At the moment the crypto industry is still at its infancy and there is a world of opportunities in front of you.
The thought of diving into a new career in an emerging industry might be terrifying (personal experience talking here). And while it can be overwhelming and unclear where and how to start, it is not as scary as it might feel at first.
I would advise to begin with finding your niche in the industry, decide what you want to do and how you want to apply yourself. Positioning yourself well on the job market is a halfway mark to land your first job in crypto. Establish your forte and fit it into the world of blockchain.
That is how I navigated these roads when I decided to take a 180 degree career change from hotel management and customer service industry to programming and engineering. But that story is for another day.
The biggest misconception people normally have is that to belong to this industry you have to be a “Shadowy Super Coder”. That is a myth. Projects in blockchain and crypto require many different positions within company’s infrastructure. And human jobs (non tech, as they call it ) are more common than you think. About 60% of the current job market positions are non technical. For example marketing crypto jobs, content and copywriting, community management, legal, compliance and more.
However, whether it is marketing or sales, community or social media management, translation, product development, content writing — companies look for people who have experience in blockchain and crypto (or if not a full-on experience, at least some basic understanding). And if you manage to tick both of these boxes, you stand a higher chance of employment, as it saves businesses time and money.
When you have set up your goal and have more or less of a clear plan — it’s time to write your first CryptoCV, a resume that will help you put a foot into the cryptocurrency world and kickstart your career in the industry that is growing with the speed of sound.
Here are my TOP 5 rules to follow that will improve your resume:
Rule #1: Keep it short and sweet
Most companies don’t have much time to analyse your CV and cover letter, so ideally you want to keep it as a one-pager.Highlight your strength and try to keep only relevant experiences to the position you are applying to.
Rule #2: Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades
Jack-of-all-trades doesn’t get interviews. And when you try to look like a match for everything, you match nothing really. Rather focus on 3–4 aspects, top skills set that you can leverage into your next position, and map out how this skillset can benefit an employer.
Rule #3: Narrow your CV
It is important to tailor your resume to the job you are applying for. A job opening equals a specific problem that has to be solved. So understand what the recruiter is looking for in terms of competencies, skills and experience, and make the most of the skills you do have and adapt them as best you can for the position you are applying for
Rule #4: Keep it organised and visually appealing
Making your resume clear and easy to read, that will maximise the time for employer to look at your resume
Rule #5: Include Links
It is quite a common practice to include a LinkedIn profile on your resume.
Additionally, if you have an online portfolio of your work and relevant projects, it may be a good idea to provide a link to that page on your resume as well.
Github, StackOverflow,Medium articles, even Twitter in some cases (will not work for a backend developer position, but for social media manager or growth hacker might be a beneficial link).
Once you follow these rules, you should already be on a good start. However there are a few things you should avoid putting on your resume not to turn off recruiters as well as filter algorithms:
5 mistakes you should AVOID in your resume:
#1 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammatical errors.
Typos in your resume scream ‘unprofessional’. Make sure to double check spelling on your CV and ensure you are writing in the correct tense.
#2 Sketchy-looking email addresses
If you are still going by coolkid89@ or sk8er_rulez@ it is time for a change, especially when it comes to professional communications. Try to avoid using outdated accounts like AOL or hotmail as well, Gmail or Outlook might save the situation, when in doubt.
#3 Getting too excited about your soft skills
Being people’s person, great at multitasking, verbal communication, written communication, creativity, working under pressure, empathy, agility, problem solving, being a team player and a great leader are all awesome qualities , but maybe not for one CV page. Ideally you would want to have more hard skills than soft ones. And if you really feel a necessity to mention them all, make sure they are relevant and tailored to the job position (being a great listener might not be valued much when applying for a system admin position).
#4 A wall of text
Make sure your CV is neat, well spaced and visually appealing. It doesn’t need to have a super slick interface (unless applying for graphic designer — might be helpful), however you don’t want to give your reader a headache before they even start reading your resume by throwing on them an unformatted wall of text.
#5 Irrelevant Hobbies or Interests
Do you love baking? Gardening? All into collecting rare stamps? Hobbies and interests are definitely a good thing to have, but again, maybe not on your CV. Unless it compliments the job position you are applying for.
So to sum up — understanding what you would like to achieve and setting up goals would be the first step on your way to becoming part of the cryptocurrency industry. There are so many jobs and just a few experienced people. If you have a plan of action, dedication and determination it won’t take you long to land your first job in crypto. Good luck!
