Ask HN: Could identical twins better optimize career discovery?
I was thinking about identical twins and career choice and wondered if there is an untapped optimization strategy here.
Identical twins often share many traits that influence career satisfaction, like interests, stress tolerance, values, and cognitive style. Because of that, information learned by one twin about what they like or dislike in a job may partially transfer to the other.
In theory, twins could coordinate early career exploration. Instead of both trying similar paths, each twin deliberately tries different industries, roles, or work environments. They then share detailed feedback about what felt engaging, draining, motivating, or misaligned. This could reduce duplicated trial and error and help both converge faster on careers they are likely to enjoy.
This would work best with low risk, reversible experiments such as internships, short contracts, coursework, or job shadowing. It would not replace individual exploration, since some preferences only show up firsthand, but it could supplement it.
Identical twins do not usually do this deliberately. Most career paths unfold independently, and twins often feel pressure to differentiate rather than coordinate. When something like this happens, it seems accidental rather than strategic.
What do you think of this idea? > Identical twins often share many traits that influence career satisfaction, like interests, stress tolerance, values, and cognitive style. Is this actually true to any degree greater than non-identical siblings? Can't speak to the career aspect but being very much not a fan of the 9-5, I think if I had an identical twin we'd just go into the office for four hours a day each.