How To Get A Job In Crypto
How To Get A Job In Crypto
Want to go full-time degen? Say no more.
Welcome Anon, it’s time for you to spend days and nights in the crypto industry because solely the late nights wasn’t enough.
You’ve spent countless months/years diving into every corner of crypto and you start to ask yourself, why don’t I just get paid for it full-time instead of allocating the late evenings to that? I’ve been in that exact scenario and it’s time for me to spread the blueprint I applied to succeed in doing so. Before we get started, this is not easy by any means so if you’re going to be lazy you can probably stop reading now.
First of all, before we get into the weeds of how to get a job in crypto I need to be clear with one thing. We are in a recession and now is not the time to leave your job if you have a stable income. Many people might lose their jobs, so don’t take this lightly. Nonetheless, I know you guys are risk-takers, so let’s get into it.
Clarify what you want to do
Before you start looking for jobs you need to determine in what way you want to contribute to the industry. We all have some skills already and while some are transferable some are possible to develop as well. Many of you reading this have spent so much time in this industry that you have already developed strong know-how. The problem is that you get blind to it because you are around so many other smart people all the time and that is a good thing because it means you’re growing. However, it also makes you feel like you don’t know anything in comparison to others when in fact you are probably top 20% of crypto knowledge. For instance, I knew I was already relatively strong in finance but I didn’t know that I was a decent researcher until I tried it out myself.
You need to try out different skills if you’re not sure what you want to do, when you find something that isn’t tedious it’s time to double down. This can be anything from research, computer science (no doubt that the highest demand is here), marketing, finance, design, and data analytics. Technical analysis is NOT a transferable skill. Anyone of these can be developed/improved upon if you’re disciplined and consistent.
Get The Crypto Basics Right
I can’t stress this enough. If you enter a crypto interview and can’t explain how a smart contract then you’re NGMI. The applicants vary from people leaving their traditional jobs recently to explore crypto, all the way to multi-year degens that want to work for an interesting company or project. However, as most of you people reading this knows, there are really no shortcuts when it comes to learning about crypto. It’s a lot to take in and it can be a jungle at times. Nonetheless, if you get the fundamentals down it is much easier to understand new things being consistently built on top of it.
Example: If you don’t know how the merge worked or why it was a big thing you got some homework to do.
When you got the fundamentals down you are going to double down on one area of expertise. If you haven’t noticed my strength is DeFi and degenerate behavior in general. It felt like a natural progression to me after having been in TradFi previously. If NFTs are your thing or gaming then stick to that niche and double down, it is all valuable and you can’t keep track of everything at a deep level. Having a high-level overview is good but a crypto team would have one subject matter expert for each topic anyway.
Are you going to be Anon or Doxxed?
This is one of the things people forget to clarify with themselves before they start. Either way is fine since you’re in the only industry that essentially allows you to stay anonymous while you’re working. However, I am saying this because it will severely impact the next step along with how you approach interviews. If you’re anon you will most likely work for decentralized projects. It might make it harder in the beginning but if done right it will probably give you some peace of mind as well. However, there is no denying that being doxxed makes it way easier. This brings us to the next step.
Publish Work Openly
I can not stress this enough. We’re venturing into a world where titles have less significance and what you have accomplished and produced speaks ten times more volume. If you’re a researcher/data analyst publish your work so be it on Medium, Substack, or whatever you decide. If you’re a computer scientist you should already know that your work needs to be on GitHub. If you’re a marketer you should already know how to sell yourself, so be it on a website or other mediums where your brand can be viewed. I don’t know where designers publish their work but nonetheless publish it so people can see your work, you know the deal at this point.
This is also why I stressed that you need to determine if you’re going to be Anon or Doxxed when you’re creating a presence in the crypto industry. It is much easier to grow if you’re a doxxed person compared to anon (trust me I’ve done both). The work you produce will go straight into your CV. Either way make sure your reputation remains intact, and don’t trade it away for a few shekels. Especially if you’re anon, it’s harder to get your faith restored as you’re an anonymous identity anyway. If you’ve worked hard to build it up, make sure to maintain it.
Explore DAOs
I’ve been critical of DAOs in the past as I deem a lot of them inefficient. However, it provides an easy gateway into crypto-related work and will definitely be a plus on your resume if you have been a contributor. Take into consideration that the people there will most likely have more experience than you (doesn’t mean that they are always smarter though). While many people use DAOs as a stepping stone some enjoy it and decide to get on their payroll and work for one full time the choice is completely yours.
However, joining a DAO signals that you’re actually serious about the industry considering you’ve taken the time to become a Discord warrior and contribute to bringing the industry forward. If you can talk positively about your experience in a future crypto interview, even better.
Before you ask me which DAO to join, it’s an impossible question for me to answer considering I don’t know what you’re interested in. You can find one for every crypto niche so the opportunities should be abundant.
Pick a project/topic to talk about
When you’ve reached this stage I assume that you’ve completed the prior steps and amassed a wealth of experience. Some of you reading this are already at the end of this journey and some will be looking to get started. However, one thing that you need to be able to do in a crypto interview is confidently detail a topic or project that you’re excited about in the industry. You can expect this question since it’s an interesting insight into you as a person as well. Also, this goes without saying but if you’re applying for a “web3” job and you say Bitcoin I don’t know what to tell you. Pick something exciting (it doesn’t have to be too edgy), you might even get the opportunity to excite the person interviewing you or teach them something as well.
You’re also going to review crypto fundamentals 101 one more time to make sure you don’t choke on something completely obvious.
Time to Apply
At this stage, you should be a Swiss army knife. You can’t lose and are well prepared for the challenges that might be thrown at you in an interview. The only thing that remains is applying.
I would argue that starting from scratch this process should take around 6 months if you’re already busy with a full-time job. However, I also know that if you apply these steps you can’t lose and you will be able to work in the industry full-time.
Places to get started with applications:
With that said, you’re good to go. I’ll be the first to congratulate you on achieving your goal. Good luck!
Well done if you managed to congest all that information, I hope you enjoyed the post. Don’t forget that you are more than welcome to leave feedback or drop any questions in the comment section.
Sharing this post helps it reach out to more readers which would be great. If you are interested in future posts from me, do not hesitate to subscribe. Thanks for taking the time!
Disclaimer: All Content on this site is information of a general nature and does not address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing on the site constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the site constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. I am just a random degenerate sensei sharing an opinion.