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A Recruiter’s Guide to Getting a Job In Blockchain
In a previous piece, we took a deep dive into blockchain technology and reviewed the different ways this hot new tech is being applied. But one thing we didn’t cover is how professionals can break into the fast-growing blockchain industry.
As a recruiting company, we’ve heard from plenty of companies seeking this talent—and plenty of workers who want to land a job in blockchain but don’t know how. If this sounds like you, read on!
1. Prepare Ahead of Time
To start, you obviously need to know about the blockchain. We’ve seen some coders get caught up in what we call “blockchain fever”: They bombard employers with applications for blockchain roles without doing their due diligence and learning about the intricacies of this complicated technology. It might go without saying, but consider strong knowledge of the blockchain a prerequisite that comes before any information listed below.
2. Find Your Desired Level of Engagement
Blockchain jobs are exploding right now, with plenty of roles available for developers, coders, marketers, project managers, UI designers, and more. According to Upwork, blockchain was one of the fastest-growing and most in-demand skills at the end of 2017, and from what we’ve seen, this trend is only increasing.
As such, you’ll need to decide how in-depth you’ll want to get. Blockchain roles for developers generally fall into one of three categories:
- Generalist – You know enough about the technology to apply specific use cases in an ecosystem you’re familiar with;
- Specialist – You’re familiar with smart contracts, nodes, and consensus-building;
- Expert – You have the expertise to build your own blockchain code, rules, and definitions.
If you’re a specialist or expert, you may have the qualifications needed to apply directly a full-time role, but most employees will need to work their way up by establishing their credentials ahead of time.
3. Building Your Credentials
Though demand for jobs is high, companies aren’t accepting just any applicants. You can increase your odds of landing the gig by building up your credentials ahead of time:
- Do research on blockchain networks like Ethereum and common applications (plenty of resources are available online for this)
- Consider doing some freelance projects to help build up your experience and portfolio
- As always, prioritize networking and strengthening your professional contacts
Remember, you don’t have to learn everything—but you do need to learn enough to make your application more competitive than those around you.
4. Take Advice From the Experts
There’s plenty of advice floating around on how to get noticed in the blockchain space. Hackernoon interviewed several leaders in blockchain and collected a few great takeaways for young professionals:
“Get involved in projects by either contributing code, commenting on code, or interacting with projects in other ways.”
- Ben El-Baz, Project Lead at U Network
“For people still studying in school, how can they best prepare to get a job in this space? We recommend students do research around the crypto and blockchain space so they understand why digital currencies will create a much more open financial system for everyone, globally.”
- Charlene Delapena, Senior Recruiter for Coinbase
“Best practice is by doing. There are many ways to get involved in the space. It can be a blockchain project, conference organizer, white paper reviewer, or even trading. The point is that when you start somewhere, you’ll begin to network with others, and you’ll find new opportunities.”
- Min Kim, Co-Founder of ICON
You’ll notice a theme, here: Key decision-makers want to see employees who have experience with blockchain projects backed by industry knowledge. This is the key to landing a role in the blockchain.
Sure, networking, online profile development, and consistent follow-through are all best practices for landing a job, no matter where it is. But if you want to make it in blockchain, you’ll need to prove that you have the skills and insight necessary to help the company leverage this technology to its full effect.
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