So you want a job in Bitcoin? Or Dogecoin or Darkcoin or ATOMIC? Disclosure: as someone who has a job in cryptocurrency, I give you my congratulations. Joining the future sooner than later is a smart move, not to mention a thrill.
But how to get the job you want in such a new field? After navigating the process, these would be my top five tips from personal experience:
1. Compile and scout crypto company websites
Many (and maybe most) cryptocurrency companies' websites feature a “Jobs” or a “Join Us” page. To save time, use lists – like the partner list found on Cointelegraph, Coinality or CoinHR and begin to canvas these websites for jobs postings.
Remember to include the many different kinds of cryptocurrency operations out there: wallet providers, investment funds, software developers, consultants, exchanges, prediction markets, casinos, media outlets, etc.
2. Check forums
Many crypto operations have an official discussion forum. Bitcoin has one, Nxt has one, the SuperNet has one, etc. Often, these forums feature jobs listings. If a given forum doesn't yet feature a jobs section, join the forum and ask that one be added.
3. Attend crypto meetups and conferences
Sometimes, the easiest way to get a job is just to be offered one in-person. And the only way to make that happen is to put yourself in the same physical space as people working in crypto. Employers in the field are hungry for new talent. The market is so new that it's still quite difficult to find crypto-knowledgeable people.
Go to an Ethereum or Bitcoin meetup, and consider attending one of the dozens of cryptocurrency conferences held around the globe every year. A conference will acquaint you with more crypto players in just one day than you could hope to bump into over a lifetime.
4. Re-evaluate your beliefs about your skills
So you've been working as an accountant for the last ten years. Or maybe you have an advanced degree in psychology. You're convinced that your current skill set is the only one you have to work with.
False. Joining the crypto world means potentially finding out that your current skill set isn't in very high demand here (Bitcoin takes care of the accounting itself, ya know?). This may call for learning a new skill.
It would be a disservice to say that coding isn't the top-demanded skill in crypto right now (and maybe everywhere else, too). But don't get your knickers in a twist about going back to college or something crazy like that – college isn't needed for crypto though a free introduction to Digital Currencies course at the University of Nicosia, taught in part by Antonopoulos, might help get you off the ground.
One statistic states that at least half of all people working with computers right now didn't graduate from college, while a huge chunk of them didn't even graduate from high school. New skills can be learned online, on your own, or from an individual mentor. Which leads us to. . .
5. Be willing to learn a new skill (and maybe even work for free)
The irrelevancy of college degrees in tech-related fields means that a shift in educational methods is taking place. After all, until we all have download-ready computer chips in our brains, new skills still have to be learned. But the learning itself has shifted from being institution-directed to self-directed.
If someone possesses a skill you'd like to acquire, ask if you can work for them for free while learning their trade. If this sounds like a brilliant new idea, it's not – it's called apprenticeship, and it's as old as trade itself. Working for free for awhile may be expensive, but it's not nearly as expensive as college and loans.
And remember, there's always the mother of all options: start a business yourself. Cryptocurrency is very entrepreneur-friendly, and the barriers to entry are next to none.
Good luck! And may Satoshi be with you.
Do you work in crypto? If so, what other tips would you offer job-seekers?
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