Getting a job in crypto may be the hardest it’s ever been. The rise of AI has lured away once plentiful venture capital funding, and with a maturing industry, crypto companies are now more choosy than ever.
A recent Coinbase summer internship program had room for just 0.3% of applicants, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, showing the sheer level of interest compared to available space.
Meanwhile, CryptoJobsList founder Raman Shalupau and researcher Stefi Kiemeney told Cointelegraph that they’re still often seeing job postings with over 200 applicants vying for a single position.
But how does one beat the competition? What are most crypto job applicants commonly getting wrong?
Cointelegraph spoke with some industry players to uncover the most common mistakes crypto job seekers are making — and how to avoid them. Here’s what they said.
They haven’t ‘rolled up their sleeves’ and built something onchain
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Proof of Search CEO Kevin Gibson said there are many “crypto enthusiasts” out there, but few of them are actually building.
“Maybe they’ve bought and sold a few tokens, picked up an NFT or two, and read some articles or scrolled through X threads or LinkedIn posts. But that’s usually where it stops,” he said.
“They haven’t really rolled up their sleeves and gotten hands-on with the tech in a way that’s actually useful for working at a protocol or crypto company.”
Gibson’s remarks echo similar observations made around a month ago by CryptoRecruit founder Neil Dundon on LinkedIn.
“If your resume says Web3 but your wallet says 0x000. I’ve got questions,” Dundon said, adding:
“If you’re not living in the space, why would a founder trust you to build in it?
While demonstrating onchain activity is a step in the right direction, Gibson said the clearest proof of real crypto work is an active GitHub account:
“If you can point to your GitHub and show you’ve actually delivered on different projects, contributed code, or collaborated with others, that’s huge.”
For those that aren’t striving to be onchain wizards, Gibson said putting out content, contributing to a decentralized autonomous organization, or showing some other form of community involvement is essential.
Opportunities in non-tech crypto roles — such as finance, marketing, and operations — still exist, but Shalupau and Kiemeney noted that Rust developers, smart contract engineers and zero-knowledge cryptography experts are among the most in-demand hard skill roles.
They’ve built something, but can’t explain it
It may be a stereotype that tech-savvy people are often poor communicators, but recruiters said many talented builders often stumble when explaining their work during the interview, which undersells the projects they’ve contributed to and weakens their job prospects.
“Companies want people who can build and explain what they’re building in plain language,” CryptoJobsList ‘s Shalupau and Kiemeney said.
Gibson said he’s conducted interviews where some developers failed to answer basic questions:
“I’ll often ask questions like, ‘What’s the last thing you did on-chain?’ or ‘How do you keep your wallet secure?’ and you’d be surprised how many people get stumped by the basics.”
Using AI-generated, generic resumes
Crypto companies use the application process to learn more about potential hirees, and they want to see genuine, human-crafted applications — not AI-generated ones.
“Don’t use AI during your application process — it is easier to detect than you think and you will be instantly disqualified,” Shalupau and Kiemeney said.
They also advised applicants not to “shotgun your résumé” in the interview — encouraging them to instead focus on how they’ve used the company’s tech stack, or at least demonstrate a clear understanding of it.
“Do your homework. Learn the project before applying.”
They’re focused on the wrong crypto sectors
Many applicants also focus on sectors that were hot in 2021, which are nowhere near their prime today.
According to Shalupau and Kiemeney, stablecoin, decentralized finance infrastructure, and real-world asset tokenization companies are “hiring steadily” right now, while hype around nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces and play-to-earn gaming has “burned out.”
The pair referred to metaverse land sales “dead” and that while companies are still building virtual worlds, “the speculative land-grab business model is done.”
Earlier this week, leading metaverse platform Sandbox announced it was laying off staff, while its two founders transitioned to strategic roles.
But not everything has come at the fault of crypto job applicants, they said.
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