Web3 is one of the most outsized work opportunities in existence when looking at a potential return on your investment of time.
Even better is that I believe anyone can find a job in it, no experience required. The real kicker though is that Web3/crypto is so unique that, if you know where to look, yes, you can land a job, but if you can figure out how to add unexpected value, you can turn that job into a viable career. For all the hype, institutional players, and billions of dollars flowing in and out, the crypto industry is still quite pliable. And if you are someone who would like to break into Web3, but don't have the "required experience," or don't know where to start, you can very much use this to your advantage.
The key to all of this: make yourself useful.
Started From the Bottom Now We Here
To be clear, this article isn't about landing a high paying technical role or similar position that demands hard skills to perform effectively. Although even here there is some flexibility. This is about finding "an in," and paying enough attention to find the next one, and the next one.
I have often said that in crypto, if you can find a way to make yourself useful, you have a job. I know this to be true from personal experience. Over the last seven years while working in this industry, I have been hired, and have hired others, simply because we found ways to add value, or make someone's life easier, or a company work better, most often times without being asked to.
The truth is that behind the scenes crypto projects can come together pretty fast and loose, and even some of the most well-known projects hire, depending on the role, in ways that other industries would consider quite unconventional. Again, this can be used to your advantage.
This is in large part due to the fact that projects very often hire from within their own communities, and most other industries don't lend themselves to 24/7 chat rooms where their customers obsess day and night over every detail of their product. I am pretty sure there isn't a thriving Goodyear Tires online community.
Crypto is exceptional in this regard and if you are an active participant, you may have a meaningful advantage over someone who isn't. From the perspective of the project and its leadership, you've already demonstrated an interest and commitment to their goals because you chose to, not because they asked you to. Hiring good people is very hard and finding potential employees who spend their free time thinking about your product even more so.
Stepping Stones
I'll give you a practical example that I think perfectly illustrates the topic at hand:
There isn't a crypto community in existence that doesn't have moderators. These people are primarily responsible for a few things that I believe most anyone is capable of. I will list a few of them here:
Being online and present during a set schedule.
Developing an understanding of a project deep enough to answer most any question a community member might have, and if it's beyond scope of knowledge (maybe it's too technical or hasn't been communicated publicly yet), knowing how to find that information and follow-up.
Control the sentiment of a chat room, which oftentimes contain thousands of people, by being patient, friendly, understanding and helpful.
My very first job in crypto was as a chat room moderator and it did not pay well--but that wasn't the point. I really liked the project and was confident that with access to the team, by becoming a part of it, I could find ways to contribute well beyond the completion of the daily tasks defined by my current role. It's worth noting that within a strong crypto community, good moderators are the backbone and often work tirelessly to keep the ship running straight. However, I simply sought more.
Armed with the attention of the founders, I quickly started producing unsolicited documents about communications strategy, writing content that my time in the chat proved was needed and anything else I could think of to demonstrate that I was capable of thinking about the work being done at a high level.
This was about seven years ago now, and the industry as we know it today was in its infancy, so the experience you might think you'd need to fill these role in many ways didn't exist yet. So I gave it to myself, on the job. From there, more stepping stones. I found ways to add more value, which led to trust, and access to higher, more privileged levels of the project, to which I could contribute even more.
Not only was I growing within this project but I was developing a resume for the next one. Except now, I wasn't starting as a moderator, but as a strategist that understood community, how to grow a project through content, and possessed an innate understanding of crypto that can only come with time and experience in the trenches. At the end of the day, all it took to start was convincing someone to let me sit in a chat room and answer questions.
The Sky is the Limit
From day one, like many of us, I was absolutely consumed by the potential of this industry, now known mostly by the term "Web3." Over the following years, I was able to parlay these experiences into work with other teams, my own projects, and collaborations with individuals looking to build and launch what we saw as important pieces of this rapidly growing technology.
After many years, alongside others who had similar trajectories, we were able to formalize this work into what became Avalaunch, and now have the privilege of helping teams day in and day out, who believe in deeply, put their aspirations into motion.
This story is not unique. I know of many others that look the same and several of our hires at Avalaunch would fall into this category as well. I love working and building in crypto and would encourage anyone who is drawn to it to explore any opportunity in it that resonates with you. Big or small.
The one thing you can't do is let "lack of experience" or even formal education hold you back from becoming exactly who you want to be. Maybe you will need to study programming, or the path through might not be a perfectly straight line of stepping stones. But crypto rewards hustle and consistency above all else. Start small, add value where there was none, and do it again, and then again, and then again.
If you are able to see the next move, then take it, while simultaneously looking for the next one. There's a million ways to "make it" in crypto, but in my experience, the best path forward has always been "getting in where you fit in," no matter how small, because there will always be a way to grow larger, as long as you are looking for it.