more attractive. People who are trying to have a positive impact through their careers often feel guilt for asking for more. There is a feeling that their pursuit would somehow be less noble if they were to ask for a pay rise, benefits, or better working conditions. But I would argue that it is their moral responsibility to ask for more. By making their career as attractive as possible, they can influence some of the brightest and most ambitious minds to contribute to their field.
So, what is the best way to have a positive impact through your career? Ultimately, it comes down to you as an individual. If you have an incredibly high earning potential, then earn to give. If you’re charismatic and can influence people easily, use your voice to change policy for the better. If you have a skill that can help the world, use it. There are so many ways in which any career can be practiced ethically, increasing its positive impact. I may not have the huge impact on humanity I set out to have when I became a doctor, but on the days when I can make someone smile, ease their pain, and be there for them in their hardest moments, it feels worth it. And very occasionally, I might even get to save a life.
