Editor's note: This article is based on BFF's Twitter Space, Building a Career in Web3: Opportunities and Challenges. Listen to the full recording.
"The bear market is the time to build." Does this phrase sound familiar? It has become the party line of any Web3 project over the past 12 months. Among the most optimistic circles, the challenging economic conditions of a bear market are widely considered to be just what the doctor ordered to flush out the cash-hungry opportunists and leave only those businesses that are solving real problems. While this narrative certainly puts an uplifting spin on hard times, it means those left standing must not only execute well, but also run a lean operation.
So how does this affect hiring? Fortunately, the bear market is known as the time to hire great talent. Yes, the number of open jobs shrinks, but some projects view this time as a chance to hire strong candidates without the extreme competition for talent that is prevalent when the industry is flush with investor cash.
At the height of the bull market, in early 2022, Web3 projects were printing digital money and couldn’t hire fast enough. Finding people with true knowledge of the space was a challenge, and many wannabe Web3 experts started emerging.
Until the music suddenly stopped.
So is a job in Web3 still a viable option — or shall we all promptly requalify to become AI experts?
If you haven’t yet given up on Web3, then this bear might be a good opportunity to build your professional brand, hone your skills and establish your voice in the space, setting yourself up for when the next bull market eventually comes.
Builders are still building, and while things have slowed down in Web3, opportunities still exist for long-term thinkers.
“The brands that want to build a decades-long intellectual property (IP) play and are investing in the tech are still around and are still hiring” observes Summer Delaney, founder of CollabWork platform. Over the course of last year she also noticed a lot more businesses emerging that act as infrastructure layers of onboarding Web2 to Web3, tackling the issues of personal data ownership, for example.
Lauren Ingram, founder Women of Web3 agrees: “It may seem quiet on the surface, and while the job listings have reduced, there are still businesses out there looking for Web3 talent, you might just need to look for it a little harder,” she says. Ingram, who runs a jobs marketplace, consultancy and podcast aimed at getting more women participating in the industry, has found that her recruiting services are still in demand during this time when lean operations place a premium on good talent.
In addition, this quiet period is a time when the Web2 businesses see an opportunity to experiment without being in the limelight. “Over 25% of businesses globally are expected to migrate to Web3 in some capacity,” says Morgan Stone, co-founder of Roo Labs. Stone, who is about to launch Seekr, a blockchain-powered jobs marketplace, continues to see activity in the space from Web2 players, albeit at a slower pace. Stone lists social media managers, Discord moderators, solidity developers and full stack developers as the top four roles he sees demand for in the space today. Community managers, researchers and business analyst roles also remain prevalent.
While technical roles are more likely to require specialized skills and credentials, such as knowledge of the programming language Solidity, there is no one key credentialing, certificate or course that points to competence, especially in non-technical positions. “There is no such thing as a hiring norm in Web3 at this stage,” explains Stone. At such early days of the industry, desire and enthusiasm to learn carry more weight than they would in more traditional industries.
One of the key challenges with Web3 remains the barrier to entry and the friction involved in getting up to speed on the space, so a bear market, with its slower news flow, creates an environment that is more conducive to learning and up-skilling.
In some ways, the entire Web3 industry at the moment feels like a one giant start up, where we are trying to solve big problems, not knowing exactly how to get there but having fun along the way.
Many projects in Web3 are still in that early startup stage and are not well-capitalized, so it is common for the roles to be either part-time or contract, with permanent roles being somewhat less common. While this creates a challenge for those prioritizing job security, others view this as an opportunity to diversify by working for a number of projects concurrently.
“A 'portfolio career' is a great way to diversify your skills but also your risk,” says Ingram. By working for a number of projects you will have the ability to learn a range of skills. And the risk of a project going under, and you not getting paid, is mitigated.
“I would love to see more women being open to the concept of a portfolio career,” says Ingram. “Because we are more risk-averse, we tend to look for permanent jobs, but building a portfolio career can create so many opportunities,” she continues.
This could be a great time to understand what you are interested in, by trying out different roles, identifying your niche and honing your skills in that niche.
When an industry is new, there is often a distinct lack of structure when it comes to hiring, and the traditional approach may either not be effective or may not even exist.
Delaney believes that the best way to get a job in Web3 currently is through a referral, particularly from someone you have worked with before. In fact that is the main premise of her CollabWork business, a referral based-system to find work in Web3.
We tested this theory by reaching out to Alyse Sue, Director of Metaverse at KPMG Australia. Indeed, Alyse found her role through a referral by someone who was considered an expert in the space. She was one of the candidates considered for the role and believes that a strong professional brand as well as being a co-founder of multiple Web3 projects previously, played a key role in her securing the role.
Sue also believes in using your networks in the job search process. “I’ve found lots of hidden jobs by asking my network via Twitter or LinkedIn,” says Sue. “There are many jobs that are not even advertised,” she continues.
One of the things that makes Web3 different is its focus on communities. Adding value and actively participating in communities that you are passionate about can also prove to be a way of finding jobs in the space. “Get excited, get involved, build your reputation, so when a job comes up you are at the front of mind for that community,” advises Delaney. Many Discord moderators start out by being active members of their communities and turning that into paid work later down the track.
Building out your professional presence in the space when the industry is still so nascent can prove extremely beneficial in securing a role. You have an opportunity to stand out and get noticed. Use this quieter time to up-skill, work on your personal brand within the Web3 space, keep writing the articles and going to events.
“We have to play a bit of a long game,” says Ingram. “So by the time people are ready to hire, you're there and considered to be, if not an expert, then at least somebody who’s consistently shown interest and initiative,” she explains.
Another important factor is identifying your transferable skills and how they may apply to this new space. Many skills, especially soft skills can transfer well into the world of Web3, where we still have a problem with accessibility and being able to bridge the gap to the average consumer.
At some point in the future saying you work in Web3 will sound as silly as saying work in the Internet industry. Once blockchain technology finds effective use cases to innovate and improve traditional industries, it will eventually blend into the backend and we won’t need to know how the magic engine works.
As this technology becomes more and more integrated into various industries, speaking “Web3” with some level of proficiency will be highly regarded and will set you apart from the rest. “Think of it as future-proofing your career,” encourages Ingram, who started her own Web3 journey after she lost her marketing job in the tech sector during the pandemic.
By the time mass adoptions picks up, your job search process might look a little different too. One of the problems the blockchain can solve in recruitment for instance is credential verification. “Over 50% of applicants admit to lying on their resume in some capacity,” says Stone. He goes on to explain that the most commonly lied about things are years of experience and the length of past employment.
Stone's solution, Seekr, is working on solving this by having employers distribute verified credentials to candidates in the form of soulbound tokens, so the tenure and the type of work performed can be verified on the blockchain, without the candidate having to go through know-your-customer (KYC) requirements (also known as "doxx-ing" among Web3 anons).
“We're really trying to advocate for skill based hiring, which will, in turn, increase the amount of diversity and inclusion within the hiring landscape in Web3,” says Stone. He argues that using on-chain verification means that people are being judged for the skills they have and the work they have actually completed, rather than for who they are.
Whether Web3 is a passion, a side-hustle or your full-time gig, this space continues to be, albeit a temporarily subdued, frontier of tech innovation. Investing the time and energy to upskill today will take some time to bear dividends, but when the candles turn green again, be sure to be in the frontline.
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Liya Dashkina is a VC, contributor to a number of DAOs, Web3 consultant, chapter lead at the Australian DeFi Association and an advocate for women in Web3.
This article and all the information in it does not constitute financial advice. If you don’t want to invest money or time in Web3, you don’t have to. As always: Do your own research.
