The Web3 industry is booming and attracting the attention of tech and finance enthusiasts who are interested in building a career in a relatively fast paced industry that allows them to make a bigger overall impact.
With a 37% increase in crypto companies hiring from December 2022 to March 2023, the demand for skilled professionals in the industry seems to be on the uptrend once again.
Although there is a positive correlation of these figures with the Bitcoin price, the overall demand for people who are great at what they do sustains itself through bull and bear phases.
However, breaking into the field can be daunting, given the nascent stage that this tech is still in and limited established paths with a very clear roadmap and expectations.
One of the things that we have noticed across the social media and forums is that people think that careers in Web3 & crypto are only for “tech enthusiasts” and there is not much here for a person with non technical or creative tastes.
Yes, in the past majority of the demand has been around tech roles and developers but as things grow and more users are on boarded to platforms the demand for designers, marketers, customer care professionals, community moderators, video editors, content creators, copywriters, legal counsel, tax & finance experts, global monetary policy experts, analysts and many such job roles will keep on rising.
In fact, as you can see here at Crypto Jobs List we have had more than 65% listed jobs in the non technical side of the Web3 industry.
Over the last few years we’ve seen a constant rise in the demand for talent in roles other than pure tech and that’s great news.
We’ve also seen a demand for roles that you wouldn’t have even imagined a few years ago, and we’re talking about “Chief Meme Officer”, yes no joke, it's a real job.
Alright, moving on.
Let’s talk salaries before we dive into the article, shall we?
We manually verified 4400+ crypto salaries and the average salary in crypto across all the jobs comes to be at $90k per year, with bottom 10% and top 10% making $21k and $167k on average respectively.
Isn’t this good news?
In crypto not only do you get to work with great and passionate people while making an impact you also get paid more on average as compared to the web2 counterparts.
Is salary the only deciding factor when choosing to move from web2 to web3?
Well of course no, it isn’t.
🤔Why Should You Even Get a Job in Web3?
People in web3 are not after the money.
Web3 space attracts many people because of its higher average salaries but most of the people who sustain themselves in this industry are the ones who really want to make a bigger impact and build something that has the potential to change human lives for the better.
The overall atmosphere in crypto is filled with support and collaboration, giving people the sense that their contributions truly matter and can make a difference.
In Web3, the passion for creating something innovative trumps any desire for monetary gain.
It’s definitely like startups in that sense, but the shared vision in this space is on a totally different level.
And let's not forget about how fast web3 is!
In fact we’ve talked to many people who like the fast paced nature of the web3 world and how it keeps them interested for longer and on their toes so they keep learning, testing and implementing at high speeds.
There's always something new happening, and that quick feedback loop keeps everyone motivated to work hard, because the output of their sweat and tears could be the next big thing.
So it's natural to feel like jumping into the crypto world and start a strong career in the industry.
đź“ťEssential Steps To Launch Your Web3 Career
Getting a job is not only about being able to do everything that is needed in a role but also about communicating that you are better than the other candidates who are applying for the same position.
You’ll be surprised how many people who are trying to transition from web2 into web3 don’t know much about blockchain and crypto industry.
It is not required right off the bat but it definitely helps to know the basics of the industry that we are trying to build our careers in.
đź“šLearn About Crypto
Before you start looking for a crypto job, it's important to get familiar with the basics of crypto itself.
The first thing to know about crypto is that the industry as we know it started with Bitcoin, although cryptography and blockchain has long existed before Bitcoin was invented.
Modern crypto as we know it uses cryptography to secure the networks from fraud or manipulation by third parties making blockchain robust, immutable and transparent as a data ledger.
Cryptocurrencies however can be structured in many different ways depending on how they're designed.
We recommend starting with watching a couple of videos around Bitcoin whitepaper to understand the thinking process that promoted the invention of Bitcoin in the first place.
Follow this by going through videos or articles around:
- Proof of work
- Proof of stake
- Ethereum & EVM
- Hard and soft wallets
- De-Fi, and within de-fi concepts such as staking, liquidity pools, tokenomics and smart contracts
It should not take you very long to get familiar with but will give you quite a lot of firepower that you can use when in interviews as well as navigating the crypto space in general.
And no, you don’t need extra technical prowess to understand all this.
đź’°What Value Do You Provide To The Marketplace?
Let’s imagine you had your own business and were looking to hire someone to do a specific set of tasks.
Would you hire a person who cannot even generate an equivalent amount of value for your business compared to their salary?
Ideally, you would like that person to help your business way more in value than they are getting paid.
Now, with reading what you just read you should look at your skill set and map them up.
This will allow you to clearly state what value you can provide to a project in your cover letter as well as interviews, which is a huge plus to go through to the next round.
For example, as a crypto marketing manager it pays really well to know the basics of blockchain, have a broad knowledge of all the moving parts of a modern marketing funnel including but not limited to ads, copywriting, community, growth etc. with a deeper knowhow of 1 or 2 of these verticals making your skill stack a “T shaped” marketing skill stack.
Especially in non technical job roles a full stack skill set is preferred because the number of people that need to be hired is lower, the communication back and forth is not as much and the impact that an individual can make is much bigger on the organization, and also because crypto teams love to run lean businesses.
It’s also important to take a look at skills that you don’t have that a prospective job role might require.
You can find out the type of jobs that are available as well as what exactly they require from job portals like ours.
For example if I was exploring a project manager position, I would simply go to the jobs section here on CJL and then simply type in Project Manager and see what turns up.
Then I would open a few job listings and go through the job description to broadly understand what it is that crypto projects really need from their project managers.
| PM JD Example 1 | PM JD Example 2 |
|---|---|
 |  |
Additionally it is never a bad idea to see how other candidates are building their profiles.
LinkedIn is a great resource for this and so is the CJL talent pool.
Simply going through the talent profiles across many websites will also give you an idea on what certifications, experience and projects others who are already working in the space have taken up.
đź“śBuild Your Blockchain Focused Resume
Yes it’s 2023 and yes a resume and a LinkedIn profile still helps to vet candidates.
So having an up to date LinkedIn profile and an up to date resume that is not too over the top helps make the recruiter’s job easier which is a big plus.
We have a resume review series on YouTube that you can refer to in order to build a banger resume for yourself before applying to these amazing jobs in crypto.
We also have an AI resume builder that can help you fine tune your resume, its language as well as the structure so it meets the expectation standards of the recruiters while communicating all the pros of hiring you.
❤Network & Build Relationships
Networking is a crucial step in securing your first job in crypto.
While there are multiple methods for networking, there are a few highly effective strategies to consider.
Platforms such as LinkedIn are great resources to connect with other people who are either building in your field or want to enter the space just as you do now.
Another platform that is huge in crypto, dare we say even bigger and more valuable than LinkedIn, is Twitter.
Almost everyone in the crypto space is on Twitter, especially people building a career in Web3.
Twitter is a great platform to understand the personality of the team mates that you’re going to be working with, connect with others, build meaningful relationships in the crypto land and everything in between.
Conferences & hackathons also are a great place to expand your network and connect with others in crypto.
Consensus, Bitcoin, ETH and many other such conferences provide a great exposure to the right people globally. You get to meet people from teams of many projects and build great relationships.
These conferences also allow you to remain on the forefront of this cutting edge field which is a huge advantage when applying for jobs or actually working in crypto!
🆚Technical vs Non Technical Web3 Roles
People interested in technical jobs in crypto are expected to have some background with computer science, be it programming, dev ops or cybersecurity etc.
Technical jobs in crypto involve working with what goes on behind the blockchain that people use.
This could mean anything from building new features for existing projects to creating your own blockchain from scratch!
Non-technical jobs are more focused on marketing, legal, design, HR and business development etc.
These roles typically involve building the front end systems, interacting with users and everything in between that a project needs to succeed.
For example, if you're great at social media and growth or have a knack for cranking out amazing content that gets people to interact and engage, then you might be a great fit for a non-technical job in crypto.
👨🏻‍💻Technical Crypto Job Roles
Step 1 is to gather a solid understanding of blockchain and the tech behind it.
If you’re someone with technical background this could be as simple as going through documentation or taking a basic Udemy course.
There are bootcamps as well as courses available in the market that teach you everything you’ll need to know to be a great blockchain developer.
It is paramount to also build a few projects for your portfolio, especially if you don’t have any experience under your belt.
These would allow the recruiters and the project team to gauge your capabilities better and also show them that you are motivated to learn and build things on your own as well.
Some common job titles you might come across include:
Blockchain Engineer
A blockchain engineer builds infrastructure around protocols, creates applications on top of blockchains, or at times is responsible to create and maintain the actual blockchain altogether.
Smart Contract Auditor
A smart contract auditor reviews smart contracts of various projects to identify faulty code, bugs, or potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers or other malicious parties.
These are not all and you’ll see other technical job titles such as dev ops engineer, solidity developer, smart contract developer, support engineer etc.
You’ll find tons of opportunities irrespective of your experience level.
If you’re someone completely new in the tech field then it might be a great idea to get some hands-on experience with a couple of internships to understand how things really work in crypto.
🎨 Non-Technical Crypto Jobs
Well, crypto projects are much more than just tech and smart contracts alone and that means there are tons of non technical job opportunities available.
Here are a few examples of non-technical jobs in the crypto industry:
Marketing and Communications
As more and more teams choose to build products in the space there is an ever increasing need for people who can allow them to communicate effectively with their prospective users and connect with them in order to build dedicated communities.
Jobs in crypto marketing can include roles like social media managers, content creators, PR specialists, community managers etc.
Business Development
As the crypto industry continues to evolve, there are many opportunities for partnerships and collaborations between different projects and entities.
Biz Dev people can help structure and build on these opportunities, initiate & negotiate deals that benefit both parties.
Jobs in this area might include partnership managers, strategic analysts, or investment analysts.
Legal and Compliance
Given the complex and mostly unclear regulatory landscape surrounding crypto, there is a high demand for legal and compliance professionals with experience around monetary policy, macro economic regulatory landscape including but not limited to AML & taxation laws who can help projects navigate the space.
These roles might include compliance analysts, legal counsel, or regulatory advisors etc.
Crypto Project Operations Professionals
As crypto projects grow, they need help managing day-to-day operations like finance, HR, and customer support.
Operations professionals can help set up structures and processes and build robust SOPs that allow for smooth functioning of the proverbial machine that is the project itself.
Jobs in this area might include finance managers, HR managers, operations experts etc.
As you can probably guess this does not even cover half of the available job opportunities that exist in crypto.
We have seen community managers who were interested in blockchain development, learn solidity and start advising developer teams to finally transition into a role in crypto journalism.
Crypto industry allows for extreme flexibility in job roles, location & age as long as we are able to do good work, the traditional barriers such as an undergrad or masters degrees are often overlooked too if the candidate shows promise and ability to do the job well.
The only thing stopping us from building an anti-fragile crypto career is our own mind.
Conclusion
Entering the crypto industry is actually not that hard, it is maintaining a high quality work output while learning and upskilling yourself regularly that is hard.
It’s an ever evolving space that requires people to stay on their toes.
However, Web3 is an extremely rewarding industry to be a part of and people who work in this industry would tell you how much they love working in crypto and cannot imagine working in any other industry!
Interested to see what the world of crypto has in store for you? Check out our Crypto Jobs Newsletter to keep an eye on what opportunities are available!
Take that first step and let things unfold for your career in crypto!
Good luck!
