In 2021, venture capital funding in blockchain and crypto startups reached a record high of $25.2 billion, growing over 700% from $3.1 billion in 2020.
Being flush with cash, these companies are now looking to aggressively expand their teams. Don’t believe me? US Crypto job listings soared by a WHOPPING 365% in 2021, with JUST Binance having over 600+ open job openings.
But just because there are crypto jobs out there and you want to get into this new and exciting field, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to land a role in crypto, especially if you are looking for your first crypto job. However, even if you don’t have extensive crypto experience — with a little bit of hard work, and some smart strategies (and luck), you can find a role that best suits your talents.
If you’ve been hunting for a crypto job for some time with no results, whether as a fresher or as someone looking to switch from a non-crypto role, this article will give you the practical tips you need to land a gig, First, you need to understand the root cause.
Preliminary requisites: Don’t make these job hunting mistakes
Every hiring manager receives dozens of applications, if not hundreds or thousands, for every crypto role. So, what do these hiring managers look for, you ask?
Here are a few reasons that make or break your application:
Submitting a portfolio that doesn’t highlight your experience
If you had to go through dozens or more applications every day, you would not spend half an hour reading 8-10 paragraphs about every applicant’s background. In fact, hiring managers take the decision to call someone for an interview within a few minutes. Respect their time and be concise.
Although it may sound counter-intuitive, brevity is the key. Jason Yanowitz, the co-founder of crypto news site Blockworks, suggests writing about five sentences to sum up your background, your crypto experience, and why you should get hired. The idea is to let the hiring managers know why you’re suitable for the role in a few minutes.
It might be tempting to jot down every little thing, but save it for your telephonic or face-to-face interview. Tell your story in a way to raise curiosity, but don’t give away everything — suspense is good (and not just in movies).
Lack of experience
Companies are always looking for people with experience in crypto. This becomes a cause for rejection because companies tend to choose the best-qualified candidate. If you are new to crypto, you will face a few rejections.
But being inexperienced does not mean that you cannot land a crypto role. You just have to put more effort into showcasing your knowledge in crypto. In our tips and strategies section, we’ll talk about how to do this to attract crypto jobs.
Bad first impressions
Not crypto specific – but something we see quite a lot! Several candidates submit resumes and cover letters that are riddled with typos and grammatical errors. In fact, it is one of the most common reasons for rejection, and the easiest one to avoid!
Apart from being annoying to read, any content containing typos gives the indication of neglect. A hiring manager is looking for someone who has taken the effort to weed out typos and mistakes. It’s not about having perfect grammar skills — just use free software like Grammarly to ensure that your resume and cover letter do not have any mistakes.
How to search for crypto jobs
Now that you know what to do and what not to in order to avoid rejections from crypto jobs, let’s look at how you can streamline your search — bringing order to chaos is only going to help you land a job in the crypto sector faster.
Find an area of interest
The world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain is vast, and you need to find the place where your talents fit in. While knowledge and understanding of blockchain and crypto technology is critical, there are several traditional skills that can be applied to the crypto sphere.
The key here is to assess your present skills and talents and figure out how you can use them to contribute to crypto and blockchain. That way you don’t have to start from scratch and your traditional experience will actually help you stand out from the crowd.
Here are some examples of how traditional experience helps:
- If you are proficient in coding and programming, you can explore blockchain development, development of decentralized applications, etc.
- If you are good at writing, consider a career in content writing or journalism in the crypto space.
- If traditional venture capital is your forte, consider switching to a blockchain funding VC.
- Electrical and engineering skills are required in crypto mining companies.
Diversify your search avenues
Don’t restrict your search to a few platforms. Yes, you will need to scour LinkedIn, and other crypto job sites like web3.career, AngelList, and Paradigm. But don’t just stop there.
The crypto community is still close-knit, and the hierarchy is much less rigid than other traditional industries. Therefore, it is much easier to network with high-level executives in the crypto industry — executives that can open the door to a world of opportunities.
Attend events like EthCC, Paris Blockchain Week Summit, or other conferences in your region. These events offer valuable networking opportunities — you might just meet someone who could either hire you themselves, or recommend you for other roles.
In fact, you can also use social media platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, Discord and others to network with crypto professionals. Even if they can’t directly help you with landing a job, they can provide you with valuable advice.
You can also participate in hackathons, check websites and social media platforms of companies you’re interested in to see if they’re hiring. Basically, just like diversifying your portfolio helps reduce risk, hunting for jobs on multiple platforms increases your chance of landing one.
Tips to help you land a crypto job
With thousands of applicants competing for the same positions, it is important that you not only send concise applications without typos, but do something innovative to stand out.
Don’t just say you love crypto, prove it
You can’t just say, “I love you,” to your partner and expect them to believe you. You need to prove it with your actions and gestures. Similarly, blurting out, “I looove crypto” in an interview is not going to be enough.
For recruiters to believe that you really are interested in the crypto sphere, you need to participate in the ecosystem. To do this, you can join decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), mint tokens or NFTs, or find your own way of being a part of the crypto craze.
Doing this will also go a long way in helping you secure a job, especially if you lack experience. In fact, even if you think that you lack adequate experience for the role, don’t hold yourself back from applying. Recruiters often value a zeal to learn and improve.
Build a portfolio
To help recruiters understand your skills, it’s best to have a portfolio of work they can quickly review. For instance, if you are looking for a developer role in the crypto sector, creating forks of popular applications Aave, Uniswap, or similar apps, or even showing design improvements can help showcase your knowledge. Similarly, if you’re looking for a writing jobs, you can write explainer articles on technical subjects to exhibit your writing skills.
Use your creativity to differentiate yourself
To stick out from the haystack of applicants, you need to do something different. “Get your creative juices flowing and think of innovative ways to capture the recruiters’ attention.” Yanowitz suggests. An applicant that made a video pointing out holes in the social media strategy of Blockworks, for example, secured a job as a social media manager.
The idea is to not only display your skills, but also showcase how you can use them to add value to the company. Crypto companies are not just looking for a regular employee who works 9-5 (booooring!), but for self-starters with creative ideas.
Jay Kurahashi-Sofue, vice-president of marketing at Ava Labs, the company behind Avalanche, suggests solving a problem before the interview. You can create a deck highlighting problems and present possible solutions — marketing candidates can create branding content, business development applicants can find leads, etc.
Use social media to gain visibility
If you’re serious about crypto and landing a job in the sector, use social media to create a following and increase visibility. Social media does not only mean Twitter, it also includes Telegram, Discord and other platforms. But don’t try to manage all platforms if you can’t handle it alone — it’s better if you select one and excel at it; in other words, don’t be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.
The best way to attract a following on social media is to create useful content, whether in the form of audio, like podcasts, videos on YouTube, blogs on Medium or threads on Twitter. If you are a trader, share your trades, strategy, gains, and more. If you know have knowledge about a crypto niche, share it. If you select a niche and master it, you’re likely to attract more attention. The important thing is to be consistent and post regularly.
Having a considerable social media following goes a long way in establishing your credibility with recruiters. According to Yanowitz, creating content is one of the best ways to land a crypto job. He suggests publishing content on a crypto niche for 3-6 months and then applying for jobs in that niche.
No job, no problem. Take a longcut.
Although the above strategies are meant to help you get a crypto job, the key is to notgive up. If nothing is working out, Yanowitz suggests taking up a job in the fintech sector to gain experience in crypto-adjacent companies. It does not only have to be fintech, you can look for other adjacent industries.
For instance, join a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company and switch to crypto startups using the SaaS model like Chainalysis. While this might take longer, it will create an on-ramp for you to easily switch to crypto roles within a year or two.
If you ever wanted to switch to a crypto role, NOW is the time.
Lipsa Das is the founder of Spiritwish, and you can find her on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
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