How to Get a Job in Crypto
Working in Bitcoin is officially the job du jour. Job boards have reported a huge spike in the number of people looking for careers in the crypto industry, and it has even been suggested that we could one day see the role of a “chief Blockchain officer” being advertised.
Given the enormous hype surrounding Bitcoin, it’s no surprise that more people want to get a piece of the action.
Cryptonews.com spoke to several recruiters to find out how wannabe crypto stars can get a foot in the door.
Starting the search
An obvious place to look for a job in crypto is a general jobs board like Indeed or totaljobs. If you want to narrow your search, you can also look at specialist crypto job boards and recruitment firms such as CryptoTalent, Cryptorecruit and Andromeda.
It’s also a good idea to connect with companies directly – for example via platforms such as Twitter, Reddit and Telegram.
According to Yavuz Karadag, co-founder of CryptoTalent, a lot of Blockchain start-ups have an “open application” policy, meaning they welcome proactive applications.
“Candidates can directly approach founders and CEOs at meetup events or via LinkedIn without feeling intimidated,” Karadag said. “The online applications also tend to be much less gruesome. Additionally, a very high portion of jobs are remote, meaning that the entire screening and interview processes are carried out virtually.”
Defining your skill set
It’s vital to ensure your skills meet the requirements of the company you’re applying to. The most sought-after employees in the crypto world are Blockchain engineers.
“Both front-end and back-end developers that want to break into the crypto world must educate themselves on cryptography, distributed ledger technologies such as Solidity, and be able to work with languages including C++ and Python,” said Karadag. “Due to its extremely complex nature, companies have very high expectations for this type of role.”
There are also opportunities in other areas. Neil Dundon, founder of Cryptorecruit, said good chief technology officers (CTOs) are in demand because a lot of projects are early stage and need CTOs to lead the tech side of their business.
Other non-technical positions include community/social media managers, PRs and marketing executives.
For all roles, language skills are a big plus.
“As these communities are global, candidates must be skilled in multiple languages for the purpose of localization. This also implies creating high quality visual and written content, so these skills are essential,” added Karadag.
As start-ups advance and go to market, demand for candidates with skills in business development, finance, strategy and HR is also likely to increase.
Standing out from other candidates
Regardless of which role you want to pursue, having an innovative flair is essential.
Tal Benno, Blockchain recruiter at Andromeda, said because the crypto world is fast-moving, candidates have to be able to demonstrate that they are innovative or, at the very least, open to innovation.
“If you want a marketing role in a crypto company you need solid marketing experience and a good understanding of the Blockchain field. You need to be a self-learner and someone who is excited about working in the industry,” she added.
Areas you’ll be expected to know about include Blockchain technology, crypto-economic protocols, and the initial coin offering creation and token sale processes.
“Employers want to see that you have taken the time to research and develop a very extensive knowledge about the crypto and blockchain space,” explained Karadag.
It is also important for candidates to be engaged with the Blockchain community.
“This means networking in the ecosystem, attending meetups, and actively creating and sharing interesting content through social media or personal blogs,” Karadag said. “For developers, community engagement also means that you actively contribute to open-source projects on Github.”
When it comes to the interview, it’s essential that you’ve done your research.
Dundon said candidates should think about how they will fit into the project and be able to explain the value they can add.
“If you really want to work in Blockchain try to minimize the interviewer’s downtime by doing your research on the project. These projects are so busy that they want you to be prepared,” he added.
Above all, love and passion for all things crypto will put you in good stead for a career in the industry.
