A Career Handbook for the New Generation of Web3 ｜Recommended to Bookmark

Written by: Mason Nystrom, Investment Partner at Variant Fund, former Analyst at Messari

Compiled by: Amber

If you’ve just graduated or are still in the early stages of your career, the first thing to figure out is why you want to find a job in Web3 (or the cryptocurrency space). I believe this field will impact or even disrupt nearly every industry over the next 20 years. Web3 offers young people—regardless of their past experience—a fantastic opportunity to quickly grow into "experts" in a brand new field. You don’t have to compete with traditional experts who have decades of rich work experience; if you find the right approach, you can quickly make considerable contributions and provide value in this new domain.

Secondly, the smartest people in the world are embracing Web3, joining crypto teams or DAOs, and leaving FANG. Working with talented individuals allows you to learn more, and when you’re just starting out, being close to "excellence" will be more valuable.

Some Advice

I categorize my advice into two types: one is a summary of experiences that have been validated by some people, and the other is the humble, indelible regrets learned through hindsight. Both are valuable, but only the former is worth learning from and emulating.

The advice provided in this article comes from what has been useful to me and what I didn’t do. While it applies to many, my advice is more suited for those with little work experience, such as college students or those looking to switch careers after a few years in the workforce.

You can think of this advice as a menu; pick a few options that sound most appealing to you and stick with them to see results.

Become an Intern

Internships are the fastest way to discover or determine if you like a particular field. If you are a student and have received an internship offer, I strongly recommend you take it. This may be the best choice for students hoping to understand the crypto industry and gain some experience. During my MBA, an internship at a local cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong provided me with a great foundational experience and allowed me to immerse myself in the cryptocurrency field more solidly.

Join a DAO

As a contributor, you can join various DAOs—social DAOs, protocol DAOs, NFT holder DAOs/communities, investment DAOs, etc.

Social DAOs—DAOs that primarily form communities around exclusivity, events, or community activities—can help you conceptualize and experience how DAOs operate. These DAOs include community groups in specific locations, such as ATX DAO, specific NFT holder communities, and DAOs like Friends with Benefits.

Additionally, if you have a deep understanding or special passion for a particular product or protocol, joining that DAO can be a great way to gain initial experience and build a reputation. Many DAOs, including Sushi, Rarible, Index Coop, and Yearn, have various working groups. You can showcase the value you can provide to products and protocols by contributing in these groups, and you may ultimately receive incentives from the DAO as a result.

Of course, you may not be able to contribute effectively to many DAOs simultaneously (unless the DAOs are very small). Therefore, it is better to make fewer but high-quality contributions rather than a large number of low-quality ones. Any DAO would prefer to collaborate with members who can consistently deliver rather than those who are unfocused trend chasers.

Become an Early Adopter

In hindsight, becoming an early adopter seems easy. However, at the moment, it requires taking certain risks. These risks include opportunity costs in terms of time, money, and attention. The cost of continuously using new applications or protocols on-chain can be expensive and often comes with the potential risk of asset loss. Sometimes you need to decisively enter a project before it takes off, or you may need to spend money to interact with a protocol, but the fact is that no one knows whether these early projects will ultimately distribute airdrops or provide exclusive benefits to early participants. Simply put, early participation requires an open mindset; don’t rush to dismiss any new protocol or application. Compared to investments in the tech sector, the Web3 world today needs long-term thinking even more.

Fortunately, there are DAOs like Rabbithole that are helping educate the next generation of cryptocurrency users, either by incentivizing them to use protocols or providing the ability to complete tasks in exchange for XP. Rabbithole has successfully increased support for new public chains like Polygon and has ensured that all users who completed its ENS tasks received ENS airdrops. While not every airdrop is substantial, some users have already reaped significant rewards from it.

More importantly than airdrops, early adopters often become very effective assets in the job search process because they are already among the most active members of a discussion group or community before joining a team. Additionally, founders prefer to hire those who believe in their mission. Early adopters who have already contributed to projects in their spare time are far better than mercenaries seeking the highest salary.

Join a Prestigious Team in the Web3 Space

In the "real" business world, having an Ivy League school or names like McKinsey or Goldman Sachs on your resume can be impressive. However, in the cryptocurrency space, people care less about your educational background or TradFi experience. Names like Coinbase, Messari, OpenSea, Uniswap, Compound, and Chainalysis on your resume indicate that you understand how the top teams in the industry operate.

Writing

Nic Carter, Chris Burniske, Ryan Selkis, Derek Hsue, Phil Bonello, Ryan Watkins, and Kyle Samani are quite well-known in the cryptocurrency field because they consistently write blogs on blockchain topics, most of which relate to investment or research. One of the highest skills you can leverage is your writing ability. Not only should you write good content, but you should also have the courage to express your opinions, which is challenging. In other words, anyone can become a writer—never tell yourself you can’t. I never considered myself a writer, even after writing hundreds of thousands of words, and my work still contains typos.

Several forms of expressing opinions through articles include:

• If you feel uncomfortable sharing your thoughts, overcome it! If you really want to ease into it, start by summarizing great, long, or complex works. You’ll be surprised at how little time people spend reading. Curated and skimmable content is important and valuable;

• In-depth expert articles on specific fields, including but not limited to liquidity mining, NFTs, smart contracts, stablecoins, digital art, DeFi aggregators, and public chain ecosystem reviews;

• Instructions. After you’ve performed some operations and interactions, use words or images to tell others how to do it. You can teach others how to interact with certain DeFi applications or help more people understand certain NFT applications or new public chain interactions;

• Quick and timely information.

Twitter

If you don’t like long articles, Twitter is for you. CryptoTwitter values those who participate in discussions or raise relevant questions. Some of the smartest people in the cryptocurrency field use Twitter to build their brands, such as Pomp, Ryan Sean Adams, Meltem Dimirros, Arianna Simpson, Nic Carter, Ari David Paul, Hasu, Tom Shaughnessy, Jason Choi, and Ryan Watkins. Just be careful not to turn yourself into a scammer on Twitter.

Some tips for Twitter:

• Create a regular Twitter Space for topics you enjoy;

• Gather insightful viewpoints or summaries on specific topics;

• Compile important events or high-listen podcasts;

• Utilize images—creating images takes time but can help increase shareability;

• Tag relevant individuals or companies in your topics, but don’t tag them when they are clearly unrelated to the topic or image. Remember not to tag the damn Elon or SBF; that’s completely useless. Instead, tag subjects with 10K-100K followers. They are more likely to retweet or like your posts;

• Humorous posts and memos. CMS interns created a brand through funny creative videos and memos;

• Consistent output—you need to tweet at least once a week to express your opinions or at least share some interesting content;

• Be creative, or at least find your unique interpretation of existing ideas;

• You will start with zero followers; growing from 0 to 1000 is the hardest, and reaching from 1000 to 10000 also takes considerable time, but growth becomes much easier after that;

• The last rule of Twitter—be authentic; people want to follow humans, not bots.

Make the Most of Other Social Media Platforms

While Twitter has the strongest cryptocurrency community, you can also use Instagram, Reddit, Periscope, TikTok, or other social media networks to expand your influence. I also strongly recommend embracing new social media platforms or features, such as TikTok or Twitter Spaces. If you suddenly realize while listening to a channel, "Wow, this content is terrible; I can do better," then you might be right, and there will definitely be someone willing to pay for higher-quality content. We should constantly try new things and then stick with the most effective methods.

Start a YouTube Channel or Podcast

Maybe you’re not a writer, but you excel at making videos, especially live content. Then decisively start your own YouTube channel or create some tutorial videos. YouTube is the second-largest search engine today—leverage it.

Podcasts are the foundation of cryptocurrency discussions. Jill Carlson and Meltem Demirors have a great podcast. Tony Sheng also runs an interesting podcast. Peter McCormack’s "What Bitcoin Did." Nathaniel Whittemore founded Long Reads Sunday. These have already accumulated considerable influence.

Unsolicited relevant advice from someone who has never hosted a podcast:

• For God’s sake, don’t think a podcast is just an interview with X people;

• Consider live podcasting to enhance authenticity and timeliness;

• Make your podcast a story (crazy genius) or something unique;

• First, listen to the Robinhood Snack podcast, which covers daily news, or the podcast by Naval and Nivi from Spearhead or How to Get Rich;

• Short podcasts of 3 to 15 minutes also have an audience. Don’t assume that every podcast needs to be at least 1 hour long just because Joe Rogan succeeded with a 3-hour podcast.

In-Person Meetups, Events, and Clubs

If you are in a place filled with blockchain activities, I recommend attending meetups or community events, most of which are free. Some common places to find events include Meetup or Eventbrite (Translator's note: Foresight News calendar is also a good choice). For college students, check out your school’s blockchain club or start your own blockchain club. If you’re job hunting, I don’t recommend paying to attend conferences, as conference tickets don’t yield a good return on investment unless your networking skills are incredible (let’s face it, if you are that good, you should have been hired long ago). Early NFT communities often held meetups, and social DAOs like Bankless and Friends With Benefits frequently host events.

Move to a Crypto-Friendly City

Essentially, we are products of our environment. If you want to succeed in the tech field, you should probably live where innovation is happening; this is no secret. I’m not saying you have to move to cities like New York or San Francisco, but if you live there, you should take advantage of it. Other emerging tech cities in the U.S. include Los Angeles, Denver, Austin, and Seattle. If you’re willing to venture abroad, you have even more options. Berlin, Shanghai, or Singapore are all great places to gain an edge.

I want to remind you that where you live is becoming less important. Most cryptocurrency companies prioritize remote work, but if you’re still young, I still recommend meeting people in person to solidify those connections. Building relationships in the office or at a Tuesday afternoon happy hour is much easier than networking online.

Leverage Your Advantages

Those with some work experience should take advantage of it. If you have any of the following skills:

• Data analysis

• CPA

• CFA

• Lawyer

• Fearless public speaker

• Writing like Dickens

• Interpersonal "wizardry"

• Design

• Knowledge of economics

If you possess any of these skills, you have a greater advantage than many currently working in cryptocurrency. For students and young people, you can also use your time to learn the above skills.

Be Helpful

This doesn’t mean you should tell others every day, "Please let me know how I can help." The cryptocurrency world is smaller than any other industry. You can connect with people on Twitter or reach out via email. Don’t contact venture capital managers or CEOs of cryptocurrency companies you admire; they are unlikely to respond. Instead, find someone new to the company, as they may have more time and will view you as a young professional.

There are plenty of articles on how to connect with people, so I won’t elaborate further, but you should find a way to provide value, including but not limited to:

• People are always looking for things; help them find the information they need;

• Curate content, news, information, data, people, educational materials, etc.;

• Build a local network in your community;

• Think from others’ perspectives—people can’t always tell you what they want/need. What unique skills and traits can you offer?

Find a Partner in the Crypto Space

ETH has friends, and so should you. Find a friend who shares your passion and collaborate on any of the topics mentioned above. No one can reach the peak alone; even if you do, it’s lonely at the top. Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman are a well-oiled content machine. Hasu—arguably one of the best researchers in the cryptocurrency field—often writes with other individuals.

How to Find a Job

There are two ways to find a job. The easy way and the hard way.

The Easy Way

As a person, build a damn network. To be honest, networking is the best way to find a job. Putting in the effort to reach out, attend events, or engage online will help you more than you know. People want to work with their friends.

The Hard Way

The best advice I can offer is: you need to stand out and target your audience. The quality of your applications is more important than the quantity of applications you send.

Sending the same cover letter or application to 100 jobs might get you a job, but if there are only a few companies you genuinely want to work for, you need to put in the effort to land that job.

My last piece of advice for carefully crafting your application—make sure it stands out. For example:

• Create a chart or video that visually expresses something;

• Design a cool project, or make some slightly different modifications to an existing project;

• Get ahead of a growing trend, such as social tokens;

• Create a website or newsletter that provides something valuable, such as information on new NFT releases or a list of meeting times for every open-source crypto project. Find a way to save others’ time or energy, and that’s a bonus;

• Research a super niche topic related to blockchain and write/push your findings. It shouldn’t be superficial, but it doesn’t have to be completely revolutionary; just share your thoughts on Twitter/write/speak;

• Write some opinion pieces on leading cryptocurrency products and protocols;

• Employers value those who are self-driven and can create cool things.

If you’re still a student or have just left campus in the past year or two, realize that you’re lucky. You likely have plenty of time—or you can use that time more effectively—to build your personal brand and follow the above advice.

Notes on Your Resume

Emphasize making your resume tangible. If you have no idea how to create your resume or want to start from scratch, Harvard University offers a lot of free materials. Additionally, be creative with your resume—make a concept page—or at least add some aesthetically pleasing templates. Remember, you’re dealing with humans, who are naturally attracted to bright colors, graphics, and images.

Importantly, use data and metrics wherever possible, even if it’s just showing your month-over-month growth on social media, your best blog posts, or newsletter subscriber counts.

Moreover, no one will read your entire resume. They want your highlights, relevant experience, and links to your important channels (i.e., Github, Twitter, TikTok, etc.).

Here are some good channels for job hunting:

• AngelList is one of the best places to find jobs at cryptocurrency startups;

• Crypto Jobs;

• CryptoJobsList;

• Cryptocurrency jobs;

• Pomp Crypto Jobs;

• Proof of Talent, for more senior/technical positions;

• LinkedIn, searching for cryptocurrency and blockchain jobs on LinkedIn is becoming increasingly common;

• Web3 Jobs;

• Newsletters, follow the newsletters of companies you like; they often post new positions or opportunities;

• Most venture capital firms post job openings for their portfolio companies.

Be Bold

You might feel unqualified; apply anyway.

You might be afraid to tweet or publicly express your opinions. Do it anyway.

You will make mistakes. That’s okay; your opinions can be adjusted.

Final Thoughts

Work hard, stay humble, and live happily.