Step-By-Step Guide On How To Get A Job In Crypto
One of the questions I get the most in my Twitter DM’s is how you could land a job in crypto. In this post, I will tell more about my journey and how I did it. Maybe you can pick up a thing or two from it.
PS!
I’ve launched a free Telegram channel where I share tweets, threads, articles, trades, blog posts etc. that I find interesting within crypto.
Join it for free here: https://t.me/cryptogoodreads
Getting A Foot Inside Of The Crypto World
Right now I’m working for a DeFi protocol called Silent DAO.
Basically what silent is creating is a way to interact with DeFi protocol without letting anyone see their transactions. Good for whales and people that want privacy. It is enabling a new design paradigm called composable privacy. Also you can make anonymous cross chain transactions, send money etc. It differs from other privacy projects in the way that you don't have to use their token (like Monero for example). You could send ETH, FTM, USDC, or whatever you want.
My role at Silent is marketing/growth, I could talk a lot about that but the main purpose is to drive interest to Silent protocol. Make people use it, get the name out there and make the protocol grow.
So let’s take two steps back.
How did I end up in this position in the first place?
Let’s look at the steps I’ve taken throughout the years, and how you could do the same.
Step 1 - Put Your Name Out There
When I say this to people, most of them just want to give up. But if you think about it, why should a crypto company give you a job vs. another person that they know have a solid name with experience?
Even though it’s different, hiring is still similar in web3 as in web2. In the web2 world you need a resume with skills to show for, an updated Linkedin profile and answer lots of standarizised interview questions. In crypto (web3) on the other hand, it’s much easier to show off your skills. With your Twitter profile, some good research/content in form of tweets/threads/newsletter posts/podcast episodes/YouTube-videoes, Tik Tok etc., you can stand out from the crowd.
Create a Twitter profile. Try to find your niche/niches based on what you are curious about in crypto. If that’s DeFi, NFTs or trading doesn’t matter. The market is far from saturated.
Be consistent. Publish content on a regular basis. For example 2 tweets per day, 1 thread per week
Engage with other people, send DMs and make connections in the space. Reach out to founders, influencers, developers etc., and help them without asking for anything back.
Choose one social media channel and go all-in. My point is: it’s much better to be really good at one channel, and bad at all the others vs. being medium good at everything. If you have success on one channel, it should be easy to replicate your content to other social media channels because you already have a big audience.
Building a Twitter profile: This is obvious, but don’t underestimate how important it could be to build a following on Twitter. If you manage to combine getting a huge following + being followed by key players in the space + writing about interesting topics you’ll become unstoppable and you’ll get tons of opportunities in the space.
You’ll get opportunities to get whitelisted, buy tokens at an earlier time, sponsorships, etc.
But this is a long game, and this will absolutely not happen from the start. If you want to go down this route, just take a look at the approx. 800 people I follow on Twitter, lots of examples of successful profiles.
Step 2 - Job Search
Before you start applying for jobs, ask yourself first: “Why should they hire me?”
Getting a job in crypto works in the same way as in real life. You need to have some skills that make you stick out.
We all have to start somewhere. But in my opinion, the best way to stand out and show some proof of work is to make a Twitter account where you share things you’re curious about, things you research, or things you know. Or even share valuable info from others.
What kind of jobs exists out there?
Writing tasks (content creation, copywriting, technical writing)
Internships (not always paid, but good learning for free)
Research positions
Marketing/Growth
Design
Developer/Engineering
Community
Business/HR/Sales etc.
Working in crypto is all about what you know, not about degrees/certificates, etc. But think about it this way: the more visible you are on Twitter/Youtube/in a newsletter, etc., the higher the probability that companies and DeFi protocols will see you.
For a person just starting out in crypto without any particular skills, my advice to you would be to look for
community roles
writing tasks
internships
Community roles:
DeFi protocols and NFT communities are always looking for someone to moderate their social media channels. Search up your favorite projects on Twitter, join their Discord, and start talking to people. You could also send key members of the team a message and simply ask if there are any openings. If you want to try to apply for jobs, you could go here:
Writing tasks:
This is probably a little harder because unless you could show some proof of earlier work, it could be hard to convince a company/DAO why you’re the right person for a writing job. My best advice would therefore be to just start a newsletter (eg. Substack/Revue/Mirror.xyz) and share things you’re curious about. Stick with it long enough and you’ll be discovered sooner or later if you’re writing is good. Countless of the best crypto Twitter profiles started this way.
Internships:
I get it. You don’t want to work for free.
But do remember that it’s only temporary + in exchange, you get to learn valuable lessons from some of the best in the game that may leverage your career 100x. You could apply for internships here: https://web3.career/intern-jobs or maybe even better ask DeFi protocols, NFT communities, crypto research companies directly if you could intern with them. You could also ask influencers you look up to.
Salary in crypto jobs:
The average Web3 non-tech salary is $80k - $112k per year. The salary depends on the specialty, years of experience, location, and seniority. Compared to the average salary in the US and Europe this is pretty good tbh.
A Product Manager has the highest average salary of $112k per year, with a minimum base salary of $50k and a maximum of $160k.
On the other hand, Social Media roles have the lowest salary. Their average yearly salary is $50k, with a minimum base salary of $30k and a maximum of $80k.
You can find more stats here: https://web3.career/web3-non-tech-salaries
Step 3 - General advice on how to land a crypto job
Some months ago I made a tweet about where the best places are to look for crypto jobs.
The 200+ replies under the tweet are well worth a visit if you're serious about landing a job.
Another good thread about getting a job in crypto/web3:
And another one:
Now, if you've read this newsletter + the linked tweet threads you should at least have a solid base on where to start.
Promise me that you don't just read this mail and take zero action if you want to get a job in crypto.
Start small.
Making your Twitter and Twitter bio look more professional should be step one.
As Promised - Here Is My Journey In The Crypto Space
Remember in the intro of this newsletter I said that we could take a look at my steps.
In January 2019 I joined Twitter. After 6 months I had like 600 followers. Bought a growth course on Gumroad which leveled up my game. At this time I had a blog and a newsletter that never really took off.
Covid-19 broke out in March 2020 and I decided to take Twitter seriously.
Summer of 2020 I had like 20k followers. Created my own e-book which I sold, didn’t have massive success. But it felt good to earn some money online for the first time.
The stock market is booming and I’m leveraged up to the tits. Deciding to quit my 9-5 job in Janauary 2021 because online income and the stock market is more than I need to live of passively. I have around 4k followers at this time. Been posting 3-5 times per day on Twitter for the last 2 years, and have built a small fan base.
Replacing my 9-5 job with day-trading. Fun, but it takes a lot of screen time. I’m mostly inside in my apartment.
Discovering NFTs and DeFi summer of 2021 and never look back. In the span of 4 months my Twitter account grows from 50k to 200k. I started writing threads about DeFi protocols focusing on the ELI5-principle (Explain it to me like I am 5 years old). At this time I’m maybe the only threador, and in combination with an exploding bull market in crypto and a very unsaturated market for threads my account grows fast.
Starting to do some advisory for DeFi protocols, among them Alongside DeFi, but mostly focusing in on finding new places to park DeFi money. From September 2021 to June 2022 I’m barely outside of the house. I’m starting a newsletter where I feature DeFi protocols, so I have a lot of work to focus on. Manage to take profit before Terra collapses, and buy some real estate in the summer of 2022.
Pretty slow period from June to November 2022, still writing my newsletter, but having slightly less motivation to write on Twitter. The bear market is a fact after Terra, 3AC, Celsius etc. blow up in May/June 2022. Focusing mostly on trading, because DeFi yields are gone. Get fascinated of news/narrative trading and in this period I’m spending like 8 hours on trading daily.
In September 2022 I’m at the Ethereum conference in Warsaw, and this really opens up my eyes for working in the space. I want to be more involved, probably because I met so many builders on the conference and I see that they’re making cool things and having fun together as a team. I’ve spent most of time alone for the last few years, and I feel it’s time to take the next step. I decide to do some research, and if a good opportunity presents itself I’m willing to take it.
In October an anon Twitter profile sends me this message on Twitter:
The message sparks my interest because of 3 things:
Silent hasn’t launched yet, they’re in stealth and are looking to launch in Q1 2023
They’re backed by key players in the space
They’re solving a real problem (privacy in crypto)
I start a dialogue with the founder, and after reading their papers, and their mission, going on a call with them, negotiating for 3 weeks, and thinking a lot, I decided to join their team.
As you all know I also work for myself creating content on Twitter, for my newsletter, and talking to people in the space. Not gonna lie, I have spent less time on this lately because it has been so much to do. But I have had a lot of fun and became good friends with the founder of Silent and Bren, another team member. I’ve worked with Silent for 2,5 months now and honestly, it feels great. This is nothing like my old 9-5 engineering job. I now work remotely and can choose my working hours myself. If I have to take some days off, I can. Also, I work with what I love and what I am good at, so this is pretty close to IKIGAI.
That's it for today, friends!
See you next week.
Want to sponsor this newsletter?
Send me a DM on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Route2FI or reply to this email. I have a sponsorship deck I can send you.
Join My Free Telegram Channel
I’ve launched a free Telegram channel where I share tweets, threads, articles, trades, blog posts etc. that I find interesting within crypto.
Join it for free here: https://t.me/cryptogoodreads